Colloidal silver is a very effective home remedy, but it’s best used externally and never swallowed as it harms gut flora. More recent research has found that colloidal silver harms the brain.
What is Colloidal Silver?
Colloidal silver is one of the most effective natural antibiotics widely available to the public.
What’s more, colloidal silver is cheap and easily obtained at many health food stores. Some people make it at home. It consists of tiny silver particles suspended in liquid for use either externally or internally.
The remarkable antibiotic nature of silver has been known for centuries. In the early 1900′s, the founder of Searle Pharmaceuticals, Alfred Searle, wrote in his book The Use of Colloids in Health and Disease:
Applying colloidal silver to human subjects has been done in a large number of cases with astonishingly successful results…having the advantage of being rapidly fatal to microbes without toxic action on its host. It is quite stable. It protects rabbits from ten times the lethal dose of tetanus or diphtheria toxin.
In the 1970s, Dr. Robert O. Becker at Syracuse Medical University began to intensively research colloidal silver. He discovered that silver not only kills bacteria, but it actually killed bacteria that were resistant to all known antibiotics with no undesirable side effects.
Moreover, unlike prescription antibiotics, pathogens do not become resistant or immune to silver over time. It even has the ability to eradicate antibiotic-resistant microbes like MRSA.
This is because colloidal silver doesn’t poison the microbes like antibiotics do, but rather smothers them by adhering to their cell walls and inhibiting their enzyme production.
Internal Use of Colloidal Silver
Despite its stellar reputation as a natural antibiotic, I never swallow colloidal silver and don’t allow my children to ingest it either. I only use colloidal silver for externally based infections such as swimmers ear. Others I know use it to gargle with as a strep throat home remedy.
My reasons are fairly simple.
First of all, silver is a heavy metal that accumulates in the body over time, the same as lead, cadmium, and aluminum. Why would anyone knowingly consume heavy metals?
It never made any sense to me which is why I have always avoided consuming any silver solution including silver nitrates, ionic silvers, colloidal silvers, silver chlorides, and silver proteins.
The claim that colloidal silver is the only safe silver solution has never been at all convincing to me.
Dr. Kaayla Daniel PhD writes in her marvelous piece Mad as a Hatter: How to Avoid Toxic Metals and Clear Them from the Body:
Although the mental and physical problems from metal toxicity have escalated in recent years, our very language tacitly acknowledges the historic toxicity of certain metals: “Mad as a hatter” from the Civil- War-era’s crazed use of mercury sizing in hat manufacture, “gold fever” from the murderous greed of early prospectors, “lead poisoning” as black humor for “getting shot,” and, more recently, “get-the-lead-out” exhortations from trainers who would have us exercise long and hard in order to sweat out toxins and melt excess fat.
Certainly, occasional use of colloidal silver internally probably does no harm. This would including gargling with it to resolve strep throat without antibiotics.
Why risk it when there are plenty of natural antibiotics such as garlic, turmeric, cayenne, manuka honey, and oregano oil (oreganol) that are highly effective and present no metal toxicity issues?
Risks to Beneficial Bacteria
While the fact that silver is a heavy metal with accumulation in the body that is difficult to undo (and yes, it can permanently turn your skin blue if you get too much which happens with some forms of silver solution) is reason enough in my book to keep the colloidal silver for external use only, the biggest reason of all is to protect the gut microbiome.
You see, colloidal silver works not by poisoning microbes like antibiotics do, but by smothering them by adhering to their cell walls and inhibiting their enzyme production.
While colloidal silver’s unique method of killing bacteria is highly effective and does not lessen over time as microbes do not become resistant to it, it is not selective in the bacteria it kills.
In other words, colloidal silver can decimate beneficial bacteria in the gut just the same as pathogenic strains. Isn’t this exactly why conventional antibiotics are so problematic?
Reducing the population in the gut of beneficial bacteria is serious business no matter what the cause …natural or drug-based.
Dr. Martin Blaser MD of New York University’s Langone Medical Center who writes in the August 2011 edition of Nature, warns against harming the beneficial microbes in the gut:
Early evidence from my lab and others hints that, sometimes, our friendly flora never fully recover. These long-term changes to the beneficial bacteria within people’s bodies may even increase our susceptibility to infections and disease.
False Marketing Claims
Some colloidal silver manufacturers claim that their product does not harm beneficial microbes. Even some prominent alternative physicians deceptively claim it does not harm flora.
However, this information is usually a ploy to sell product and ignores the chemical realities of the metal’s effect on living organisms.
