The nutrient is essential for thyroid function
Seleniumis a mineral that is important for thyroid hormone metabolism.
Your body doesn’t makeselenium, so the only way you might get it is through food and/or supplements.
Most people meet their requirements, but some are at greater risk for deficiency.
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This mineral plays a key role in your thyroid glands ability to produce thyroid hormone.
Iodine requires selenium for be synthesized properly into thyroid hormone.
Selenium is important for reproduction and DNA synthesis.
Additionally, it helps protect you from infection and damage resulting fromoxidative stress.
These levels continued to decrease at six months and 12 months.
TgAb levels did not decrease until the 12-month point.
TgAb decreased at three months, but not at six or 12 months.
While the odds of a deficiency are pretty low for most, some people have greater risk.
Your selenium levels can be measured by blood tests.
A hair or nail analysis can evaluate your levels over months or years.
This isn’t a routine test if you have thyroid disease.
It’s usually only performed if a selenium deficiency or toxicity is suspected.
Foods with seleniuminclude:
Selenium can be found in supplements either alone or in combination multivitamins.
Brazil nuts contain as much as 90 mcg of selenium per nut.
This means you’ve got the option to actually trigger selenium toxicity by eating them too often.
For those with thyroid disease and low selenium levels, supplementation can be beneficial.
For those whose selenium levels are normal to high, however, supplementation could potentially result in toxicity.
Summary
Selenium is a mineral important for thyroid health.
Research also shows that selenium supplementation may help people with certain thyroid-related conditions.
It is possible to get too much selenium, which can also cause health problems.
If you’re concerned about your selenium levels, ask your healthcare provider about having them tested.
If you’re concerned about your selenium intake or thyroid function, talk to your healthcare provider.
Ventura M, Melo M, Carrilho F.Selenium and thyroid disease: from pathophysiology to treatment.Int J Endocrinol.
2016;26(12):16811692. doi:10.1089/thy.2016.0256
National Institutes of Health.Selenium: fact sheet for professionals.
Hu S, Rayman MP.Multiple nutritional factors and the risk of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.Thyroid.
2017 May;27(5):597610. doi:10.1089/thy.2016.0635.
