Brazil Nuts & Selenium

My love of brazil nuts continues to grow. Have you seen these big, but funny shaped nuts? I read yet another article today describing the tremendous health benefits of brazil nuts. Not only are brazil nuts a great source of healthy fat, but they are packed with selenium, an essential trace mineral. Not only does selenium help strengthen the immune system (especially important in this age of swine flu), but also have now been shown to reduce the risk of many cancers as well as thyroid disease, infertility and arthritis. Selenium has also been shown to hinder the replication of HIV in the body. Additionally it has been demonstrated that selenium helps create enzymes in the body that prevent cellular damage due to free radicals. Wow, what a mineral!

When I’m working with patients to balance their thyroid hormones, I recommend brazil nuts because they contain more selenium than any other food I know of. Selenium is important for the thyroid because it helps convert T4 (the mostly inactive form of thyroid hormone) to T3 (the active form of thyroid hormone). So many of the women I treat have such sluggish thyroid glands and most of them are deficient in selenium.

Eating just 2 brazil nuts daily will give you the selenium your body requires. I eat brazil nuts plain but I also put them in my homemade trail mix. Give them a try!