Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Selenium and ezcema



As you may recall, my husband suffers from severe eczema on his hands, to the point where it has interfered with his life and daily functioning. We have struggled with this, eliminated foods from his diet, added in supplements, even consulted with a homeopath and tried various remedies, all with meager changes. We were in seeing our chiropractor, Dr. Wayne Christensen of Queen Creek Back Care, and he suggested Selenium out of the blue.

Well, I always have raw, organic brazil nuts in the house because I know they are so healthy and full of selenium, just 3 give you your daily dose! The kids each get 1 per day. I gave my husband 3. The next day, his hands were noticeably better! We continued on with a supplement of selenium to give him more potency and more controlled dose as there is no "set" dose in a brazil nut since soil levels impact concentration in the nut.

Now to back up a little, I have had a sneaky suspicion that my husband's hands were related to mercury poisoning as well. I just had a hunch, knowing the way the adult body works to eliminate toxins and metals, that what we were seeing was a desperate attempt at mercury detox. And add to that the fact that we saw a change when I would have him bump up his N-Acetylcysteine, which also contributes to metal detox, mercury was definitely on my mind. Oh and he has a mouth full of fillings and has had his share of vaccines, being a military child and all. So we are seeing progress and on Facebook I keep seeing posts on selenium, its benefits, etc. Then I see one about selenium helping to remove mercury from the body!! Read it here. Ding, Ding, Ding we have a winner!!! Who knew? Not me. I've heard of many other chelators, not selenium. Here is more info on selenium. Were you aware that children with food allergies are more likely to have a selenium deficiency? And people with a selenium deficiency are also likely to have high cholesterol (which my husband also had until recently!). So, I urge you to take a look at this often forgotten mineral and see if this might be a good one to begin adding in. Even if it is just as simple as a brazil nut a day.

Of course, before you add any supplements into your daily regime or that of your child, you should always check with your trusted health care provider first.

3 comments:

Aspiring Foster Mama said...

I am so happy to have read this! Thank you, my husband suffers from horrible eczema on his hands too and we've tried everything. I can't wait to see if this helps. He also has high cholesterol and we eat really well. He also has horrible migraines, I wonder if this may help with that?! Thanks again!!

Terri Burges Hirning said...

We should compare notes, seriously! I hope it helps him. My husband's palms are so much better, new red skin growing and no more cracking and breaking!!

Aspiring Foster Mama said...

Hey! Okay, so I went and got him some selenium today. How much does your hubby take? I gave him 400 mcg. Looking forward to reading your new post... 3 years ago when I started eating grassfed beef/chicken, drinking raw milk, I had two "stomach bugs" within a month that no one else in the house caught. I had a high fever and threw up for 24 hours. I haven't thrown up since. I swear my body was detoxing now that I look back. Crazy.