Absorption Archives - Seleniumfacts.com

The Danish researchers Niels Hadrup and Gitte Ravn-Haren have published a comprehensive study of the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of selenium obtained from food and from nutritional supplements [Hadrup 2021].

Pills — Selenium supplements come in many forms, both organic and inorganic. The advantage of the selenium-enriched yeast preparations is that they contain 20-30 different species of selenium in addition to selenomethionine. Some of these selenium species may have important biological effects.

Here we summarize their findings with respect to selenium in selenium-enriched yeast supplements. We do this for two reasons:

Selenium-enriched yeast supplements contain more than 20 different species of selenium in addition to the species selenomethionine. It may be that some of the selenium species other than selenomethionine – for example, the selenocysteine-se-methylselenocysteine compound – account for selenium’s protective effect against cancer [Larsen 2004].
Selenium-enriched yeast supplements have been shown to reduce bio-markers of oxidative stress whereas pure selenomethionine supplements have not [Richie 2014].

Absorption of selenium from selenium-enriched yeast preparations

In a 2008 paper, researchers reported having given healthy elderly individuals 100, 200 or 300 mcg selenium in a selenium-enriched preparation daily for a period of 5 years. The supplementation resulted in mean plasma levels of 165, 221, and 260 mcg/L, respectively. In the control group, given a placebo for 5 years, the plasma selenium concentration was 92 mcg/L [Ravn-Haren 2008]. read more

Baker’s yeast, the yeast that feeds on sugars in flour and releases the carbon dioxide that makes the bread rise, that is the same yeast that the selenium is organically bound to in the production of high-selenium yeast supplements. In the production process, the selenium is incorporated into selenium compounds: selenomethionine, methylselenocysteine, selenocysteine and numerous other organic selenium species. The high-selenium yeast supplement gives the best absorption, the best retention, and the best antioxidant, chemopreventive, and immunomodulating support.

We want stability, safety, and bio-availability from our selenium supplement. The high-selenium yeast supplement – also known as the selenium-enriched yeast supplement – is the best formulation to achieve these goals.

High-selenium yeast supplements are produced using the selenium that has been grown with Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast (baker’s yeast). Those of us who take a daily high-selenium yeast supplement know that the yeast used in the making of the supplement is dead. The yeast cells cannot get into our bodies and multiply because they are not alive.

Various forms of selenium supplements

There are both inorganic and organic forms of selenium in commercially available selenium supplements. There are supplements made with inorganic forms containing selenium salts like sodium selenite and sodium selenate. Their absorption is not nearly as good as the absorption of the best organic selenium-enriched yeast supplements. read more

Milestones in early selenium research

1817 Swedish chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius discovers selenium

1957 Biochemist Klaus Schwarz shows that selenium in microscopic amounts has a vital importance for mammalian health

1969 Professor J.T. Rotruck discovers that selenium has a biochemical role as a component of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase

1969 Professors R.J. Shamberger and D.V. Frost report a possible protective effect of selenium against cancer in humans

1973 Professor J.T. Rotruck identifies the enzyme glutathione peroxidase as a selenium-dependent protein

1977 Professor G.N. Schrauzer publishes cancer mortality correlation studies showing an inverse correlation between dietary intakes of selenium and cancer mortality in 27 countries

1988 Professor G.Q Yang summarizes the lessons learned about the selenium-related endemic diseases Keshan disease and Kashin-Beck disease and about the importance of adequate daily selenium intakes

1989 Professor G.G. Duthie publishes evidence for a role of selenium in the prevention of cardiovascular disease

1993 Researcher W.J. Blot publishes the results of the Nutrition Intervention Trials in Linxian, China, showing that supplementation with a combination of selenium and other antioxidants reduces the risk of cancer

1994 Professor G.N. Schrauzer publishes evidence that selenium is important in the maintenance and therapy of HIV-infected patients

1996 Professor Larry Clark publishes the results of a randomized controlled trial – the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer study -- that shows selenium's cancer-protective effects on colon cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer

1997 Professor G.F. Combs summarizes the evidence for the protective effects of selenium against cancer

1999 Professor J.E. Oldfield publishes his Selenium World Atlas, mapping areas of selenium deficiency around the world

2000 Researcher O.A. Levander publishes evidence showing an anti-viral effect of selenium

2002 Researcher R. Gärtner shows that supplementation with selenium reduces inflammation in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis

2002 Researcher Margaret Rayman presents the arguments for increasing selenium intakes to realize selenium’s antioxidant and anti-viral and anti-inflammatory effects as well as selenium’s enhancement of immune function and reproductive success.

Category: Absorption

Pharmacokinetics of Oral Selenium-Enriched Yeast Supplements

Absorption of selenium from selenium-enriched yeast preparations

The formulation of the high-selenium yeast supplement

Various forms of selenium supplements