Word: selenium
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...month. All told, we spend $1.7 billion a year on those pills and capsules--most commonly vitamin C, which originally attracted attention as a supposed cold remedy. But interest in these supplements has been fanned in recent years by hints that antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and selenium soak up free radicals, those by-products of metabolism that can damage cells and have been implicated in a wide variety of diseases, from cancer and cardiovascular disease to Alzheimer's, as well as in aging...
...diseases. But the report goes even further. "Extremely large doses [of antioxidants]," it says, "may lead to health problems." Megadoses of vitamin E, for instance, can put you at greater risk of bleeding, while too much vitamin C causes diarrhea and may interfere with cancer treatments. Take too much selenium, and you can lose hair and even fingernails...
...human blood can store and transfer to cells. For d-alpha-tocopherol, another form of the vitamin, the daily limit is 1,000 mg, or 1,500 IU. For dl-alpha-tocopherol, a synthetic form of vitamin E, the limit is 700 mg, or 1,100 IU. As for selenium, the upper limit is 55 micrograms...
...private insurers could save untold billions on unnecessary heart surgery. And he doesn't stop there. "General Motors ought to be saying to every [employee] that they cover, 'If you decide you need a heart transplant, you ought to be taking vitamin E, you ought to be taking selenium,'" he said. "That ought to be part of the contract General Motors insists...
...More evidence that vitamins can prolong life: a five-year study of nearly 30,000 peasants from rural China discovered that vitamin E, beta-carotene and selenium supplements appeared to reduce cancer deaths 13% and deaths from all causes...