Adequacy or deprivation of dietary selenium in healthy men: Clinical and psychological findings

Abstract

Thirty healthy young men were fed diets that provided either 32.6 or 226.5 μg of selenium (Se)/d for 105 d. The high Se diet significantly elevated plasma Se and platelet glutathione peroxidase activity. Selenium balance of subjects consuming the high Se diet was >100 μg/d, whereas subjects on the low Se diet were in approximately zero balance. High dietary Se significantly improved mood; specifically, subjects on the high Se diet improved in the clearheaded/confused, elated/depressed, composed/anxious, and confident/unsure subscores, and total mood disturbance was less in men consuming the high Se diet. These data show that North American men are able to stay in zero Se balance on as little as 24 μg/d. Additionally, they show that psychological function, specifically mood, can be influenced by increasing or decreasing the amount of Se in the diet. J. Trace Elem. Exp. Med. 11:11–27, 1998. Published 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.1