Your Nutritional and Vitamin Supplement Information Resource

posted by Ronald on Dec 10

There is a lot of information on the Internet about Colloidal Silver.  Some of it positive, some negative.  I’ve tried to gather a bit from both sides to provide a balanced look at what a Colloidal Silver product may do for or to your body.

First some background on Colloidal Silver…Colloidal silver was in common use until 1938. Some of us can remember grandparents and great-grandparents putting silver dollars in milk to prolong its freshness at room temperature. At the turn of the century, scientists had discovered that the body’s most important fluids are colloidal in nature: suspended ultra-fine particles. Blood, for example, carries nutrition and oxygen to the body cells. This led to studies with colloidal silver. Prior to 1938, colloidal silver was used by physicians as a mainstream antibiotic treatment and was considered quite “high-tech.” Production methods, however, were costly (the world was on on the brink of war and specialty metals were become more rare).  Colloidal research was set aside in favor of fast working and more financially lucrative drugs.

How Colloidal Silver is supposed to work….The presence of colloidal silver near a virus, fungus, bacterium or any other single celled pathogen disables its oxygen metabolism enzyme, its chemical lung, so to say. Within a few minutes, the pathogen suffocates and dies, and is cleared out of the body by the immune, lymphatic and elimination systems. Unlike pharmaceutical antibiotics, which destroy beneficial enzymes, colloidal silver leaves these tissue-cell enzymes intact, as they are radically different from the enzymes of primitive single-celled life. Because colloidal silver leaves tissue-cell enzymes intact, colloidal silver is claimed to be safe for humans, reptiles, plants and all multi-celled living matter.

On the other hand there can be adverse reactions to Colloidal Silver….Long-term use of silver preparations can lead to argyria, a condition in which silver salts deposit in the skin, eyes, and internal organs, and the skin turns ashen-gray. Many cases of argyria occurred during the pre-antibiotic era when silver was a common ingredient in nose-drops. Some argue that the dosage was too much or too concentrated using the nose-drop application methods.  When the cause became apparent, doctors stopped recommending their use, and manufacturers stopped producing them. The official drug guidebooks (United States Pharmacopeia and National Formulary) have not listed colloidal silver products since 1975.

What the FDA has to say about Colloidal Silver….In October 1996, the FDA proposed to ban the use of colloidal silver or silver salts in over-the-counter products. A Final Rule banning such use was issued on August 17, 1999 and became effective September 16th. The rule applies to any nonprescription colloidal silver or silver salt product claimed to be effective in preventing or treating any disease. Silver products can still be sold as “dietary supplements” provided that no health claims are made for them.  That means you’ll find Colloidal Silver products on the market but no official claims about health or health remedies.

How Colloidal Silver is used…Colloidal silver has been reported to kill hundreds of different types of micro-organisms, many of which are associated with human diseases. This does not automatically mean that taking colloidal silver will “cure” diseases “caused” by these germs. Colloidal silver only kills micro-organisms when they are in contact with it for a sufficient period of time (read the part about the pathogen suffocates above). The human body is a complex system which may prevent high enough concentrations of colloidal silver from reaching the “affected area”.   Because Colloidal Silver can be applied topically (on the skin) and is painless on cuts, abrasions, and in open wounds people have used it as a wound and cut cleaner.  It has been ‘reported’ that because the Colloidal Silver kills the micro-organisms the wound heals quicker and has less of a chance of infection.

Not all Colloidal Silver products are equal…

three factors to look for in a quality colloidal silver product… 

1. First, that the particles of silver are pure.  Look for 99.99% pure or better.  This ensures you are getting real silver in your product and that it has little to no impurities (other metals that can cause harm to your body). 
2. The particles also need to be extremely small.  On the order of 0.001 microns in size.  The smaller size facilitates absorption by your body’s cells.  Any larger and your body accumulates (bad for your body) or expels the silver (bad for your wallet).
3. The concentration should be around 10 parts per millionin a suspended colloidal form using de-ionized water and made through a process called the electro-colloidal process.  Higher concentrations, say 50 to 500 parts per million are generally viewed as less effective.  The suspended form created by the electro-colloidal process and de-ionized water helps keep the consistency of the concentration throughout the glass container holding the colloidal silver. That means you get a consistent dose of silver each time you take it.  Note that I said glass container - plastic will not maintain the suspension and consistency properties most desired in a Colloidal Silver supplement so make sure your Colloidal Silver is in a glass container.

We know that Colloidal Silver has been used for centuries and was in wide-spread use up until about 1938 when cost and the supply of silver became overwhelming (think World War II). 

We know that some cultures added powdered silver to a newborn’s first bath as protection against disease and illness. 

We know that our American ancestors placed silver dollars in liquids to keep them fresher longer. 

Surprisingly, we know that even NASA in the Space Shuttle Program opted for a water filtration system with silver as one of the components. 

We know that the technology has advanced enough to allow silver to be made available in very tiny suspended particles called colloidal silver. 

Finally, we know that when we are looking for a Colloidal Silver product, we need to ensure it meets the quality (99.99% pure), size (0.001 microns), and recommended concentration levels (10 parts per million) for safety and effectiveness. 

Colloidal Silver may have a place in your medicine cabinet.  It is not for everyone although many people have found its use on a routine basis very beneficial.  Contact me directly (see my bio) if you would like more information or a recommendation for a Colloidal Silver product that meets the above requirements.