do I need to supplement selenium?

[WobblyX]

I had a total thyroidectomy a few years past and have been prescribed a combination of T3 & T4 since ….all is well as far as thyroid is, good energy for gardening etc do I need to take selenium as well?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

WobblyX

Selenium is an essential mineral and has quite a few benefits according to

healthline.com/nutrition/se...

Whether you need to supplement is difficult to say. The only way you'll really know is if you test. If you decide to go ahead and supplement without testing then it's said that a safe amount is 100mcg, no more than 200mcg.

If you prefer to get selenium from Brazil nuts rather than a supplement then the nuts have to be grown in selenium rich soil for them to contain any, so the packaging needs to state this and, preferably, where they were grown and how much selenium they contain. If this information isn't available it's more than likely they don't contain any selenium.

Here is an article which discusses the best form of selenium supplement:

wearefeel.com/blogs/learn/b...

How much we need daily (for a healthy person with no selenium deficiency):

ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/S...

Selenium content in Brazil Nuts:

honey-guide.com/2012/11/19/...

Members have kindly given me the following information about Brazil nuts containing a declared amount of selenium available from well known shops/supermarkets here in the UK so if yours doesn't give this information you might want to check out the following:

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". You would have to check the nutritional information on the pack to see if it says exactly how much selenium per xxg of Brazil nuts.

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".

More recently I've been made aware of Morrisons Market St brand which states 254mcg per 100g or 101.6mg per recommended 40g portion.

Also Waitrose Duchy Organic Brazil Nuts which they claim contain a rather startling 479mcg selenium in a 25mcg serving although that does seem to be out of proportion when looking at the others and I wonder if it's a mistake and should be 47.9mcg selenium in a 25mcg serving:

waitrose.com/ecom/products/...

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