Varied diets and local grain quality raise selenium in Tibetan bodies
Wang L, Li F, Kong C, Li H, Gu L
Soil Health
The selenium level in your own garden soil directly shapes how much of this essential mineral ends up in the vegetables and grains you grow, and this study shows just how sensitive that link between soil, crop, and human health really is.
In parts of Tibet, the soil is naturally low in selenium, a mineral people need in small amounts to stay healthy, and this shortage has been tied to a painful bone disease in the region. Scientists found that people who ate a wider mix of foods, including some brought in from outside the area, along with grains grown in slightly more selenium-rich soil, had noticeably better selenium levels in their bodies. Even things like stronger sunlight and colder, drier air seemed to nudge the body's selenium handling in a positive direction.
Key Findings
Among 572 Tibetan residents studied from 2019-2022, urinary selenium was consistently low and declined with age, with no difference between men and women.
Higher dietary diversity, non-local food intake, and poultry consumption were positively linked to urinary selenium, with effects strengthening most when highland barley selenium exceeded 0.04 µg/g and wheat flour selenium stayed below 0.051 µg/g.
Local soil and water selenium concentrations positively influenced urinary selenium, while higher UV radiation and colder, drier conditions also boosted selenium levels, unlike oxygen concentration, which only mattered above a certain threshold.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Researchers studying Tibetan communities found that eating a wider variety of foods, especially outside foods like poultry, along with selenium-rich local barley and wheat, raises the low selenium levels in people's bodies that contribute to a bone disease common in the region. Environmental factors like intense UV light and cold, dry conditions also nudged selenium levels up, showing that both diet and climate shape how the body handles this essential mineral.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Food Pattern, Food Selenium and Environmental Stress Regulating the Urinary Selenium in Tibetan Population.
Tibetan Plateau, which was once a severe endemic area of Kashin-Beck disease (KBD), was low with selenium in the soil geochemical background and with harsh environment, thus resulting in selenium d...
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