Hi all, I am considering buying a selenium test because selenium apparently has various benefits for thyroid health. The test is very expensive so I'm curious if anyone else has experience of the test or any insight into their value?
I have eaten brazil nuts for years so I want to be sure I don't already have high levels of selenium in my system before starting with supplementation.
For any mineral or vitamin that the body doesn't excrete in urine or faeces it is always worth reading up on deficiency and toxicity of the thing you want more information on.
Do you recognise any symptoms of toxicity from this link?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selen...
Do you recognise any symptoms of deficiency from this link?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selen...
Personally, I've never had my selenium level tested, so can't say whether this is worth doing.
Thanks for your input. I don't have any of the symptoms of selenium toxicity and the only symptoms of selenium deficiency I have could be caused by other conditions (hair loss, brittle nails, fatigue, brain fog, difficulty concentrating, memory problems). I'm not sure if it would be optimal for thyroid health to have higher levels than the minimum required to avoid a deficiency.
It does seem to be pretty important for thyroid health and may be worth looking into for people struggling to get well like me. It shouldn't be hard to get enough of it from our diets but the same is true of things like iron which I was still somehow deficient in. The following page on Thyroid UK's site was informative: thyroiduk.org/about-selenium/
If you were deficient in iron, which is rare for men, did your doctor arrange any further testing to find out why you were deficient? How long were you treated for to raise your iron levels and iron stores? Were you re-tested regularly to see if your levels were good and stayed good?
For example, you could have Crohn's Disease, Coeliac Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, a bleeding polyp. a bleeding ulcer, and no doubt there are a dozen other possible conditions which could lead to reduced iron absorption or bleeding from the gut, including a genetic problem.
Another point is that when fixing a low level of iron, it may take a very, very long time (e.g. a couple of years in some cases, and some people c an never raise their levels to optimum) and, depending on the cause of the low iron, may require a permanent maintenance dose to keep it at a good level, as well as frequent re-testing to be sure levels aren't dropping or rising if the maintenance dose is wrong.
Thanks for the reply. I really appreciate your interest. First of all, I should clarify that it was low ferritin I was diagnosed with.
My GP was happy just to put me on ferrous sulphate until my levels returned to normal and left it at that. I think it took about two months. When I was eventually referred to an endocrinologist, he was surprised the GP hadn't investigated further and made sure potential causes were explored. I've had a colonoscopy, gastroscopy (including biopsy to check for coeliac) and an MRI of the small bowel, along with various blood tests. Thankfully, all the explorations showed no problems, although it does leave me wondering why I had low ferritin stores in the first place, especially given that my diet is very varied and I eat plenty of beans, nuts, red meat etc.
I monitor my own levels of folate serum and ferritin when I get them checked as part of the thyroid testing available via Medichecks. I notice that my folate is quite high now (16.72 ug/L) but my ferritin has climbed less quickly and is only at 101 ug/L (30-400). I've been continuing to take about 84mcg of iron per day to try to boost my levels of ferritin, but I don't know if it's necessary with higher levels of folate. I also notice that other iron tests are available such as total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) and transferrin saturation, but I don't know if it would be worthwhile to have them tested.
I should clarify that it was low ferritin I was diagnosed with
Ferritin is a measure of your iron stores, and low levels will make you feel terrible.
Optimal levels are around mid-range or a bit higher. So with a range of 30 - 400 you might want to get up to a level of approx 215 - 310 (ish). Being male you might actually want to get to a minimum level of 250 or so.
One thing to be aware of is that iron is complicated. You can have good levels of ferritin along with any level of serum iron. So serum iron can be below range, low in range, mid-range, high in range or over the range. And different levels of iron and ferritin together tell you different things about your levels.
Another thing to bear in mind is that iron is poisonous in overdose, so it is worth keeping levels of both iron and ferritin well within range.
Some links you might find of interest :
Optimal iron results :
rt3-adrenals.org/Iron_test_...
Problems with overdoing iron :
healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...
For a private iron panel :
medichecks.com/products/iro...
For discount codes :
thyroiduk.org/help-and-supp...
