Effects of Selenium on Our Health

Selenium is one of the trace minerals necessary for our body to function properly. Although we need selenium in small quantities, its deficiency can lead to some health issues, especially when it comes to our heart health, immunity, joints, and reproductive health. Our body cannot produce selenium, so we have to include it in our diet. However, scientific studies have shown that larger quantities of selenium could be toxic. Thus, nutritionists suggest taking selenium mainly from food, not from supplements; selenium supplements are recommendable only if our physician finds selenium at its lowest level. Since a deficiency of selenium is rare, the food rich in selenium should be the main source of selenium in our body. It is well known that selenium can significantly improve our immune system. Not only our immunity benefits of food rich in this mineral, but also our metabolism, skin, and cardiovascular system can show significant improvement. Selenium can also prevent certain types of cancer, especially prostate cancer. If we want to enrich our diet with food that contain selenium, the article “Selenium” gives as a nutrient rating chart that shows the sort of food with its selenium quantities.

Diet, which includes meats, fish, and vegetables, can significantly increase the level of selenium in our body. With this sort of diet, we are not at risk of too much selenium intake. Nutritionists also considered that every vitamin or mineral, contained in food, our body absorbs much better than from their supplements. Natural food has other ingredients that help our body to utilize better all its nutrients. Since the quality of food greatly depends on the soil, the quantity of selenium can vary. Thus, we need to inform ourselves about the food origin and obtain the food mainly from secure suppliers.