In a study aimed to see if the antioxidant selenium might improve glucose metabolism, researchers discovered the opposite. According to research to be published in the August 21, 2007 print issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, selenium actually increases the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

In a study of 1,250 people with an average age of 63, researchers found 58 selenium recipients developed Type 2 diabetes, versus 39 placebo recipients who developed the disease. The study suggests selenium increases the risks of Type 2 diabetes by one and a half times.

“There is no need for Americans to take selenium supplements,” said Dr. Saverio Stranges, the study’s lead author and an associate professor of cardiovascular epidemiology at Warwick Medical School in England. “There is already enough selenium in the average American diet…[Still]this is a single study, and no single study gives the final answer.”

Source: Nicholas Bakalar, “Outcomes: Selenium Supplements May Raise Diabetes Risk,” New York Times, July 10, 2007.