Silver Kills Microbes Indiscriminately
Steve Barwick, author of The Ultimate Manual on Colloidal Silver sets the record straight about this false advertising regarding colloidal silver:
But the truth is, colloidal silver does indeed act as a broad spectrum natural antibiotic. As such, if enough mineral silver reaches the intestinal tract it most certainly can kill off the friendly (i.e., beneficial) bacteria that thrive there.
Colloidal silver simply has no way of knowing a beneficial microbe from an infectious microbe. If the microbe is sensitive to silver, then silver will kill it whether it is a beneficial microbe or an infectious one.
Proponents of small amounts of colloidal silver taken internally say it won’t harm delicate gut balance. However, I choose not to take any chances given that many food-based natural antibiotics work just as well or even better for resolution of internal infections. This article details the best natural antibiotics to choose from instead of colloidal silver when an internal agent is required.
Why risk it where your delicate gut microbiome is concerned? Colloidal silver is a broad-spectrum antibiotic.
Just because it wasn’t obtained via prescription makes it no less of a risk to your delicate intestinal health.
Contraindicated on GAPS Diet
Due to its ability to upset the delicate gut balance and harm beneficial gut flora, colloidal silver is contraindicated on the GAPS Protocol for gut healing developed by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD.
Certified GAPS Diet Practitioners trained by Dr. Campbell-McBride recommend avoiding the ingestion of colloidal silver. This is necessary while attempting to rebuild the gut environment with beneficial microbes and healing/sealing the gut wall to put autoimmune disease in remission. L. D. Moore, a practicing GAPS Diet Practitioner, had this to say:
As a certified GAPS practitioner protecting the gut is the highest priority. I am SO careful at what my clients ingest that may destroy that delicate balance. I put colloidal silver in the no ingest bucket.
Do you take colloidal silver internally? Why or why not?
Wouldn’t it be better to use plant-based medicines such as garlic that have no risk in comparison, don’t build up in the body, act as food for flora, and are equally effective?
I’m interested to hear your reasons for this as my research tells me to just say no.
References
(1) The Use of Colloids in Health and Disease
(2) How to Avoid Toxic Metals and Clear Them from the Body
(3) The Ultimate Colloidal Silver Manual
(4) Stop the Killing of Beneficial Bacteria
(5) Does Colloidal Silver Kill Both Good and Bad Bacteria?
The easiest way to see if CS accumulates in the body (all other things being equal) is to take a pathology test for silver. I did after taking a couple of bottles of CS and I was above and outside the normal range. I stopped taking it then.
I have to add though, that my skin hasn’t turned blue and I didn’t feel any ill effects at all.
My granddaughter had a tumour removed from her splined along with most of the nerves and a section of her colan. She has having problem with the hole that is not healing and is infected. the doctors have scrapers it out and reattached the vacuum but the infection game back the antibiotic are not working and know has a yeast infection. How can silver colloidal be used and can it work for her.
Thank you
Sue
Colloidal Silver is a powerful, non-toxic, natural antibiotic that is effective against bacteria, germs, virus and fungi. It is able to protect the human body from various infections and stimulate new cell growth. It can be used orally or topically on the skin, through the rectum, atomized or nebulized into the lungs, nose and eyes without any irritation or side effects!.I hope your granddaughter improves, Personally I think Coloidal silver will help if you can get the doctor to agree.take care.
Hi Sarah, Thank you for your blog. I am glad that you and your family have been healthy enough to never need to take silver internally and I understand your desire to be cautious. I have not been so fortunate. When I lived on the mid-east coast of the US, I got Lyme Disease which was mis-diagnosed for years. In a case like that or bacterial resistant infections, taking colloidal silver internally can be nearly a miracle. It is much less toxic than antibiotics. (actually if it is attached to the water molecule as Designs for Health does, it is not toxic at all). Silver has been proven to improve the effectiveness (by thousands of times) of antibiotics, as well. Pubmed will have that research: Silver Enhances Antibiotic Activity Against Gram-Negative Bacteria. (Morones-Ramirez et.al). It saved my life when I had a bacterial resistant bladder infection too. I had always treated bladder infections with high dose vitamin C, D-mannose and cranberry. But not this one time (out of 4 total). I had to take antibiotics,which did not work either. When I took silver with a stronger antibiotic, it was gone nearly immediately. It was my opportunity to experience for myself how easily it is to die from a systemic bacterial infection. It helped me to understand the importance of using the appropriate medicine at the appropriate time. Generally, I go for oregano or garlic or echinacea, etc. but for emergencies or when the proven remedy is not working, I go for the stronger remedy. I have also helped a few people get rid of pneumonia by putting the silver in a steamer and having them inhale it. I combined it with having them take oregano internally and resting on my amethyst biomat at the highest temperature to induce sweating. As far as toxicity, I would think that if the person has a healthy level of glutathione and metallothionein, that the little bit of silver that they are taking will not accumulate.
