Selenium

Optimal dose 55 mcg/day

Selenium is critical for optimal immune function. This is important to prevent both infections and cancer. For example, 3 studies suggested that selenium may decrease the risk of colon cancer by about 1/3. Selenium was also shown to increase how long you live and decrease cancer frequency. Selenium is an antioxidant, and deficiency is associated with thyroid deficiencies. In fact, low selenium is one of the problems that causes an under active thyroid with normal blood tests, as it is critical for converting inactive thyroid to the active form. Of concern is that research suggests that supplementing with doses over 55 mcg a day my increase diabetes risk, so I now 55 mcg a day unless higher doses are needed for specific conditions (e.g., Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis).

More Information Online

Nutritional primer

We have a 20,000 word primer on nutrition at our website that provides more detail with study references on each nutrient. Click here to visit the "Selenium" section of our primer.