That's not expensive? Selenomethionine is the type I'm after. I currently take Viridian which is around £8/9 for 30 capsules. It doesn't last long as I take 2 capsules daily.
Previously I used solgar but I didn't feel it was as effective.
There's so many different supplement sellers on Amazon now I don't know which brand to trust. Thought I'd ask here as people know what actually is effective. Supplements are becoming a major drain on my beleaguered budget.
A good quality vitamin C recommendation would also be appreciated! Thanks
Written by
Alanna012
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Thank you humanbean! Looked at the link...It seems the best brand is the one I'm already taking! But I have somehow missed that they do a 90 tabs for roughly just over double the price. Still pricey. But I could maybe reduce and add in some organic brazil nuts!
What makes some supplements more expensive than others? How they are formed?
It's not necessarily organic Brazil nuts you need but nuts grown in selenium rich soil for them to contain any selenium. I have mentioned some brands in my post in the thread Humanbean linked to.
I suggest you consider whether your dose is sensible on a long-term basis.
400 micrograms would be regarded by many as a high dose. Indeed, it is regarded (by some) as being the Tolerable Upper Intake Level.
USA recommended daily allowance is 55 to 70 micrograms a day. You are taking many times that dose.
You might need some extra selenium, but it is unlikely your existing diet has no selenium at all. You need to add that in as well to estimate your total intake.
People often receive the suggestion of taking selenium for a few weeks, then having a "selenium holiday".
I don't know how much selenium is in the food I eat. When I struggle to get out to shops sometimes I compromise on food quality. I wish I could afford to eat purely organic food. I have a garden and will try to at least get a few big grow bags in, but any heavy gardening will kill me. Next year I will at least try to stick to eating organic offal twice a week. How's that for a boring New Years resolution!
I know it's a high dose, however, I want to attempt(!) to slowly add in some iodine to my diet. I read contrasting opinions, but I don't have much to lose by experimenting
Even if you are convinced that you need to add iodine, even if you are convinced that you need adequate selenium in order to do so, I'd still be wary of taking so much selenium.
I appreciate that finding out exactly how much is in your diet is difficult to impossible. But you could make a very rough guess.
Remember that as you are taking 400 a day, each and every single additional microgram from food is already OVER the official tolerable upper intake level.
Liver for dinner for me tonight! (Just a coincidence. )
I envy you, liver sounds kingly! After doing three stir fries with leftovers and a meaty omelette, I've been gifted by relatives with yet more turkey and ham. What is the selenium content of leftover bird? The mental stimulation of trying to work this out may make it slightly less undesirable. But not much!
Turkey has around 10 to 20 micrograms per 100 grams.
Ham has around 11 or 12 micrograms per 100 grams.
McCance and Widdowson’s Composition of foods integrated dataset (CoFID)
McCance and Widdowson’s 'composition of foods integrated dataset' on the nutrient content of the UK food supply.
McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset 2021
McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset 2021: user guide
McCance and Widdowson's composition of foods integrated dataset
McCance and Widdowson's composition of foods: old foods
The link includes the user guide, and two spreadsheets – the main data and an “old foods” supplement. They require you to have some sort of spreadsheet software such as Excel or Mac Numbers, installed.
interesting read, I also take selenium daily, I take vegavero brand as the tablets are smaller and no odour come back. They are supposedly extracted from natural sources.
They seem to be a lot lower dose than the Viridian which I have taken before and tablets are considerably easier to take.
It’s hard to work out the exact dosage on these, any comments? Should I be having a selenium holiday? I’ve taken it for years daily unless I’m ill.
Interesting what are the side effects to having too much?
Recognising that these quotes are from their website - effectively advertising, they nonetheless do point out the issue of higher dose selenium.
Uncontrolled intake of selenium pills may quickly result in poisoning, as the toxic dose already starts at 400 μg per day.
AND
As not only the quality but also the safety of our product is one of our main concerns, we decided to offer selenium capsules with 100 μg of selenium. In contrast to other selenium supplements, our product is therefore not overdosed and thus safe to take on a regular basis.
I would urge you to test your selenium levels with Cerascreen before supplementing with any more selenium. Seaside Susie tested her selenium and was over range.
I tested 21/11/22 and was 367ug/L in a range of 67-135.
I started taking SourceNaturals, Selenomethionine, 200mcg, 120 tablets on 1/8/22. I stopped 1/12/22, at which point I had finished the 120 tablets in one bottle. I bought 3 bottles as I think it gave me free postage. They are currently £10.96 for 120 at iherb, though i can't remember if bought from there or not. They are yeast free etc.
I took them as I have eye symptoms and it is considered reasonable by NHS and TED to supplement 200mcg for 6 months, then reduce to 100mcg.
I have a food intolerance to brazil nuts, so suspected I may have a problem with selenium, as brazil nuts grown in selenium -rich soil are practically the world's richest source of selenium.
