Every one of us is affected by cancer. Its corrosive properties that infect our friends and family members is gut wrenching, especially when it takes a loved one’s life, which it too often does.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, cancer was the second leading cause of death in 2002, accounting for 556,902 deaths or 23 percent of the mortality rate. Since 1930, the mortality rate has continually risen, from approximately 100,000 in 1930 to the 2002 numbers of 556,902.

Cancer, of course, is not always something we acquire as a result of our behaviors. Hereditary cancer, symptoms brought on by the acquisition of a mutated gene structure, cannot be avoided. But for the cancer that can be avoided, myriad research reveals how a common mineral found in food helps in warding off several types of cancer.

The apparent “miracle mineral” is selenium. Selenium is found in lots of our every day foods like egg yolks, mushrooms, seafood, poultry, onions, garlic, broccoli, tomatoes and asparagus, to name a few.

The extent to which research has been done on selenium’s power to avert cancer is voluminous (you can find all the studies at http://www.newstarget.com/016446.html), but if you’re looking for one, a 1996 study out of the University of Arizona is quite compelling.

Dr. Larry Clark studied 1,300 older people over the course of seven years to see if taking 200 milligrams of selenium a day—the recommended dose—would in any way impact the onset of cancer rates. Well, according to this study, it did indeed. For the group taking selenium compared to the group taking a placebo, the occurrence of cancer deaths was half that of the placebo group! The study has since been published in the Journal of American Medicine.

Furthermore, the finding showed that selenium’s potency was particularly effective in staving off lung cancer, the leading type of cancer-related death in 2006 for men and women, according to the American Cancer Society’s estimates.

Want better news? According to research, selenium has a synergistic effect when combined with vitamin C and beta-carotene, things fruits and vegetables are chock full of.

This finding is on display in Dr. Andrew Weil’s book “Ask Dr. Weil”:

“The safest antioxidants are vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium and beta-carotene. Together, they block the chemical reactions that create free radicals, which can damage DNA and promote a variety of degenerative changes in cells.”

That’s the good news. The bad news is the degenerative behavior trends of Americans, leading us away from freeing ourselves of this pervasive disease.

According to the CDC, the overall consumption of fruits and vegetables was down in 2003, when the study was done, after nine straight years of remaining relatively constant (Approximately 24 percent of adults ate five servings of fruits and vegetables going back to 1994, that figure dropped to just over 23 percent in 2003).

In another CDC study, this one focusing on obesity trends in America, 46 states revealed statistics indicating that 55 percent of their state’s population were overweight (out of 49 states participating). By contrast, in 1992, when the same study was done, not a single state’s population had more than 55 percent of its population overweight.

Selenium won’t cure cancer, but it can go a long way to aiding in the fight against cancer and the fight against obesity. Do be advised, however, too much selenium can be toxic. Be sure to stay within the range of 200 mg of selenium per day.