Does dietary selenium protect against suicidal ideation? Findings from a U.S. population study

Suicidal ideation represents a significant public health challenge globally. Emerging evidence indicates that nutritional factors may offer protective effects on mental health. However, the association between dietary selenium intake and suicidal ideation remains inadequately explored. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, logistic regression models were employed to evaluate the association between dietary selenium intake and suicidal ideation, with results reported as odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for demographic, lifestyle, and health-related variables. Restricted cubic splines (RCS) were applied to investigate potential non-linear relationships.

A total of 23,942 participants were included in the final analysis. Results indicated that higher dietary selenium intake was significantly associated with a reduced risk of suicidal ideation. In the fully adjusted model, each unit increase in selenium intake corresponded to a 41% decrease in the odds of suicidal ideation (OR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.41–0.85, P = 0.005). Participants in higher quartiles of selenium intake exhibited a notably lower risk of suicidal ideation compared to those in the lowest quartile, with ORs for the higher quartiles being 0.67 (95% CI: 0.50–0.88, P = 0.005), 0.63 (95% CI: 0.44–0.91, P = 0.015), and 0.59 (95% CI: 0.39–0.89, P = 0.014), respectively. RCS analysis further revealed a linear negative association (P for nonlinearity = 0.942), suggesting a protective effect linked to increased selenium consumption.

These findings underscore the potential role of dietary selenium in supporting mental health and suicide prevention. Further prospective studies and investigations into the underlying biological mechanisms are essential to validate these results and elucidate the pathways involved. [NPID: Selenium, suicide, mental health]

Year: 2026

Reference: Liu, H., & Chen, Z. (2026). Does dietary selenium protect against suicidal ideation? Findings from a U.S. population study. Journal of affective disorders, 392, 120265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.120265

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