Selenium

wirihanasouth

What do you all think about supplementing with selenium? I know that here in New Zealand soils are generally deficient in selenium, so I've supplemented with it on and off for quite a long time. Initially I used a synthetic selenium and then moved to a whole food supplement. I was talking to someone recently who mentioned that selenium can be toxic if you get too much of it, so I felt unsure about it and stopped taking it. Cronometer tells me that I'm getting enough, but unfortunately because of the soils here the Cronometer's estimation of the selenium content of foods might not be accurate for New Zealand.

Vickie

If I were to supplement I think I would just eat one brazil nut a day!

bracconiere

i think that's what they meant by whole food supplement. And i don't think you'd need to worry about the soil in New Zealand, because Brazil nuts are grown in south America?

And I've read that they very a lot in selenium content and to keep it to just one a day...

But i'm not an expert, and this is the "Ask an expert" forum so i probably shouldn't even be posting in here, lol

Susan_RD_101

The RDA for selenium is 55 mcg per day; this amount will meet the needs of 97-98% of a healthy adult population. The upper limit for selenium is 500 mcg. Going above this can cause hair loss, nail breakage, nervous system abnormalities, diarrhea, etc.

Personally, I wouldn't be too worried about selenium from soil. However, if you are eating Brazil nuts, you shouldn't eat more than 4 per day (each Brazil nut contains 68-91 mcg selenium).

You can find other sources of selenium by visiting the following site:

https://www.dietitians.ca/Downloads/Factsheets/Food-Sources-of-Selenium.aspx

Kind regards,

bracconiere

CRON-O-Meter tells me i get enough from sunflower seeds....FYI

Hilary

@wirihanasouth Check out the oracle to search for good Selenium sources as well! https://cronometer.com/help/foods/#oracle