Selenium status in vegans and lactovegetarians.

Plasma and urinary selenium were determined among vegans, lactovegetarians and several groups of omnivorous subjects, using gas-liquid chromatography. Plasma Se was lower among lactovegetarians (0.80 (SD 0.18) mumol/l) than in the other groups (0.98 (SD 0.15) mumol/l). This was not related to Se intake, since the vegans had a lower and the lactovegetarians a higher intake of Se than omnivorous subjects in Sweden. Urinary Se was 0.36 (SD 0.10) mumol/d for controls, 0.17 (SD 0.10) mumol/d for vegans and 0.16 (SD 0.07) mumol/d for lactovegetarians. No relation between dietary Se and urinary Se was observed. Among vegetarians, plasma Se and urinary Se were correlated (r 0.51; P less than 0.05).