Category: Thyroid Function

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Selenium and thyroid disorders

The thyroid is the little endocrine gland at the base of our necks.  It produces hormones that affect nearly every organ in our bodies.  Specifically, the thyroid hormones regulate our cells’ metabolism. Both iodine and selenium are needed in adequate amounts for optimal thyroid functioning.

Iodine is an essential component of the thyroid hormones.  After iodine, selenium is arguably the micronutrient most important to the thyroid gland. Proportionally, there is more selenium in the thyroid gland than there is selenium in any other organ in the body. There are good reasons for the presence of selenium in the thyroid gland.  Iodine and selenium are both required for thyroid hormone synthesis and function.

Our bodies do not make selenium. We must get the selenium that we need from our food and from supplements. The selenium that we absorb is incorporated into the amino acid selenocysteine. Selenocysteine, then, is a necessary component of some 25 selenoproteins that are needed for various biological functions. read more

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A basic guide to selenium

Selenium is a by-product of the mining and refining of copper. There are no sites in the world for the mining of selenium alone. Given its relative scarcity and its many uses — industrial and agricultural as well as nutritional — selenium for supplements will surely be more expensive in the future, and there may well be shortages of it in the future. Accordingly, it is important for us to use it wisely and to conserve it.

Selenium is an important micronutrient.  It is essential for life for both people and animals.  The body cannot synthesize selenium and is dependent upon the selenium that it can get from food.  In many regions of the world, there is too little selenium in the soil and in the food, and supplementation is necessary for optimal health.

Regions with selenium-poor soil
In many regions of the world, the content of selenium in the soil is quite low.  In large parts of Asia, China in particular, and in much of Europe and the Middle East, there are low levels of selenium in the soil.

Plants accumulate inorganic selenium from the soil and convert it to organic selenium. In that way, the selenium enters the food chain. For example, cows eat grass containing selenium, and the some of the selenium enters the meat and the milk of the cows.  People eat the meat and drink the milk.  Too little selenium in the soil means too little selenium in the food. read more

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Dr. Gerhard N. Schrauzer – renowned selenium researcher

Schrauzer
Dr. Gerhard N. Schrauzer was the first scientist to study the biological functions of selenium systematically. He was known internationally for his pioneering work in the cancer-protective properties of selenium. (Picture: Cancer Research, vol. 49 no. 23, Dec. 1, 1989)

Dr. Gerhard N. Schrauzer was the grand old man of selenium science.  Actually, he was the grand old man of trace element research in the United States for 30 years or more.  He was one of the pioneers and one of the major figures in selenium research.   Let’s take a look at the useful contributions of information to the selenium supplementation knowledge base that Dr. Schrauzer made.

First, who was Dr. Schrauzer in the context of selenium research?
Dr. Schrauzer did his graduate study in chemistry at the University in Munich, Germany. He was awarded his Ph.D. summa cum laude.  From 1966 to 1994, he was a chemistry and biochemistry professor at the University of California in San Diego (UCSD). After his retirement, he was a professor emeritus at UCSD. read more

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The functions of selenium supplements

skin-cells antioxidant
Selenium is an important component of the antioxidant defense in the cells. It helps to protect against oxidative damage to both cells and DNA. It has been shown to have a protective effect against the damage to skin cells caused by ultraviolet radiation.

Why the interest in selenium facts?  Here, at the beginning of the seleniumfacts.com website, we want to review in broad terms what we know about the functions of selenium supplementation. We are especially interested in selenium’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in the human body.

Selenium is an essential trace element in the human diet, and, in many regions of the world, it is an absolutely necessary nutritional supplement.  It has many and diverse functions in the human body.

One of the interesting things about selenium is that it does not perform its functions as an element or an ion.  Instead, it functions as a component of more complex compounds.  In particular, it is an essential component of the 21st amino acid, selenocysteine. read more