Zeitschrift für Lebensmittel- und Ernährungsstörungen

Selenium on Human Health: Decoding the Myth

Kalaivani Annadurai, Raja Danasekaran and Geetha Mani

Selenium on Human Health:Decoding the Myth

Selenium (Se) is one of the essential trace elements necessary for maintenance of optimal health and gaining more importance recently. It is often considered as a two edged sword; inadequate Se is associated with certain diseases and excess intake poses severe adverse threat to human health. With relatively narrow therapeutic window of selenium, its safe range of intake has not been clearly defined so far. Only few roles of Se have been well established, some of its functions are still unclear and remaining unknown. Predominant functions of Se are antioxidant activity for protection against free radicals, detoxification, enhancement of immune system, implicated in thyroid metabolism, cancer prevention, cardiovascular health and also involved in growth and development.