Selenium-Rich Foods for Diabetics to Improve Their Immune Health

Selenium-Rich Foods for Diabetics to Improve Their Immune Health

Your thyroid gland plays an important role in your body, by managing hormones and helping regulate metabolism. A poorly functioning thyroid can lead to a number of problems, especially for diabetics who already have enough to deal with.

Unfortunately, diabetics experience thyroid problems at a higher rate, and the thyroid problems then make their diabetes worse. Since your thyroid helps regulate most other systems in your body, it can affect your immune system if it’s not working properly.

There are even cases where your immune system will damage the thyroid, making everything worse. However, to combat this, you should include snacks in your diet that give you a nice little boost of selenium, which helps your thyroids perform better.

By getting your thyroids under control and having them work better, you’re going to be able to control your blood glucose levels much easier, something that is crucial for diabetics.

Selenium doesn’t just help your thyroids, though. It’s also been found to help your immune system and even heart health, both of which are also very important for diabetics.

Now it’s just a matter of finding the right food to get your selenium from. You don’t need a lot at all - around 50-60 micrograms per day is fine. As long as you stay under around 400 micrograms you’ll be fine, but you shouldn’t go over that amount.

The first common source of selenium is chicken. Of course chicken can be cooked in a ton of different ways, plenty of which are fine for diabetics. You want to avoid fried altogether, but you can season it and pan sear or bake it instead.

You should also be sure to avoid sugary sauces like barbeque sauce. Selenium can also be found in eggs in decent amounts. Eggs are a good food for diabetics because they’re high in protein and fairly low in carbs, especially if you’re not adding in things like cheese to the mix.

Just having some sunny side up or scrambled eggs in the morning is a good way to get those nutrients in early on. Finally, the best source of selenium is Brazil nuts. Just 5 whole Brazil nuts is enough to give you your daily intake.

These can be eaten as a quick snack in the afternoon or along with another meal, and they’re low carb enough for diabetics to not have to worry about them.