Selenium In Food And The Human Body A Review – The saying “a little goes a long way” can apply to all sorts of things: hand lotion, chili powder, hair gel.

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Selenium In Food And The Human Body A Review

This is an apt way to describe selenium, an essential mineral that supports the entire body. You only need a little of it — but the benefits are relatively large.

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Registered dietitian Kayla Cope, RD, LD, explains what selenium is, why you need it, and how to get it in your diet.

Selenium is an essential mineral, which means that your body needs it to function well but cannot produce it on its own. We have to get it from diet.

“Selenium plays a role in protecting our cells from damage, promoting thyroid function and reproductive function, and DNA synthesis,” says Kopp.

A small gland called the thyroid plays a big role in keeping your body at peak function. Your metabolism (how quickly your body converts food into energy) is responsible for making and releasing hormones. And selenium helps it do its job.

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“Your thyroid gland has the highest concentration of selenium in your body,” Kopp explains. “Selenium is converted to selenoprotein, which helps regulate your thyroid hormones.”

When unstable molecules known as free radicals damage your cells, the result is called oxidative stress. It is believed to contribute to a variety of chronic diseases, including infertility. But selenium might help.

“Selenium protects against oxidation damage and infection,” Copp notes, “and some research has shown that selenium supplementation is beneficial for people trying to conceive.”

Plays a role in managing chronic asthma. But don’t rush to buy supplements, as this potential benefit has yet to be proven by research.

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“Selenium plays a role in oxidative stress in tissues like the lung,” says Cope, “but research on this topic in humans is still inconclusive.”

Studies have shown an inverse relationship between selenium levels and the risk of certain types of cancer. This means that people with low levels of selenium have a higher risk of cancer, while people with higher levels of selenium have a lower risk:

“Lower intake of selenium is associated with increased cancer diagnoses,” Cope says. “Selenium is known to reduce the risk of cancer, as it helps repair DNA damage in our bodies.”

For adults age 19 and older, 55 micrograms (mcg) of selenium per day is recommended. If you are pregnant, you should get 60 mcg per day; If you are breastfeeding, that amount increases to 70 mcg per day.

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“Although selenium is essential, we only need it in small amounts,” Cope says. “In North America, the need for selenium supplementation is very rare because the food grown here usually comes in abundance from the soil.”

Get this: One Brazil nut contains about 68-91 mcg. That means just one or two of them will meet your daily selenium intake!

Organ meats and seafood (especially yellowfin tuna, halibut, sardines and shrimp) are also high in selenium. Other good sources include:

Extra selenium in your diet, as long as you don’t consume more than 400 mcg a day (the Tolerable Upper Intake Level, or UL, which we’ll get to in a moment).

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Just remember that high levels of selenium can be dangerous and can interact with some medications. And you should always talk to a care provider before starting a new supplement (so maybe just stick to brazil nuts a day instead).

Let’s go back to the old adage for a second: “a little goes a long way” is a good way to describe selenium, but so is “too much of a good thing.”

Because you only need such small amounts of selenium, going over the recommended daily amount is not a big deal. But once you reach a tolerable upper intake level, or the maximum amount you can consume without experiencing negative effects, you face some serious risks.

Because our body needs very little of this trace mineral, if you live in an area with selenium-rich soil, it’s not difficult to get enough of it in your diet. But if you:

Brazil Nuts And The Variation In Their Selenium Content

If you are concerned about your selenium levels, talk to a care provider to find the next steps that are safe for you.

If you live in North America, you don’t need to think (or worry) too much about your selenium levels. Selenium deficiency is rare, and unless you’re eating organ meats for dinner every day, you won’t get much of it.

So skip the supplements and eat a Brazil nut or two as you see fit. Your body will thank you and so will your taste buds!

A good way to describe selenium is “a little further” is a good way to describe selenium, an essential mineral that supports the entire body.Selenium is a mineral 1 found naturally in soil and certain foods2. Although our bodies don’t produce it, it plays an important role in our health, especially when it comes to our thyroid. It is found in foods such as chicken, eggs, kidney, liver liver “a large lobed glandular organ in the abdomen, involved in many metabolic processes”, tuna, shellfish and Brazil nuts. Our small intestine absorbs it from our food and carries it to the liver before being disposed of through urine and feces.3

Selenium And Your Thyroid Gland

Research has shown that selenium is an antioxidant4 and, while it is believed that excess amounts can be toxic to “something toxic, very harmful or bad,” it plays a major role in maintaining our health, including:5

This enzyme is also responsible for getting rid of hydrogen peroxide. A byproduct of hormone production. When selenium is depleted, the buildup of hydrogen peroxide can eventually destroy thyroid cells.7

Until 2000, researchers believed that selenium deficiency contributed to thyroid conditions only when iodine “chemical element” iodine levels were also low. However, a study published in Biological Trace Element Element “primary part or component of a substance” presented a case of hypothyroidism hypothyroidism “a term used to describe an underactive thyroid gland” in that year’s research journal. Selenium deficiency.8 Another study9 found decreased selenium levels in patients with an autoimmune condition “where the immune system mistakenly attacks the body,” which can cause inflammation or damage. According to the study, getting enough selenium seems to help manage autoimmune complications “in patients with autoimmune disease, antibodies frequently circulate in the blood that target their own body tissues” and improve the condition and symptoms, possibly due to its anti-inflammatory effects.

Deficiency usually comes down to three contributing factors: diet, geographic location, and soil composition. For example, in North America, the soil is rich in selenium, which means that crops are also high in it. That’s why researchers believe that most North Americans get enough selenium from their diet.

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In her study, The Importance of Selenium in Human Health, 7 Margaret Raymond found that the opposite is happening in the UK, where dietary intake of selenium has fallen by 50% over two decades. This is associated with a reduction in imports of selenium-enriched North American wheat in favor of European wheat.

Selenium deficiency is known to cause problems for many body systems, including the cardiovascular system, the immune system “the body’s organs and processes that work together to fight infections,” and the endocrine system. So many of the symptoms are similar to an underactive thyroid: 10, 11

People at risk of deficiency include people living in areas with selenium deficiency in soil or crops, people with kidney “a pair of organs in the abdominal cavity that excrete urine” on dialysis, and people with HIV. Selenium levels alone can be difficult to test, particularly in the UK where it is not usually offered. However, you may request a blood test that looks at the amount of blood in the serum/plasma plasma, the “yellow liquid component of the blood”.13

The NHS recommends 0.060mg (60 mcg) a day for women (19-64 years) and 0.075mg (75 mcg) a day for men (19-64 years) when treating selenium deficiency.2 However, healthcare practitioners usually prescribe Higher doses to allow for optimal levels.

Selenium Toxicity Hi Res Stock Photography And Images

Side effects of excessive selenium can include hair loss or alopecia, damage to nails, nausea, changes in bowel movements, and nervous system problems.

Experts agree that you should only be able to get enough selenium from your diet. One Brazil nut, for example, provides about 80 mcg.

Research has shown that the supplement can have a positive effect on plasma cholesterol and triglycerides, “a type of fat (lipid) found in your blood” levels. 13 However, before taking supplements, it’s a good idea to talk to your GP or a nutritionist if you suspect a deficiency.

HealthyButSmart.com has a good article

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