Choosing Silver For Health

People use colloidal silver for its health benefits. So, should you use it or not? And, which kind is best? The controversy is ongoing. There are even those who adamantly suggest that colloidal silver should not be taken at all. I know one person who is against it on general principles, saying, at first, that silver is a heavy metal, which it is not. I had to look that one up. My investigation showed that the definition of a heavy metal is not agreed upon by the scientific community. However, a common definition seems to be a metal that is toxic, can cause pollution, or is environmentally unsafe in some way. Clearly this does not include silver.

In fairness to the nay-sayers, there are silver compounds to avoided, such as silver nitrates. If one were to rub silver nitrates into the skin and then go out in the sun, a blue gray tint would develop. Doctors call this argyria. It happens just as it does on a photographic plate (has silver nitrate). The skin would 'develop'. Argyria is a benign medical condition (not a health hazard), but it is also permanent. Note that the condition is created over an extended period of time. There are people who have done this to themselves, and one is quite famous. The 'blue man' took silver to solve a medical problem, which worked, but he over did it, using his own homegrown silver compound maker. Clearly he did not research the issues around colloidal silver before starting. Either that or his intent was to become blue.

The colloidal silver market touts three types: True, Ionic, and Protein. Personally, I like the low ppm ionic version, but each of you should do your own independent research to decide which you are most comfortable with. Also, the type of container is important. Some say that colloidal silver must be stored in glass, or blue glass, or brown glass. Chemistry makes it clear that glass is not a good storage container because of the process of plating out. The crystalline structure of glass attracts the silver. Visually the glass becomes darker over time as the silver embeds itself and blocks light. 'Protein silver' does not have this problem because each particle of silver is encased in protein. However, protein silver has other issues, so research thoroughly when choosing the one right for you. Note that glass does not contaminate the silver; it simply removes it slowly from the suspension liquid. In my opinion, the best container is HDPE or H-PET; a dense food grade plastic that does not leach chemicals or cause a health hazard. It can be identified by the recycle code of '2'.

My family has been using 5ppm ionic colloidal silver for more than a decade. We heard about it from a friend whose brother is a Ph.D. chemist who did extensive research on silver. We then acquired some and ran tests; initially, on our vegetables. Shelf life was doubled or tripled. We also found it to be useful on burns, and later learned that some hospital burn units use it to promote healing, reduce pain and help prevent infection.
I believe, as some researchers state, that colloidal silver is a natural antibiotic with NO side affects. But decide for yourselves. There is a great deal of information on the web, much of which is misleading, so be a discerning reader. If you are just learning about colloidal silver, you might start with http://www.IonicSilverColloid.com Of course, they are biased toward their own product, but I find the information helpful, especially the article that presents health related silver U.S.A. patents. Also, this site provides a fairly comprehensive list of medical conditions people say colloidal silver has helped.

Stu Farrel is the author of this article. Mr. Farrel and his family have been using and researching colloidal silver for more than a decade. You may also be interested in his unabridged colloidal silver article which provides a summary of ten recent silver patents, extracted from the US patent office.

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