Does Mark Hyman recommend Selenium?
Mark Hyman recommends Selenium in some contexts, but has also raised cautions.
Published research rates it moderate evidence. Of Mark Hyman's 18 tracked claims, 0 are supported or partially supported by studies on PubMed.
Evidence last reviewed May 2026
Mark Hyman on Selenium — 18 claims
“I think a multivitamin is a really good insurance because you know there's so selenium Boron Boron yeah there's you know the the B vitamins you know you're getting there's vitamin A there's so many different micronutrients and it really covers a lot of the bases”
A high-quality multivitamin is recommended partly because it contains selenium along with many other micronutrients, helping to cover common nutrient gaps.
“I think a multivitamin is a really good insurance because you know there's so selenium Boron Boron yeah there's you know the the B vitamins you know you're getting there's vitamin A there's so many different micronutrients and it really covers a lot of the bases”
A high-quality multivitamin is recommended partly because it contains selenium along with many other micronutrients, helping to cover common nutrient gaps.
“widespread deficient you know Iron zinc selenium a lot of things that iodine I mean it just I see this all the time in our testing my function health and I'm like kind of shocked”
Selenium deficiency is widespread in the population and is frequently underdiagnosed, as observed through micronutrient testing in a cohort of 110,000 people.
“widespread deficient you know Iron zinc selenium a lot of things that iodine I mean it just I see this all the time in our testing my function health and I'm like kind of shocked”
Selenium deficiency is widespread in the population and is frequently underdiagnosed, as observed through micronutrient testing in a cohort of 110,000 people.
“people might be taking 10 different supplements and they like they say, they all might have selenium in them, correct? And then you're getting toxic doses of selenium 100%. And you don't know that cuz you're not adding it all up.”
Taking multiple supplements can result in toxic doses of selenium because people don't add up the total selenium content across all their products.
“people might be taking 10 different supplements and they like they say, they all might have selenium in them, correct? And then you're getting toxic doses of selenium 100%. And you don't know that cuz you're not adding it all up.”
Taking multiple supplements that each contain selenium can result in toxic doses of selenium if you are not tracking the total amount across all products.
“people might be taking 10 different supplements and they like they say, they all might have selenium in them, correct? And then you're getting toxic doses of selenium 100%. And you don't know that cuz you're not adding it all up.”
Taking multiple supplements can result in toxic doses of selenium because people don't add up the total selenium content across all their products.
“people might be taking 10 different supplements and they like they say, they all might have selenium in them, correct? And then you're getting toxic doses of selenium 100%. And you don't know that cuz you're not adding it all up.”
Taking multiple supplements that each contain selenium can result in toxic doses of selenium if you are not tracking the total amount across all products.
“you also need a lot of nutrients to metabolize your toxins things like folate zinc selenium magnesium manganes you need all the methylating B vitamins...these are all co-actors that basically power all those detox enzymes that are processing all the toxins”
Selenium is a nutrient needed as a co-factor to power detox enzymes that process toxins in the body.
“you need a lot of other minerals and vitamins with magnesium to make them work like B6 vitamin D selenium uh so you need those all to kind of work together as a team”
Selenium is one of several nutrients needed alongside magnesium for them to work properly together.
“you also need a lot of nutrients to metabolize your toxins things like folate zinc selenium magnesium manganes you need all the methylating B vitamins...these are all co-actors that basically power all those detox enzymes that are processing all the toxins”
Selenium is a nutrient needed as a co-factor to power detox enzymes that process toxins in the body.
“you need a lot of other minerals and vitamins with magnesium to make them work like B6 vitamin D selenium uh so you need those all to kind of work together as a team”
Selenium is one of several nutrients needed alongside magnesium for them to work properly together.
“you want to talk about a pandemic selenium selenium thyine um um and and you know to to help this this this outer ring deize in in the liver which is where two-thirds of it comes from and the balances in the gut and a little bit in the periphery but the point is that a nutrient deficiency can lead to a hormone deficiency that gets diagnosed as a as organ”
Selenium deficiency may be pandemic and selenium is needed to support the conversion (deiodination) of thyroid hormones, primarily in the liver, which can otherwise lead to a nutrient deficiency being diagnosed as a hormone or organ deficiency.
“you want to talk about a pandemic selenium selenium thyine um um and and you know to to help this this this outer ring deize in in the liver which is where two-thirds of it comes from and the balances in the gut and a little bit in the periphery but the point is that a nutrient deficiency can lead to a hormone deficiency that gets diagnosed as a as organ”
Selenium deficiency may be pandemic and selenium is needed to support the conversion (deiodination) of thyroid hormones, primarily in the liver, which can otherwise lead to a nutrient deficiency being diagnosed as a hormone or organ deficiency.
“there's some other examples like selenium that bru has published and showed there are proteins that have a stronger binding to vitamin K1 that are important for coagulation so these are proteins in the liver um versus for example other proteins that stay in circulation and are activating proteins that are important for calcium signaling and trafficking”
There are selenium-dependent proteins that show differential binding affinity, with some having stronger binding to certain nutrients (like vitamin K1) for acute essential functions such as coagulation, versus other proteins important for calcium signaling.
“there's some other examples like selenium that bru has published and showed there are proteins that have a stronger binding to vitamin K1 that are important for coagulation so these are proteins in the liver um versus for example other proteins that stay in circulation and are activating proteins that are important for calcium signaling and trafficking”
There are selenium-dependent proteins that show differential binding affinity, with some having stronger binding to certain nutrients (like vitamin K1) for acute essential functions such as coagulation, versus other proteins important for calcium signaling.
“you would find all of the other Trace metal Boron zinc selenium manganese malum you find all of these that that're not the sort of headline minerals that most people think about”
Selenium is one of many trace minerals found naturally in running streams that are absent from most electrolyte supplements.
“you would find all of the other Trace metal Boron zinc selenium manganese malum you find all of these that that're not the sort of headline minerals that most people think about”
Selenium is one of many trace minerals found naturally in running streams that are absent from most electrolyte supplements.
Other supplements Mark Hyman discusses
Claims are extracted from publicly available podcasts and videos, attributed to their source, and compared against PubMed research. This is educational information only — consult a healthcare provider before starting any supplement.
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