Sarah- I don’t think you did your research on this one. First off, many, many natural antibiotics, oregano oil and countless others will also harm “good” flora. It’s important to replenish with soil based probiotics, ferments, or probiotics no matter which form of “antibiotic” you choose.
The blue thing is out of control. They were drinking gallons of homemade product that wasn’t “colloidal silver”. I mean if you eat or drink too much of anything good there are consequences…garlic is great, but don’t eat 40 cloves., salt, etc.
Anyhow, You really should clarify your article here, as it is quite misleading and honestly wrong on on a few points. One who hasn’t studied enough might think that’s natural antibiotics don’t kill gut flora bc that is what you infer. Big mistake! Noting references is also advisable.
Food based antibiotics don’t kill off good flora … else they would be excluded from the GAPS diet. Garlic, onions etc, for example, are *encouraged* on the GAPS diet. Garlic, in particular, is a prebiotic and actually feed the good bacteria.
I find it interesting that frequently when folks don’t agree with my conclusions, I’m accused of ‘not doing my research’. Even Dr. Kelly Brogan MD has been accused of this in posts on this blog where she has citation after citation after citation. Not agreeing doesn’t mean the person hasn’t studied the subject thoroughly. It just means they have come to a different conclusion to you. Drink your colloidal silver if you like. I will pass, thank you!
interesting article from an Ayurvedic point of view
ty sara…gse and wild oregano P73 may be a wiser alte to ingesting coillidal silver all 3 have (taken separately) helped me get rid of green phlegm and sore thrs and ear infections in the past…but i need all my beneficial bacteria so i wont be ingesting coillidal silver.
me? I keep a silver dollar in me pocket at all times… to ward off bankster werewolves and remind myself that such a thing as real wealth and coinage exists. ;D I never swallow the stuff but I have used it topically. Strangely enough, my washing machine came with an option to use a silver rod to sanitized a wash load. I very rarely use it because I read that it can wreck havoc and upset the water ways etc. I am not sure if this is true , it would have to take many people and many wash loads for it to happen, this is why I rarely use the feature.
Untrue, they are saying that in order to steer people away from the benefits of silver
Side note to a small detail above: rather than treat swimmer’s ear, you can easily prevent it. Drop 91% rubbing alcohol into the ears after swimming. You put several drops, or pour about half a capful into the ear, let it sit a few seconds, and then hold a towel over the ear as you tilt to the side to drain. The alcohol mixes with the water and evaporates pretty much immediately. There is no pain (unless you already have a swimmers ear infection.) As a competitive swimmer, I’ve been doing this my entire life but for some reason only the swimming community knows about this valuable trick. I haven’t had swimmer’s ear since I was a little kid, before I started this. I keep a dropper bottle in with my swim gear.
Not true about it killing off the good bacteria! The reason why is that bad bacteria in the body has a weak membrane surrounding it as the good bacteria we need has a very strong membrane/wall that the silver isn’t strong enough to penetrate and yes many studies have confirmed this. Another thing, yes people can turn blue but you have to take quite a bit for that to happen and if it does slow down, stop taking so much.You need to do more research, much more!
Wishful thinking on your part unfortunately. The truth is that it does kill off beneficial microbes just the same as the pathogens.
This is true when you take it in an excessive amount and for a long period of time. If you take silver in moderation, especially when you are witnessing symptoms of an infection, it is several times safer than your conventional anti-biotics and more effective
I have been drijking, nebulising and using external for years. I had tests done and there is no build up or toxicity in my body.
Further more I have not been sick for years. Prior to using cs I had chronic chest infections which were being treated with anti biotics which were making me ill.
I am not blue and my doctor said I am one of the healthiest patients when I go for check ups. He knows I use silver and agrees that it is safer than antibiotics And we do regular blood tests. I have a cd4 count of 600 which is nearly 3 time higher than the average healthy person.
As far as I am concerned the only people that give negitive comments about cs have never tried it and only listen to people who make comments that haven’t tried it.
CS has worked 100% on everything that I have treated it with. That’s a better record than the medical profession.
Glad it’s working for you. I don’t think it’s necessary to take risks with gut health when there are other options that work just as well if not better like garlic. I will continue to bypass the colloidal silver for internal use.
Sarah, I think the reason why you never consume colloidal silver, its because you are fortunate enough to not have any serious chronic infection and enough money to spent on herbal antibiotics. I am using colloidal silver for a chronic infection because I am on a budget spending around $80-100 a month at this time and colloidal silver is “free” as I am making my own. Although I am using garlic, oil of oregano, coconut oil and other herbal antibiotics I was very surprised to see that after the addittion of colloidal silver, two cysts I have had for more than a year started “dissolving”, my doctor insist that I am going to need surgery for them to get removed, something I do not have the money for, this is one more reason to continue with colloidal silver.
