Can I tell you a story? It's a synchronicity between lambs, selenium and fibromyalgia.
The rather wet lamb above is called Toe. He was born on the 23rd March 2021. He was so small that he could not reach his mothers milk and they weren't sure what to do with him. He lived with us for 4 weeks in our house, which was immense fun. He lived on milk formula and soon became as big as our Chihuahua.
After 4 weeks of hand feeding and truly believing that he was a dog, or human, he had to go into the barn with all of the other lambs that didn't have mums. We missed him being around the place, but I continued to feed him by bottle in the barn.
At first all of the lambs wouldn't have anything to do with him but eventually as they all began to smell of me (and me of them) he became accepted. All was looking good.
Then, it all started to go wrong. Whilst the other lambs flourished, Toe started to stagger around the barn. He preferred to feed whilst lying down, which is not normal and he couldn't stand for very long. The farmer thought it was joint ill, an illness in young lambs, but he just didn't get any better with the treatment. Then I got lucky. I was listening to a podcast by Clive de Carle and they mentioned white muscle disease in lambs. Toe was showing all of the symptoms of White Muscle Disease (known as Fibromyalgia in humans).
You can watch Clive de Carle here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icl7klrkcYY&t=1651s
So, each morning I added selenium to his feed, within 4 days he was walking again. I was never sure if it would work, but it does. White muscle disease causes stiffness, muscle pain, painful joints, fatigue and nerve pain. Sound familiar? Fibromyalgia!!
So what is selenium? And where can we find it?
Selenium is a trace element which are bodies cannot make, therefore, we must consume it in our food. It is found in the soil, is absorbed by our plants and then consumed by us and animals. It can be found in a wide range of foods but the best by far is brazil nuts. Per 100g of food. Daily allowance 400 micro-grammes/day.
Brazil nuts 1917 micro-grammes
Oysters 63 mcg
Chia seeds 55mcg
Mussels 44mcg
Tofu 17mcg
Sunflower seeds 54mcg
https://www.boldsky.com/health/nutrition/2019/selenium-benefits-and-risks-127243.html (For a breakdown of major selenium sources, check out the article above.)
Many of our Western soils are selenium deficient, so the vegetables, wheat and barley that we eat can be selenium deficient. Toe was eating selenium deficient hay: hence his problems. He is now outside eating selenium rich green grass and is happy. He still walks a little stiffly and he is the first to put himself to bed at 8pm, but I think he is on the mend.
So what about us humans?
Could it treat Fibromyalgia? I do not know, I'm obviously not a doctor, just a health seeker but surely it is worth a try. Do you have any friends who suffer daily with fibro? Tell them about selenium. Many fibro sufferers also have other problems - Crohn's disease, hair loss, fertility problems. I hope that this essential mineral can help, it helped Toe.
Selenium was purchased from Dr Sarah Myhill shop: