While selenium might not be as popular as other minerals, it’s just as important and deserves more attention than it gets.
What does selenium do?
It supports glutathione production.
It acts as a powerful antioxidant.
Iodine, an important mineral for thyroid function, cannot do its job without enough selenium present. This can lead to many problems you don’t want to deal with.
It supports a healthy intestinal lining.
It supports cardiovascular health by promoting healthy CRP and oxidative stress levels in the arteries.
It supports healthy cytokine levels.
It supports brain health by reducing oxidative stress.
It is needed for the normal function of the pancreas.
And much more!
Thyroid And Selenium
Selenium is essential for thyroid function. The thyroid gland contains more selenium than any other organ. Selenium helps activate thyroid hormones and protects them from oxidative damage. Without enough selenium, the thyroid will not function well. Selenium helps with the conversion of thyroid hormones t4 to t3. If it is not present or in very low amounts, this conversion cannot occur.
Selenium recommended daily intake
What Foods are rich in Selenium?
Many foods are rich in selenium. Plant foods, though, really depend on the soil they were grown in. With so much of our soils becoming depleted and climate change reducing levels of soil selenium, the levels can be much less than what is thought to be in plant foods.
Foods rich in selenium include:
Brazil Nuts
Avoid eating more than two to three of them per day because eating too many of them every day can lead to an excessive accumulation of selenium, which can lead to problems.
Eat them sprouted or dry roasted to get the most nutrients from them.
Wild-Caught Tuna
Buy low-mercury tuna. A great brand of that is Safe Catch.
Canned Sardines
This is one of the best sources of selenium, protein, and omega-three fatty acids.
Buy them in water or olive oil.
Wild Caught Shrimp
Grass-fed beef
Grass-fed beef kidney
Beef kidney is also a rich source of DAO and B12. DAO helps to break down histamine in the gut.
Grass-fed beef liver
Cottage Cheese
Eggs
Wild Caught Cod
Types Of Selenium Supplements
There are multiple types of selenium supplements, and they fall primarily into two categories: inorganic and organic (a different kind of organic than when referring to how food is grown).
Inorganic forms of selenium are those found in soil. Plants take these inorganic forms and convert them into organic forms that our bodies can utilize. Then we eat the plants or the animals that ate the plants. In the same way, we do not go outside and eat rocks and dirt to try and get nutrients; we should not use the forms of nutrients found in rocks and dirt in our supplements and expect to get significant benefits. There are multiple organic forms of selenium in foods, which have different effects on the body. That’s why foods rich in selenium are the way to go, because you get the various types and better forms. Organic forms of selenium are readily utilized by the body and incorporated into selenoproteins. Unfortunately, most supplements use inorganic forms of selenium, which are cheaper but less effective. They also can lead to problems. While some supplements use a synthetic form of organic selenium, you are still missing the benefits of all of the other things in whole foods and the variety of organic forms of selenium found in them.
Here comes the science part.
Inorganic selenium salts, like sodium selenite and selenate, and most “organically chelated” forms of selenium (chelates and aspartates) are broken down into elemental selenium, which has very poor bioavailability and can lead to selenium toxicity at far lower levels than organic forms of selenium. A common form of synthetic organic selenium is called selenomethionine. Many companies claim to sell this, but they are not and are using selenium created by a practice called dry-blending. This is where, rather than the proper manufacturing process for making selenomethionine, they simply mix inorganic selenium and the amino acid methionine together. This does not make selenomethionine; it creates a powder blend containing an inorganic selenium and the amino acid methionine. This is often sold as selenomethionine, even though it is not. This blend has the same risks as other inorganic forms of selenium. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell if a product has real selenomethionine or is an inorganic selenium without knowing its supplier. That is why we require any product we sell that uses selenomethionine to divulge their supplier to us so we can check to ensure it is genuinely selenomethionine.
Research has repeatedly shown that organic forms of selenium are far more effective in improving selenium status and endpoint results than inorganic forms.
Best Selenium Supplements
As with other supplements, you know we prefer whole-food ones. Finding truly whole-food selenium supplements was difficult, as many that claimed to be whole-food were anything but. Real whole-food selenium supplements will contain multiple forms of organic selenium, which provide the full spectrum of selenium benefits.
Our first whole-food selenium pills are NXGEN Wholefoods Beef Kidney capsules. These capsules are made from grass-fed cattle raised with regenerative farming practices by family farmers. The cattle roam the Lake Eyre region of Australia, spending their entire lives outdoors and eating a variety of grasses.
The kidneys come directly from the family farms to the facility, where they are gently freeze-dried, cryo-milled into a powder, and then encapsulated. That’s it. The kidney is also rich in a host of nutrients, including B-12 and a whole food source of DAO. DAO is an enzyme that helps break down histamine in the gut. Each serving contains approximately 45-50 mcg of selenium. Beef kidneys contain multiple types of organic selenium
Our next selenium pills are Triquetra Total Selenium, which are made from garlic. The garlic is farmed hydroponically in India. It takes up the inorganic selenium in the growing medium and converts it into four bioavailable, organic forms of selenium. Then, the garlic is dried, milled into a powder, and encapsulated. That’s it! Each capsule contains 200 mcg of organic selenium.
Selenium Supplement Support And Questions
If you have selenium questions, feel free to email us at info@rooted-nutrition.com. We will be happy to answer them!
