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What Are Common Foods with Selenium?
Selenium, a nutrient which helps to fight the effects of free radicals in the human body, is found in a variety of plant foods, meats and seafood. Foods with selenium in high amounts include sea lion liver and kidney, as well as dried Brazil nuts. Other foods with selenium in large amounts include pork kidneys, lamb kidneys and canned clams. Selenium is also found in baked products, nuts and canned soup.
Foods with selenium are abundant, and higher levels are often found in seafood. Canned tuna, cuttlefish and octopus have high levels of selenium. Other seafood options with selenium include orange roughy, oysters and halibut. Salmon, whale and smelt are also good options. Mollusks, jellyfish and Atlantic cod feature high levels of selenium. Other seafood options with selenium include shrimp, monkfish and squid.
Many types of meat are known to have great amounts of selenium. Raw lamb liver, beef kidneys and beef spleen are high in selenium. Beef pot roast and round and shoulder cuts are also good options. A variety of pork products are also good options when choosing foods with selenium. Ham, rump roast and tenderloin contain selenium. Pork chops, ribs and shoulder are also good options.
Foods with selenium also include poultry, such as turkey, chicken and duck. Raw goose liver and chicken giblets and livers also have selenium. Ostrich and emu meat are also high in selenium, including ostrich legs and emu rumps and fillets. Ground emu and ostrich also are good sources of selenium. Cornish game hens and quail breast are also good choices.
Foods with selenium also include egg products. Egg whites and egg white substitutes contain selenium, as do foods made from them, such as omelets. A variety of whole eggs also contain selenium, including turkey, duck and quail eggs.
Foods with selenium also include nuts, such as Brazilian nuts, mixed nuts and sunflower seeds. Canned soup and broth also feature selenium. Chicken noodle and turkey noodle soup as well as chicken broth are good sources of selenium. Some baked products also contain selenium, including whole-wheat English muffins, whole-wheat pita bread and whole-wheat matzo crackers.
Some vegetables are good sources of selenium. These include shiitake and portabella mushrooms, as well as asparagus and spinach. Mustard and mustard seed also contain selenium. Some breakfast cereals are also good sources of selenium, including ready-to-eat puffed wheat and hot, natural, whole-wheat cereals.
Discussion Comments
@Viranty - I definitely agree with you on that aspect. However, it's still a good idea to watch what we eat. Just because many foods are rich in nutrients doesn't mean that all of them are. For example, you'd be surprised at how much healthier fresh pineapple is than the canned version. Notice how it also has more of a "processed" and "artificial" taste.
@Viranty - I definitely agree with you. However, it's always a better idea to seek out natural foods, as opposed to the ones that are processed. For example, though many fish are high in selenium, the "natural" kind (bought in the fresh food market) may reap more benefits than the canned type, which are usually chemically compressed and processed.
One thing that I find really interesting about the foods we eat is that more than often, they're rich in nutrients, and we don't even realize it. That's what makes these foods so beneficial. Whether it's eggs, tuna fish, or even crackers, most of the foods we eat are so rich in vitamins and minerals, that we don't even have to try and seek out healthful foods, unless we're trying to go on a diet, or watch our weight.
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