Selenium and health: the relationship between selenium supplementation and three highs

In medicine, what people usually call "three highs" refers to hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia and hypertension. Selenium is an essential trace element for human body, which protects every cell of human body from peroxide damage and plays an irreplaceable role in human life activities, and is known as "the fire of life". The maintenance of human health by selenium is mainly realized by the antioxidant effect of selenium, and the "three highs" in cities are mostly the result of peroxide damage. Let's talk about the principle of selenium to prevent "three highs". Selenium can scavenge free radicals and prevent hyperlipidemia. Hyperlipidemia refers to abnormal fat metabolism or operation, which makes plasma lipids higher than normal. Known as hyperlipidemia, it is often manifested as hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia or both. Among them, the contents of low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglyceride (TG) are too high, which mainly causes atherosclerosis, blood vessel blockage and thrombosis. Lipid metabolites such as LDL-C and TG are lipid peroxide free radicals, which are called "the source of all diseases" and can cause peroxide damage to human vascular wall cells. Selenium can scavenge lipid peroxide through glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), which is the active center of this enzyme, protect the integrity of arterial wall cell membrane, prevent atherosclerosis, reduce thrombosis and prevent myocardial infarction. In addition, GSH-PX also has the function of reducing cholesterol and triglyceride through antioxidant function, thus reducing blood viscosity and preventing the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases caused by hyperlipidemia. Supplementing 50~ 250μ g selenium every day is very beneficial to the prevention of hyperlipidemia, and also has a very good auxiliary treatment effect on the treatment of hyperlipidemia patients. Selenium has insulin-like effect and prevents hyperglycemia. The preventive effect of selenium on hyperglycemia is mainly through three ways. One is to quench singlet oxygen free radicals and maintain the activity of islet cells and the ability to secrete insulin through the antioxidant effect of GSH-Px; The second is to promote the synthesis and secretion of insulin. Selenium can maintain the intact morphological structure of islet β cells, protect the disulfide bonds in the skin chains of insulin A and B from peroxide damage, and protect the normal structure and function of insulin molecules. Thirdly, selenium has insulin-like effect, which is called "insulin in trace elements". Selenium inhibits angiotensin Ⅱ and prevents hypertension. The occurrence and development of hypertension are related to lipid peroxidation, dysfunction of vascular endothelial cells and changes of hemorheology. Selenium can resist lipid peroxidation and protect biofilm. It can lower blood pressure by lowering lipid peroxide level, protecting the function of vascular endothelial cells and reducing blood viscosity. Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) catalyzes the conversion of angiotensin I into angiotensin II, which makes the arteriole smooth muscle contract, leading to a rapid increase in blood pressure. Selenium can inhibit the activity of ACE, effectively prevent the production of angiotensin II, and thus reduce the D pressure. Selenium is an important element to maintain the normal function of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, which has a comprehensive protection and repair effect. The decrease of human blood selenium level will lead to the decrease of free radical scavenging function, the increase of harmful substance deposition, the increase of blood pressure, the thickening of blood vessel wall, the decrease of blood vessel elasticity, the slow blood flow and the decrease of oxygen transport function, thus inducing the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases. Disclaimer: The above content comes from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author. If there is any infringement of your original copyright, please let us know and we will delete the relevant content as soon as possible.