9 Ways Selenium Benefits Your Health

Selenium benefits your health in many vital ways, including helping fight disease and provide energy. Without enough, you may not see these contributions to your health. See the selenium benefits you can gain, identify if you could be deficient, and see how easy it is to supplement with BetterYou.

Table of Contents

• What is Selenium?
• 9 Selenium Benefits
• How Much Selenium Per Day?
• Benefits of Selenium Supplements
• 6 Signs of Selenium Deficiency
• 10 Sources of Selenium Benefits

What is Selenium?

Selenium is one of the seven essential minerals your body needs to stay healthy and work at its best. In the periodic table, it has the chemical symbol Se and has an atomic number of 34. It is a reactive non-metal found in soil and naturally in water, some foods, and selenium supplements.

Known as a trace element, selenium benefits vital functions within the body including immunity, DNA synthesis, and protection from oxidative stress. Including this type of mineral as one of your immune system supplements is crucial to encourage a healthy lifestyle.

9 Selenium Benefits

Selenium benefits your body and health in multiple essential ways, including aiding the function of the immune system. To aid your body’s vital functions, ensure your intake is optimal to help you avoid low levels. The benefits of selenium include:

1. Supporting the immune system - Thanks to the way selenium benefits your immune system, having optimal levels can help prevent infection and illness. You can support your little ones’ immunity with our children’s immunity supplements range, which include selenium for this reason.
2. Aid turning food into energy - Selenium concentration is higher in the thyroid gland than in any other organ in the body. A selenium benefit is its important function in thyroid hormone synthesis and metabolism (the process of turning food into energy). Getting energy naturally from food is an essential process all the cells in your body need. Energy supplements can help to fuel your body and reduce fatigue.
3. Maintaining normal hair and nails - This is because this nutrient supports the regulation of iodine, which your thyroid needs. It is the thyroid which then is responsible for the growth of your hair and nails. Supporting your beauty from within starts with hair, skin, and nails vitamins.
4. Protect cells from oxidative stress - Another of the benefits of selenium is its role as an antioxidant. By helping to reduce the number of free-radicals by neutralising them. Removing these excess free radicals helps protect cells from damage. This is also a benefit of zinc, which can be taken to contribute to this essential health process.
5. Reduce risk of selenium deficiency - Selenium benefits are vital for the body, and so a low intake can cause deficiency. This leads to side effects which can damage your health. Ensuring proper mineral levels can reduce your risk of this, and help you experience the benefits of selenium.
6. Ease of supplementation - Another benefit of selenium is that it can be supplemented easily through a hassle-free formula. Oral sprays are designed to support your intake of vital nutrients without the need to take a pill.
7. Reducing inflammation - Selenoproteins help prevent the oxidative modification of lipids, reducing inflammation and preventing platelets from aggregating. It’s suggested that selenium supplements could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease or deaths associated with cardiovascular disease.
8. Spermatogenesis - The process of spermatogenesis is aided by this mineral. This process is the maturation of sperm cells within the male reproductive organs. Selenium benefits this process by protecting sperm from damage or mutations while they are vulnerable in their development. The mineral is also present within the tail of sperm cells, so naturally, these cells are sensitive to low levels.
9. Helping elderly function - Serum selenium concentrations decline with age. Marginal or deficient nutrients concentrations might be associated with age-related declines in brain function, possibly due to decreases in selenium’s antioxidant activity. Maintaining proper nutrient levels is therefore crucial as you age.

If your mineral intake is low, from a lack of supplements or your diet, you may not experience these selenium benefits. Instead, you may be at risk of developing low levels. This is when the levels of vitamins and minerals is not sufficient, and can cause certain unwanted, detrimental health effects.

How Much Selenium Per Day?

How much selenium per day you are supposed to take depends on your age and other factors, for example pregnancy. To see the benefits of selenium, you need to ensure your levels are at their optimum, and adhere to nutritional reference values.

For children aged 1 to 3 years old, the recommended dosage of this mineral can be as little as 15 μg (mcg), while children aged 11 to 14 are recommended to take 55 μg per day.

For adults (18 years and older), the recommended intake per day is 70 μg per day. The safe upper limit is 300 μg per day.

Ensuring your intake of essential nutrients is at recommended levels is vital for you to see the benefits of selenium. Taking supplements can help with this, to ensure you have a regular daily intake.

If you take too much selenium, this causes selenosis. This is a condition that could lead to loss of hair and nails. Not exceeding recommended upper tolerable limits (300 μg daily for adults) is therefore very important.

Benefits of Selenium Supplements

Selenium supplements can help you aid your intake of this essential nutrient, therefore supporting your body to see selenium benefits. At BetterYou, we’ve developed a supplement with a hassle and pill-free formula, to help you support your health.

The Selenium + ACE oral spray contains an expert blend of selenium and vitamin A to support the normal function of the immune system, as well as vitamins C and E to protect cells from oxidative stress. That way you can help your body experience the assets of vitamin A, vitamin E benefits, as well as vitamin C benefits and selenium benefits.

This oral spray helps to protect cells from oxidative stress, support the immune system and collagen production for the formation of blood vessels, cartilage, and bones. It also seeks to maintain normal hair, skin, and nails, and support vision and eye health.

6 Signs of Selenium Deficiency

The benefits of selenium include a wide range of essential health functions. Therefore, if your levels are not high enough you could be at risk of low or deficient levels. Selenium deficiency affects 500 million to 1 billion people worldwide. Without enough nutrients, unwanted health issues may occur.

Symptoms of selenium deficiency include:

1. Muscle weakness, which is also a sign of vitamin d deficiency
2. Fatigue, which is also a sign of iron deficiency
3. Weakened immune system, which is also a sign of low levels of vitamin E because vitamin E supports your immune system
4. Infertility
5. Mental fog
6. Hair loss

These unwanted side effects can damage your health, so intaking proper levels can not only reduce the risk of these issues, but showcase the benefits of selenium. Identifying these signs can help you remedy low nutrient levels. Always consult your doctor if you think you have signs of deficiency and before taking supplements.

Take care of your nutrient intake by knowing what your levels are. Your body needs certain doses of each vitamin and mineral to function properly. With BetterYou, you can use health test kits to check your levels. That way, you can avoid deficiency, stay on top of your supplements, and encourage bodily health.

10 Sources of Selenium

Sources of this essential nutrient can help you to experience the benefits of selenium. If you know which foods contain crucial nutrients, you can be sure to include them in your diet alongside supplements. That way, your levels can be at their optimum and you may see these selenium benefits. Some sources include:

1. Selenium supplements
2. Brazil nuts
3. Seafood and fish
4. Organ meats
5. Muscle meats
6. Cereals and other grains
7. Dairy products
8. Bread
9. Poultry
10. Eggs

Including these nutrient sources in your diet can help you to intake the recommended daily amount for this essential mineral and experience selenium benefits.

For those who follow a more restricted diet, whether by choice or due to allergies, we created supplements to support a well-rounded diet. If you cut out meat, for example, you may not be able to intake enough key vitamins than you may need. That’s why we created vegan supplements to provide the supplements vegans should take. Additionally, vegetarian supplements help bridge the nutrient gap with supplements vegetarians should take. Whilst gluten-free supplements provide nutrients for those who avoid gluten in their diet. This way, those with dietary requirements don’t miss out on the vital benefits of selenium and other essential nutrients.

Supplementing with BetterYou

At BetterYou, we specialise in pill-free supplements to encourage a healthy lifestyle. From pregnancy supplements to support you through that all-important time, and sleep supplements to help you wind down, allowing you to prioritise your health today.