NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Selenium in the form of selenomethionine is better absorbed than as selenite or high-selenium yeast, according to a study conducted at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, 15, 4:804-10, 2006) (http://cebp.aacrjournals.org). The study characterized the effects on plasma selenium biomarkers and urinary selenium excretion of supplementation with three types of selenium—sodium selenite, high-selenium yeast or selenomethionine (as Selenium SeLECT®, from Sabinsa Corp.). Subjects were randomized into 10 groups (placebo and three dose levels of each form of selenium) for 16 weeks. Selenomethionine and yeast raised plasma selenium concentrations in a dose dependent manner; selenite did not. Urinary selenium excretion was greatest after selenomethionine, then yeast, then selenite, with no significant differences among the forms.
“This study further substantiates the fact that selenium in the form of selenomethionine, specifically our Selenium SeLECT compound, is more available to be absorbed and used by the body,” noted Vladimir Badmaev, M.D., Ph.D., vice president of scientific and medical affairs, Sabinsa (www.sabinsa.com). “Additionally, some of the participants had total daily intakes of more than 800 micrograms of selenium over the course of the study and showed no signs of selenium toxicity despite the fact that 800 micrograms is well above the recognized safe upper limit set by the Institute of Medicine.”
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