Thanks. If I would benefit from supplementing to get my ferritin levels into the mid-range or higher, how can I avoid my serum iron levels getting too hjgh?
Unfortunately, people can't tell in advance how their ferritin will react or how their serum iron will react if they start supplementing. Ideally people will always get an iron panel done before supplementing, and that might give them some clues about what to expect. But sometimes people just have to try supplementing iron (after a test shows iron and/or ferritin are low) and see what happens. They also need to test regularly to see what is happening. I don't know any way of forcing iron to go up rather than ferritin or vice versa.
Personal anecdote : At one time my ferritin was very low in range and my serum iron was below range. When I supplemented my ferritin did rise (slowly) but my serum iron moved substantially slower than my ferritin. It took me nearly two years to raise my ferritin to mid-range but even then my serum iron was only 25% of the way through the range.
I did once, as an experiment, push my ferritin higher in the hope of raising my serum iron, but I had to push it over the range which I was very unhappy with, so I let my iron and ferritin both drop again. Now, I just accept that my serum iron will be lower in rantge than I'm happy with. I don't like pushing anything iron-related above optimal.
Other people can have the reverse problem - their serum iron rises but their ferritin stays low. Other combinations also happen. For example transferrin saturation could get extremely high, while other levels are inconsistent with the high transferrin saturation.
Hi I have had my selenium tested and I was over range. I had been eating 3-4 Sainsbury’s fair trade Brazil nuts daily and wanted to know whether that was enough or too much. I’ve since stopped because I was over range so it was helpful to me. I’ll probably just eat one a day going forwards.
Hi. Thanks for letting me know. I often eat more than 3-4 brazil nuts per day, so I should probably get my levels of selenium checked because I could be over range too.
TiredDad
Brazil nuts have to be grown in selenium rich soil to contain any selenium. Then it depends in which area the nuts were grown in because the amount of selenium in soil varies. Eastern Amazon and Central Brazil have the highest amounts:
honey-guide.com/2012/11/19/...
The packaging needs to say "Grown in selenium rich soil" and preferably the area and possibly the amount of selenium.
Apparently Sainsburys SO organic brazil nuts contain 50mcg selenium per 30g serving of nuts
sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/pro...
and their Fairtrade ones have 75mcg selenium per 30g serving
sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/pro...
One member has said that M&S Natural Brazil Nuts say "harvested by hand in the Amazon forest and naturally high in selenium".
Also, check out Aldi's "The Foodie Market" Brazil nuts, the packaging is said to show selenium content as 79mcg per 30g serving.
Another one is 'My Garden of Eden' Brazil nuts from Home Bargains.. They say "High in Selenium and high in vitamin E" on the front of the packet and the Nutritional Information says "one serving (25g) gives 63ug of Selenium".
Too much selenium over time can cause the following:
Garlic breath
Nausea
Diarrhea
Skin rashes
Irritability
Metallic taste in the mouth
Brittle hair or nails
Loss of hair or nails
Discoloured teeth
Nervous system problems
Thanks. The company I’ve bought my brazil nuts from doesn’t list their selenium content, so I have little idea how much I’ve been consuming. I think they’ve been from Bolivia, but I don’t know what that would mean for selenium intake. I don’t have any of the symptoms of toxicity/excess intake you’ve listed.
According to the link I gave, Brazil nuts from Bolivia may contain 8mcg per nut, I expect yours have little to no selenium content, certainly not enough to have any benefits health wise unless you eat an awful lot of them.
similarly to jsy_girl, testing was useful to me as I found that my selenium is always high in range even when I don’t supplement, and supplementing even small doses seemed to be causing my nails to peel and weaken. In fact even taking a multivitamin with a bit of selenium in it would cause my nails to start peeling. It scared me to think what else it might be doing to my body that was less recognizable so I stay away from selenium. It seems as though I get plenty from my diet considering repeated tests showing high in range results.
cutting the brazil nuts out completely for a few weeks (while changing nothing else) and then starting them back up may help provide some clarity as to whether they are helping or hurting you. another thing to keep in mind as that the selenium content of brazil nuts can vary wildly based on the soil in which they are grown (even within the same brand, as they may source from different suppliers in different seasons.
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