Dietary intake and sources of selenium in young Finnish women

Dietary intake of selenium by 29 young Finnish women was estimated using the 7-day record method. The mean daily selenium intake was 31 micrograms by calculation. The main dietary sources of selenium were fish and eggs (29.5 per cent of the total intake), cereals (28.1 per cent) and milk (18.7 per cent). Using multiple regression analysis, it was shown that selenium intake cannot be explained by the consumption of nine main food groups because of the large variation in selenium content of different foods in each of the food groups. The 95 per cent confidence limits for an individual's selenium intake showed that the 7-day record method gave an estimate within 35 per cent of the long-term selenium intake. The high intra-individual variation in the selenium intake found in the present study warrants particular attention when dietary data on selenium intake are considered in relation to health parameters.