What is Selenium?
Selenium is an essential trace element the body needs for good health and proper functioning. It is found in soil and water and is bioconcentrated by plants from the soil. Plants and animals that live in places where the soil is rich in selenium have high amounts of this mineral.
Selenium exists in inorganic and organic forms. Inorganic selenium occurs in the soil as selenite and selenate while organic selenium occurs as selenoproteins such as selenocysteine and selenomethionine. Plants accumulate inorganic selenium from the soil and converts this to organic form, which is consumed by animals and man.
In the body, selenium is incorporated with aminoacids like methionine to form selenomethionine. It is mostly stored as proteins in the skeletal muscles, which account for up to 46% of the total selenium found in the body. Other forms of organic selenium may be converted to selenophosphate for the synthesis of other selenoproteins.
Selenium is essential as a cofactor of certain enzymes that help maintain normal body functions. For example, it aids in the reduction of glutathione peroxidase enzymes, which have antioxidant activity. It also acts as a cofactor of thyroid hormone enzymes and is therefore important in all thyroid gland activities.
Selenium Food Sources
Selenium rich foods include seafoods, organ meats, muscle meats, dairy products, cereals and grains, breads, poultry, and eggs. Nuts, especially Brazil nuts and walnuts, are excellent selenium foods. Eating just 6-8 pieces of Brazil nuts can supply more than 700% of the daily value (DV) of selenium recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Many types of fish, like cod, tuna, halibut, sardines, herring, and red snapper are good selenium...
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...the amount of selenium one needs for adequate nutrition in most healthy people have been defined as:
Group
Recommended Dietary Allowance
(micrograms/day)
Children 0-3 years
10 to 20
Children 4-8 years
20 to 30
Children 9-13 years
40
Above 14 years
55
Pregnant women
60 to 65
Breastfeeding women
70 to 75
Tolerable Upper Intake Levels (UL) for Selenium:
Groups
UL
(micrograms)
Birth to 6 months
45
7–12 months
60
1–3 years
90
4–8 years
150
9–13 years
280
14–18 years
400
19+ years
400
Pregnant
400
Lactating
400
Works Cited
WebMD. Selenium. http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/lifestyle-guide-11/supplement-guide-selenium
NIH. Selenium. http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Selenium-HealthProfessional/
Mayo Clinic. Selenium Supplement (Oral Route).
http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/selenium-supplement-oral-route/description/drg-20063649
Sulfur is mainly found in the body in amino acids (such as methionine and cysteine) as well as connective
Creatine helps provide the energy our muscles need to move, especially movements that are quick and explosive. Approximately ninety five percent of the body’s creatine supply is found in the skeletal muscles (www.pacific-nutrition.com). The other five percent is spread throughout the body, but mainly found in the heart, brain and testes. Creatine is easily absorbed from the intestinal tract into the blood stream.
... like tuna, mackerel, and salmon. some dairy products, orange juice, soy milk, and some cereals. The only mineral that was the least of the 100% recommended by my DRI was potassium, Which I plan to get from bananas like I stated before, avocados and cantaloupe.
Vitamin, any of the organic compounds required by the body in small amounts for metabolism, to protect health, and for proper growth in children. Vitamins also assist in the formation of hormones, blood cells, nervous-system chemicals, and genetic material. The various vitamins are not chemically related, and most differ in their physiological actions. They generally act as catalysts, combining with proteins to create metabolically active enzymes that in turn produce hundreds of important chemical reactions throughout the body. Without vitamins, many of these reactions would slow down or cease. The intricate ways in which vitamins act on the body, however, are still far from clear.
Protein. This places a crucial role as it helps maintain the body tissue, as well as helps repair damaged body tissue, and it assists in the growth of the human body. Proteins contain amino acids, which help assist the building blocks of the body. Energy is essential for the functioning of the body, and protein helps give the body energy.
We only need small amounts of foods which are micronutrients but they play very important roles in our diets, development and well-being. A lack of micronutrients can lead to under-development in children and an increase of vulnerability to various diseases in adulthood. Micronutrients
The science of human nutritional requirements i.e. Nutrition is a dynamic science and all is not known, discoveries are being made almost on a daily basis and apart from this the difficulty on determining the singular nutrient effect the human body is virtually impossible.
Chang-Hwan Oh. "Selenium content in representative Korean foods." Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 22.2 (2009): 117-122. Web. 6 Dec. 2013.
Potassium is one of the most important elements in human diet. To begin with, potassium works with sodium for various reasons. For example, it helps to regulate body waste, control heart rhythms, and assist in reducing high blood pressure. It also aids in clear thinking by sending oxygen to the brain. This element is crucial to the maintenance of the nervous system and the muscular system. Potassium is an electrolyte, and therefor regulates the balance of fluids inside and outside the cells, including blood.
Vitamins are essential aids in many body processes, converting food the energy, building and maintaining cells, and other functions.
Proteins (macronutrient), which are found in animal products, nuts and beans, they help to build new cells, maintain tissue and synthesis new proteins essential for performing basic bodily functions. Proteins are in abundance in the human body and are present in the outer and inner membranes of all living cells (Dummies, 2018). Proteins are essential for building new cells, maintaining tissue and helping new proteins needed for basic bodily function (
Like grains and beans, nuts and seeds contain anti-nutrients including enzyme inhibitors, phytic acid, and lectin. Nuts are not typically cooked, and shouldn 't be, because of how sensitive they are to light and heat.
The human body requires small amounts of nutrients in microgram or milligram quantities in our diet because it cannot synthesize the necessary amounts on its own. These nutrients are considered micronutrients. Micronutrients are a combination of water, vitamins, and minerals. Vitamins are organic compounds that do not provide energy, but are essential to the body in helping “aid in metabolism, as well as the growth, development and maintenance of body tissues” (Byrd-Bredbenner, Moe and Beshgetoor 402). Vitamins are broken down into two groups, water-soluble and fat-soluble. The water-soluble vitamins are the B-vitamins, and vitamin C. The fat-soluble vitamins are A, D, E, and K. Minerals are needed in even smaller amounts, however these inorganic substances are necessary for “cell metabolism, nerve impulse transmission and growth and development” (Byrd-Bredbenner, Moe and Beshgetoor 485). Minerals can be categorized into major or trace minerals. The major minerals include Sodium, Potassium, Chloride, Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, and Sulfur. Trace minerals are Iron, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Iodine, Selenium, Chromium, Fluoride, Molybdenum and Ultratrace minerals.
Selenium is often used in the production of stainless steel, energy converters, photo copy machines and surprisingly, medical use. In fact, selenium is very beneficial to the human body and is essential to our everyday lives. It is a mineral that protects the elasticity in body tissues, decreases/slows down the aging process, and as well as enhances the flow of oxygen to the heart. In addition, selenium aids the body with producing special proteins called antioxidant enzymes which decrease and/or prevent cell damage.
Zinc is an essential trace element for many living organisms. While this can be said about other essential metals, zinc is unique in its physiochemical properties that give it the ability to interact with donor groups of different ligands, resulting in a broad range of stability constants and diversity of the biological functions and processes that zinc is involved in. It was discovered and recognized as a new metal in the eightieth century, While its biological essentiality was found by Raulin for the growth of Aspergillus niger In 1869 [1]. In 1933 Zinc was found essential for the growth of animals while studying its effect on rats. [2]