You may have low levels of selenium if you:. The evidence on taking selenium to treat heart disease is mixed. Scientists know that low levels of selenium can contribute to heart failure, and being deficient in selenium seems to make atherosclerosis worse.
Atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, happens when plaque builds up in arteries, which can lead to heart attack and stroke. Studies show that taking selenium supplements does not seem to have any effect on the progression of heart disease, nor does it protect against heart attack.
Selenium, combined with other antioxidants, including vitamin E and beta-carotene, may help lower LDL bad cholesterol levels. But selenium can also interact with cholesterol-lowering drugs, and make them less effective. If you have or are at risk for heart disease, talk to your doctor before taking selenium.
Studies show that low levels of selenium are associated with a higher risk of cancer death. Scientists are not sure how selenium affects this risk. But they have observed that people who live in parts of the world where the soil is rich in selenium have lower rates of cancer, possibly because there is more selenium in food.
In addition, people who have cancer often have low levels of selenium. For most types of cancer, selenium does not appear to have much effect. One early study looking at whether selenium reduced the risk of skin cancer found that, although it did not seem to affect skin cancer risk, people who took selenium lowered their risk of death from cancer overall.
However, later studies found that selenium does not seem to lower the risk of lung or esophageal cancer. Evidence is mixed on whether it protects against colorectal cancer. Two studies suggest that mcg per day might help protect against colorectal cancer, but other studies do not show any benefit. The best evidence suggests that if you have low levels of selenium, getting more selenium in your diet may lower your risk of prostate cancer.
Taking a special kind of selenium-rich brewer's yeast, called selenized yeast, may also help. In one study of 1, people, those who took mcg of selenium as selenized yeast per day compared to those who took a placebo had two-thirds lower risk of developing prostate cancer during the 4.
However, the men who got the benefit had low levels of selenium to start with. The situation is even more complicated when it comes to skin cancer. Some early evidence led scientists to investigate whether selenium might protect against skin cancer.
But a large trial found that taking daily selenium supplements actually increased the risk of squamous cell carcinoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. Many studies suggest that the body needs selenium for the immune system to work properly.
Selenium, along with other minerals, can help boost white blood cells, which improves the body's ability to fight illness and infection. A few studies suggest that selenium might help prevent some infections, such as a bacterial skin infection that often occurs with lymphedema, and mycoplasma pneumonia.
In addition, one study suggested that when elderly people took zinc and selenium supplements, their immune systems responded better to the flu vaccine than those who took placebo. Evidence suggests that people with asthma tend to have low blood levels of selenium.
In a study of 24 people with asthma, those who took selenium supplements for 14 weeks had fewer symptoms compared to those who took placebo. But in a larger randomized, double-blind study, people who took a yeast supplement that contained selenium didn't have fewer symptoms than those who took placebo. More studies are needed. Studies have shown that levels of selenium go down consistently as HIV progresses.
In one study, those taking a particular selenium supplement called Selenomax slowed the increase in viral load and had higher CD4 cell counts. But another study found that taking selenomethionine, a type of selenium, had no effect. Selenium and other antioxidants play an essential role in how your body makes certain proteins found in sperm. One study suggested that selenium supplements might improve male fertility in men who had low levels of selenium.
However, high levels of selenium may negatively impact sperm's ability to swim. Low levels of selenium in the blood may be associated with increased risk of RA. A few large observational studies showed a correlation between higher selenium concentrations in toenails and a lower risk of diabetes.
However a placebo-controlled study of more than 1, people over seven years found selenium supplements didn't reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, and may actually increase diabetes risk, according to the paper published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Selenium levels tend to drop as HIV infections progress. Recent studies on selenium supplements in HIV-positive patients show some promise. One laboratory study of human blood cells found that adding a certain selenoprotein to HIV-infected cells slowed the replication of HIV by fold, compared with HIV-infected human cells without the selenoprotein, according to the November paper in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
A study on HIV-positive people in Botswana, who had not taken antiretroviral medicines, showed a multivitamin in combination with selenium supplements slowed the progression of HIV symptoms and lowered the risk of death, according to the November paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Interestingly, the selenium supplements alone or the multivitamin alone did not provide any better protection than placebo during the two-year study.
