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Usage Notes

• Selenium (measured in micrograms) and calories are calculated per 100g of food.
• This selenium content of foods database contains approximately 7,000 most common food items.
• Click on column header to sort foods by name or by selenium or calories.
• Pie chart shows relative contributions to total calories from carbohydrate, protein and fat (and alcohol, if exists).

Selenium in Diet

Selenium is a trace mineral that is essential to good health but required only in small amounts. Selenium is incorporated into proteins to make selenoproteins, which are important antioxidant enzymes. The antioxidant properties of selenoproteins help prevent cellular damage from free radicals. Free radicals are natural by-products of oxygen metabolism that may contribute to the development of chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Other selenoproteins help regulate thyroid function and play a role in the immune system.

Some medical studies suggest that selenium may help with the following conditions, but more studies are needed:
•Prevent certain cancers
•Prevent cardiovascular disease
•Help protect the body from the poisonous effects of heavy metals and other harmful substances
•Boost fertility, especially among men. The mineral has been shown to improve the production of sperm and sperm movement.

Selenium Deficiency

Human selenium deficiency is rare in the U.S. but is seen in other countries, most notably China, where soil concentration of selenium is low. There is evidence that selenium deficiency may contribute to development of a form of heart disease, hypothyroidism, and a weakened immune system. There is also evidence that selenium deficiency does not usually cause illness by itself. Rather, it can make the body more susceptible to illnesses caused by other nutritional, biochemical or infectious stresses.

Keshan disease is caused by a lack of selenium. This leads to an abnormality of the heart muscle. Keshan disease caused many childhood deaths in China until the link to selenium was discovered and selenium supplements were provided.

Two other diseases have been linked to selenium deficiency:
•Kashin-Beck disease, which results in joint and bone disease
•Myxedematous endemic cretinism, which results in mental retardation

Selenium Food Sources

Plant foods are the major dietary sources of selenium in most countries throughout the world. The content of selenium in food depends on the selenium content of the soil where plants are grown or animals are raised. For example, researchers know that soils in the high plains of northern Nebraska and the Dakotas have very high levels of selenium. People living in those regions generally have the highest selenium intakes in the United States (U.S.).
In the U.S., food distribution patterns across the country help prevent people living in low-selenium geographic areas from having low dietary selenium intakes. Soils in some parts of China and Russia have very low amounts of selenium. Selenium deficiency is often reported in those regions because most food in those areas is grown and eaten locally. Selenium also can be found in some meats and seafood. Animals that eat grains or plants that were grown in selenium-rich soil have higher levels of selenium in their muscle. In the U.S., meats and bread are common sources of dietary selenium.
Some nuts are also sources of selenium. Selenium content of foods can vary. For example, Brazil nuts may contain as much as 544 micrograms of selenium per ounce. They also may contain far less selenium. It is wise to eat Brazil nuts only occasionally because of their unusually high intake of selenium.

Foods High in Selenium

List of top 100 foods high in selenium content. Selenium content is in micrograms per 100 grams of food weight.

Foods High in Selenium

Selenium

Nuts, brazilnuts, dried, unblanched

1917

Sea lion, Steller, liver (Alaska Native)

693

Nuts, mixed nuts, oil roasted, without peanuts, with salt added

422

Pork, fresh, variety meats and by-products, kidneys, cooked, braised

312

Sea lion, Steller, kidney (Alaska Native)

274

Lamb, variety meats and by-products, kidneys, cooked, braised

219

Spices, mustard seed, ground

208

Smelt, dried (Alaska Native)

194

Pork, fresh, variety meats and by-products, kidneys, raw

190

Beef, variety meats and by-products, kidneys, cooked, simmered

168

Mollusks, oyster, Pacific, cooked, moist heat

154

Turkey, fryer-roasters, skin only, cooked, roasted

153

Turkey, young tom, skin only, cooked, roasted

153

Fish, cod, Atlantic, dried and salted

148

Turkey, young hen, skin only, cooked, roasted

144

Turkey, all classes, giblets, raw

142

Beef, variety meats and by-products, kidneys, raw

141

Chicken, broilers or fryers, skin only, cooked, roasted

137

Egg substitute, powder

128

Lamb, variety meats and by-products, kidneys, raw

127

Egg, white, dried, powder, glucose reduced

125

Egg, white, dried

125

Turkey, all classes, skin only, cooked, roasted

124

Cereals ready-to-eat, wheat, puffed, fortified

123

Cereals ready-to-eat, QUAKER, QUAKER Puffed Wheat

123

Sea lion, Steller, heart (Alaska Native)

122

Egg, whole, dried, stabilized, glucose reduced

121

Egg, whole, dried

120

Sea lion, Steller, meat with fat (Alaska Native)

119

Foods High in Selenium

Selenium

Egg Mix, USDA Commodity

118

Egg, white, dried, flakes, glucose reduced

117

Lamb, variety meats and by-products, liver, cooked, pan-fried

116

Fish, whitefish, dried (Alaska Native)

