Determination of the daily selenium intake in Slovakia

Three models were used to determine the daily dietary Selenium intake in Slovakia. The Selenium content of food produced and consumed in the Slovak Republic was used to estimate and calculate the daily Selenium intake based on food consumption data per capita and seven days, (24 h) eating protocol models. In a duplicate portion model, Selenium was analyzed in a whole day hospital diet during an eight-day period. According to these models the daily dietary Selenium intake was 38.2 microg; 43.3 +/- 6.5 microg for men and 32.6 /- 6.6 microg for women; 27.1 +/- 7.8 microg for normal and 32.3 +/- 4.8 microg for nourishing hospital diets. The main contributors of Selenium to daily intake were the following: eggs, pork, and poultry. The obtained results indicate that the daily dietary intake of Selenium of the Slovak people is below the recommended values.