People commonly have a selenium deficiency, as the soil is supposedly depleted in selenium now. I assumed if I had a problem it would likely be a deficiency. Since 3oz. of tuna contains about 167% of daily recommended value, 3oz. of beef steak 60% -70%, 3oz. roast chicken 40%, 1 slice of wholemeal bread 24%, and, I think, 3oz. of pig's liver may be 104%, it is surprising that selenium deficiency is common.
I reckon that 1 home made pork sausage roll with shop bought puff pastry contains 33.33% of daily value. I eat one daily, as well as 3oz. of beef, fish or chicken say, which is another 40-70%. A nut and date type of slab I make for dessert is 22.45% per square.
I have stopped the nut and date dessert and supplementation from 1/12/22. Before that, from diet alone, I reckon i was eating around 142.16% per day.
I now think from researching, my selenium may be up-regulated. Isabella Wentz and also, Dr.Lam, an adrenal fatigue specialist, believe that a CBS mutation can be responsible for this.
A CBS upregulation can lead to an overabundance of sulfites in the body.(Hedgeree thinks she has problems with sulfites). The CBS enzyme works too fast and creates chemical reactions in the body that should not be taking place, according to Dr. Lam, I think.
Also, he states that sedated behaviour after consuming food with L-glutamine may be due to elevations in ammonia, via a CBS mutation. (Sleeping after eating was discussed in a post a few days ago)
Dr.Lam says that sulfur intake needs to be limited by removing onion, garlic, cruciferous veg., eggs, legumes and all protein rich dairy if have a CBS mutation and selenium up-regulated, as causes leaky gut and leads to mineral and antioxidant deficiences with a reduction in nutrient absorption and increased risk of food sensitivities. It results in chronic gut issues with higher bacterial loads, manifesting as higher ammonia production , as well as leaky gut syndrome.
Both Dr. Lam and Isabella Wentz say that if you have a CBS mutation (150 found so far), that it may cause a folate deficiency , and something about not being able to hold on to vit b12, without really explaining why. I think it may have something to do with the methylation cycle, which I don't understand.
My problem seems to be Central Hypo which is a signalling issue at the pituitary and/or hypothalamus. I wonder now whether it is up-regulated selenium that is causing the signalling problems, as if selenium deficient you should still have enough selenium for the selenium dependent deiodinases because selenium prioritises firstly the brain, then the thyroid before all else. The pituitary and hypothalamus need it too. I believe too much selenium may be messing with the signalling.
As regards to TPO antibodies, selenium supplementation is supposed to decrease them. I am negative for TPO antibodies. I wonder whether those of us negative for TPO may have high or up-regulated selenium. I posted earlier in the month asking what level of selenium other members had, if they had tested their levels. Only Seaside Susie replied.
Isabella Wentz does not consider it necessary to test selenium , even suggesting supplementing at 400mcg daily, probably on the assumption that most are deficient in the first place. I agree with Seaside Susie that you should test before supplementing. I didn't. In consequence, I don't know how high my levels were before supplementing. I believe I would have been over-range before supplementation. Too late now to know.
Selenium supplementation is supposed to increase T4 levels. I started 50mcg liquid levo 22/7/22. I took 200mcg selenomethionine from 1/8/22.
FT4 was 8.4 (12-22) on 12/5/22 on 25mcg tablets.
Ft4 was 12.7 (12-22) on 12/9/22 (7% through the range) on 50mcg liquid levo from 22/7/22 and 25mcg tablets 13/5/22- 11/9/22.
Ft4 was 18.8 (12-22) on 21/11/22 (68% through the range) on 75mcg liquid levo from 3/10/22.
Whether selenium supplementation boosted FT4 or not I cannot really say.
In light of the above, if you don't know where your levels of selenium are you could inadvertedly supplement to toxic levels.
Thank you for this thorough and very interesting reply! Sorry sorry, it's late!! You seem to understand selenium supplementation a lot. Well I probably should be sensible and get tested beforehand but I won't because my belief is that we are simply not getting enough minerals in general with all the poor deprived soils, intensive farming etc and all the so called standard daily amounts for vitamins and minerals seem to be based on what is needed to avoid chronic illness as opposed to thriving. I read that to develop selenite poisoning you have to consume an entire bottle of selenium 200mg over a couple days
I've read of people taking even more than Isabella Wentz suggests taking.
I have TPO antibodies and am very ill in general, so if higher selenium supplementation helps them come down that's a bonus for me as ai am very ill. It's interesting it does seem the selenium boosted your T4 levels a bit although it's not clear.
That said the idea that selenium can become upregulated leading to excess sulphites in the body is something I need to look into and I was told many years ago to cut down on the amount of onions I eat by an NHS GP without explanation like you have given. That bit is very interesting indeed. I do get drowsy after consuming home made bone broth which is naturally high in L-glutamine. I need to look into this, oh dear yet another thing to consider. I think I'm going to get one of those gene profiles done
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
)
SELENIUM SUPPLEMENT HELP
Supplement recommendations? 
Selenium - supplement or Brazil nit's? 
What's the best Magnesium supplement for Thyroid?