Another controlled study of HIV-positive people found that micrograms of daily selenium supplements could suppress HIV viral burden the amount of virus in the blood and strengthen the immune system, according to a paper published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. People with asthma tend to have lower selenium levels than people without asthma. But the few epidemiological studies to touch on this topic haven't found that taking selenium supplements can reduce asthma symptoms, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
And while selenium is needed to make healthy sperm, very high selenium levels are also linked to decreased sperm motility. Selenium does help the production of white blood cells, which help fight infection. But there are limited studies as to whether selenium supplements beyond the recommended daily amount boost the immune system, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Most people in the United States get more than the 55 micrograms of selenium recommended each day. However, some situations may lower a person's selenium levels. People who smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol often are more likely to have low selenium levels. Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or other conditions that interfere with how the body absorbs selenium can lead to low selenium levels.
Kidney dialysis patients may also become low in selenium. The chemotherapy drug cisplatin can lower selenium levels in the blood, but it is not known if cisplatin can lead to a significant deficiencies. Supplements may deliver selenium in several forms, including sodium selenite and sodium selenate. But more forms of selenium are found naturally in food, according to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.
In , a liquid dietary supplement that was times more concentrated than advertised led to selenium poisoning in more than people in 10 states. The most common effects were diarrhea, fatigue, hair loss, joint pail, brittle nails and nausea. A third of the people affected continued to experience symptoms 90 days after taking the mislabeled supplements. Taking too much selenium over time can lead to selenosis, which can cause hair loss, nail loss, nausea, irritability, fatigue and some nerve damage.
Other symptoms of chronic selenium overdose are a metallic taste in the mouth, and a garlic scent on the breath. This powerful mineral helps protect the thyroid against oxidative damage and plays an essential role in the production of thyroid hormones. A healthy thyroid gland is important, as it regulates your metabolism and controls growth and development An observational study including over 6, people found that low serum levels of selenium were associated with an increased risk of autoimmune thyroiditis and hypothyroidism One review concluded that taking selenium supplements daily for three months resulted in lower thyroid antibodies.
Your immune system keeps your body healthy by identifying and fighting off potential threats. These include bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Selenium plays an important role in the health of your immune system. This antioxidant helps lower oxidative stress in your body, which reduces inflammation and enhances immunity. Studies have demonstrated that increased blood levels of selenium are associated with enhanced immune response. On the other hand, deficiency has been shown to harm immune cell function and may lead to a slower immune response Studies have also associated deficiency with an increased risk of death and disease progression in people with HIV, while supplements have been shown to lead to fewer hospitalizations and an improvement in symptoms for these patients Additionally, selenium supplements may help strengthen the immune system in people with influenza, tuberculosis, and hepatitis C These airways become inflamed and begin to narrow, causing symptoms like wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing Asthma has been associated with increased levels of oxidative stress and inflammation in the body In fact, one study showed that asthmatic patients with higher levels of blood selenium had better lung function than those with lower levels For example, one study found that giving people with asthma mcg of selenium per day reduced their use of the corticosteroid medications used to control their symptoms The following foods are great sources 33 , 34 :.
The amount of selenium in plant-based foods varies depending on the selenium content of the soil in which they were grown. For example, one study showed that the selenium concentration in Brazil nuts varied widely by region. Although selenium is necessary for good health, getting too much can be dangerous. In fact, consuming high doses of selenium can be toxic and even fatal. Small amounts of selenium are necessary for your health, but too much of this mineral can be deadly.
Early warning signs of selenium overdose include a garlic odor in your breath and a metallic taste in your mouth. Other symptoms include brittle nails, hair loss, skin lesions, and neurological dysfunctions.
Plus, mislabeled dietary supplements can leave you at risk of selenium overdose. Most of the selenium you consume flushes out of your body, but this substance builds up in your thyroid gland and in some of your other organs to a lesser degree. Theoretically, synthetic selenium would have the same absorption rate as natural selenium.
Natural sodium selenite is currently the only available form of this nutrient. You can consume selenium in the food you eat, but the absorption rate of food-sourced selenium is significantly lower than the rate at which your body absorbs selenium. Like all essential minerals, selenium supplementation walks a fine line between being beneficial and downright dangerous; many supplements contain way too much selenium, which could be harmful or even deadly. Here at WeAreFeel, we understand how important minerals are to your well-being, but we respect the potential of these nutrients to cause harm.
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