113

Chicken, broilers or fryers, skin only, cooked, stewed

112

Sea lion, Steller, meat (Alaska Native)

112

Lamb, variety meats and by-products, liver, cooked, braised

111

Fish, tuna, yellowfin, fresh, cooked, dry heat

108

Steelhead trout, dried, flesh (Shoshone Bannock)

105

Seeds, sunflower seed butter, with salt added

104

Seeds, sunflower seed butter, without salt

104

Chicken, broilers or fryers, giblets, cooked, fried

104

Fish, salmon, chum, dried (Alaska Native)

104

Whale, beluga, meat, dried (Alaska Native)

103

Chicken, roasting, giblets, cooked, simmered

100

Veal, variety meats and by-products, kidneys, cooked, braised

100

Chicken, capons, giblets, cooked, simmered

95

Fish, whitefish, eggs (Alaska Native)

93

Beef, variety meats and by-products, spleen, cooked, braised

91

Seal, bearded (Oogruk), meat, dried, in oil (Alaska Native)

91

Fish, tuna, fresh, yellowfin, raw

91

Chicken, stewing, giblets, cooked, simmered

90

Mollusks, whelk, unspecified, cooked, moist heat

90

Mollusks, cuttlefish, mixed species, cooked, moist heat

90

Mollusks, mussel, blue, cooked, moist heat

90

Mollusks, octopus, common, cooked, moist heat

90

Semolina, enriched

89

Wheat, durum

89

Cereals ready-to-eat, UNCLE SAM CEREAL

88

Fish, roughy, orange, cooked, dry heat

88

Chicken, liver, all classes, cooked, pan-fried

88

Foods High in Selenium

Selenium

Egg, yolk, dried

87

Turkey, liver, all classes, cooked, simmered

83

Lamb, variety meats and by-products, liver, raw

82

Chicken, liver, all classes, cooked, simmered

82

Veal, variety meats and by-products, spleen, cooked, braised

81

Fish, tuna, light, canned in water, drained solids

80

Fish, tuna, light, canned in water, without salt, drained solids

80

Veal, variety meats and by-products, kidneys, raw

80

Seeds, sunflower seed kernels, dry roasted, without salt

79

Seeds, sunflower seed kernels, dry roasted, with salt added

79

Wheat germ, crude

79

Noodles, egg, dry, enriched

79

Noodles, egg, dry, unenriched

79

Seeds, sunflower seed kernels, oil roasted, without salt

78

Seeds, sunflower seed kernels, oil roasted, with salt added

78

Cereals ready-to-eat, MALT-O-MEAL, Puffed Wheat Cereal

78

Wheat bran, crude

78

Mollusks, oyster, eastern, farmed, cooked, dry heat

78

Mollusks, oyster, Pacific, raw

77

Fish, rockfish, Pacific, mixed species, cooked, dry heat

76

Fish, tuna, light, canned in oil, without salt, drained solids

76

Fish, tuna, light, canned in oil, drained solids

76

Salmon, red (sockeye), filets with skin, smoked (Alaska Native)

76

Crackers, matzo, whole-wheat

75

Fish, mackerel, salted

73

Crustaceans, lobster, northern, cooked, moist heat

73

Spaghetti, whole-wheat, dry

73

Pork, fresh, variety meats and by-products, pancreas, cooked, braised

73

Turkey, liver, all classes, raw

71

Cereals, whole wheat hot natural cereal, dry

71

Cereals, WHEATENA, dry

71

Foods High in Selenium

Selenium

Cereals, RALSTON, dry

71

Cereals, MALTEX, dry

71

AMARANTH FLAKES

71

Wheat, hard red winter

71

Wheat, hard red spring

71

Kamut, uncooked

69

Fish, swordfish, cooked, dry heat

69

Fish, anchovy, european, canned in oil, drained solids

68

Goose, liver, raw

68

New York Times: Hopes Rising for Selenium

SELENIUM, a mineral long feared for its toxicity, is on the road to becoming a Cinderella nutrient. As the last of 40 nutrients to be proved essential to human health, selenium is now the subject of both human and animal studies that suggest it can help prevent the two leading killers in the Western world: heart disease and cancer. It may also lift the human spirit.

In the latest published study, selenium supplements taken for 10 years failed in their primary mission, to protect against the development of skin cancers, but they were incidentally found to reduce other cancers by a third and to cut overall cancer deaths in half. This effect of a daily 200-microgram supplement was so dramatic that the researchers are convinced that it is real, not just a statistical fluke, even though the study was designed to examine a different question.

Earlier studies had linked low dietary intakes of selenium to an elevated risk of heart attacks, strokes and other diseases related to high blood pressure. People with low levels of selenium in their blood were shown to be three times as likely to die of a heart attack as those with higher selenium levels, a finding that may be related to selenium's apparent ability to raise blood levels of HDL, the ''good'' cholesterol, which helps protect against heart disease.

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