Food as medicine: Selenium enriched lentils offer relief against chronic arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh.
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| Abstract |
Chronic arsenic (As) exposure is a major environmental threat to human health affecting >100 million people worldwide. Low blood selenium (Se) increases the risk of As-induced health problems. Our aim was to reduce As toxicity through a naturally Se-rich lentil diet. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-control trial in Bangladesh, 405 participants chronically exposed to As were enrolled. The intervention arm (Se-group) consumed Se-rich lentils (55 μg Se/day); the control arm received lentils of similar nutrient profile except with low Se (1.5 μg Se/day). Anthropometric measurements, blood, urine and stool samples, were taken at baseline, 3 and 6 months; hair at baseline and 6 months after intervention. Morbidity data were collected fortnightly. Measurements included total As in all biological samples, As metabolites in urine, and total Se in blood and urine. Intervention with Se-rich lentils resulted in higher urinary As excretion (p = 0.001); increased body mass index (p ≤ 0.01), and lower incidence of asthma (p = 0.05) and allergy (p = 0.02) compared to the control group. The Se-group demonstrated increased excretion of urinary As metabolite, dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) at 6 months compared to control group (p = 0.008). Consuming Se-rich lentils can increase As excretion and improve the health indicators in the presence of continued As exposure.
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| Authors | Judit E Smits, Regina M Krohn, Evana Akhtar, Samar Kumar Hore, Md Yunus, Albert Vandenberg, Rubhana Raqib |
| Journal | Environmental research (Environ Res) Vol. 176 Pg. 108561 (09 2019) ISSN: 1096-0953 [Electronic] Netherlands |
| PMID | 31299617 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't) |
| Copyright | Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc. |
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