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Originally Posted by Mike In NY  The article that I read about 5 years ago recommended that taking 200mg of selenium daily for 4 years reduced your risk of cancer by 50%. The Multi Vitamin supplement that I take has 70mg. I have no idea what I'm getting in foods but selenium is high in tuna, beef, turkey, chicken, eggs & rice. I was taking an additional 200mg of selenium a day but have cut this down to every several days. I do remember discussing that more than 400mg of selenium is not recommended and I'm certain that I was exceeding this amount when I took the additional 200mg. I remember reading in the article that if the Drug Companies could develop a drug that would reduce your risk of cancer by 50% the Doctors would be writing prescriptions by the Millions. The selenium brand that I take costs 3.5 cents a day for 200mg. I've recommended Selenium to many and not one has listened. |
You probably mean micrograms (mcg), not milligrams (mg). A microgram is one millionth of a gram. A milligram is one-thousandth of a gram. Selenium is a heavy metal that in high milligrams would be quite toxic, I would think. Many experts agree 100-400 mcg can be taken safely and always should be taken with vitamin E (100-800 IU -- but I don't go above 400 IU).
In a study published in the January, 1997, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, both men and women taking selenium supplements developed 41 percent less total cancer than those taking placebos. They took 200 mcg. Interestingly, as an editorial pointed out in the journal, people getting 200 mcg from food showed no such decrease in cancer. It was only from taking the supplements.
Selenium naturally gets into food products from the soil. The amount of selenium in food differs based on the soils in a given geographic region. While some areas of the United States, particularly the Northeast, Pacific Northwest and the Southeast, do have low-selenium soils, widespread shipment of food typically prevents selenium intake deficiencies in people in these geographic areas.
I personally avoid Brazil Nuts, because they are unusually high in selenium. I checked on the typical amount of selenium in different foods, and with the exception of Brazil Nuts, it seemed so low that I don't worry about getting too much selenium from food combined with the 200 mcg I take in pills.
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