If you are making your own, it is ionic silver, not colloidal silver. It still will work, but not as potent as true colloidal silver. Just FYI… Many people don’t know that.
http://blog.purifyyourbody.com/2014/07/the-best-colloidal-silver-is-nutrasilver.html
How Do I Know NutraSilver is a True Silver Colloid?
There are three types of “silver products” that companies label (sometimes inappropriately) as “colloidal silver”. They are ionic silver solutions, silver proteins and true colloidal silver.
Ionic silver solutions. Most of the products you find online or at a health food store that are labeled and sold as colloidal silver are actually ionic silver solutions. This also includes the “homemade” silvers that people make with silver generators they purchase and use at home.
You can tell if your silver is ionic if it is clear like water, or has a slight yellow tint. These products are clear because silver that is dissolved in water has no visible appearance. Companies selling these products will maintain that colloidal silver should look clear, but this is not accurate. These companies claim their product is “true colloidal silver” in an attempt to confuse you. But if the product is clear, then it is ionic silver, not a true silver colloid.
To figure out whether a solution is ionic silver, just add common table salt to 1 oz of the silver. If it is ionic silver, the salt will combine with the silver ions and create a white, cloudy appearance. To form a cloud that is visible requires a sufficient concentration of silver ions to be present (usually around 10ppm or above). When you add more salt, it will become more dense until all the silver ions have combined with the chlorine ions.
However, sometimes no white cloud will form because some of these “solutions” don’t contain any silver at all, or too little to note. There have been some lab analyses that have shown some “silver” products contain no silver at all!
Silver Proteins. These are the second most prevalent type of “so-called” colloidal silver products on the market. They consist of a combination of metallic silver particles and a protein binder, and can be made by simply adding water to silver protein powder that is sold by many chemical companies. Most of the products on the market that claim to be high in concentration are in fact silver protein colloids.
This type of silver is less effective for human use because of the particle size. You’d be better off with ionic silver. This type of silver can cause argryia, a condition that causes the skin to turn a blue-grayish color.
To find out whether the “silver” you have is a silver protein, just try shaking the bottle. If it produces foam above the liquid then this is the single most reliable indicator it is a protein vs. a true silver colloid.
The color ranges from light amber to almost black with an increasing concentration of silver.
True Colloidal Silver. These are the least prevalent type of silver on the market due to high degree of manufacturing complexity and the high cost of production. The majority of silver content in colloidal silver is in the form of silver particles. True colloids will typically contain more than 50% particles while the balance will be silver ions. When referring to colloidal silver, the word colloid means silver particles.
Because of the high concentration of silver particles, true silver colloids are never clear like water. The silver particles block light from passing through, making the liquid appear darker.
I honestly find this incredibly scary. Why would you ever trust taking something that is metal based that you made at home with rudimentary equipment and no formal lab? This is even scarier than taking lab produced colloidal silver.
Most production based colloidal silver solutions will prove to be less effective than home-made solutions. And the main reason for this is where sellers and manufacturers tend to take the very cautious approach in terms of concentration and suggested dosages. So as to avert repeating past incidents where people developed Argyria.
That said, I’d caution against the notion that most manufactured colloidal silver solutions are either made in a lab or safer in some way than those made at home also. As colloidal silver production doesn’t require any special treatments beyond that of a high quality distilled water and filtration. Whereas the latter could be skipped in favour of careful process methods.
You can make colloidal silver at home, there is an additional step after you have made the ionic silver. I use a Silverlungs Generator which produces pharmaceutical grade ionic/colloidal silver.
From what I understand, if you are consuming small amounts of colloidal silver, it is absorbed before it reaches the gut. In order to use it for food poisoning you have to consume a greater quantity to ensure that it reaches the gut.
This is fascinating. Thank you very much. I didn’t know I was making ionic silver not colloidal silver!
Another big controversy surrounds the question of whether this method produces “colloidal” silver or “ionic” silver. Most people have been told that colloidal silver is “good” and ionic silver is “bad.” Once again, the truth might be unpopular. The word “colloidal” refers to a condition where, in this case, a solid particle is SUSPENDED in a liquid (silver in water). The solid particles are too large to be considered DISSOLVED, but are too small to be filtered out. This colloidal condition is most easily detected by what is called the “Tyndall effect”, where a narrow beam of light is shined through the liquid to produce a cone shaped dispersion of the light. The particles so illuminated also exhibit a random, zig-zag activity called “Brownian motion” when observed under a microscope. When something is completely dissolved, both the Brownian and Tyndall effects disappear.
The word “ionic” refers to a condition where a particle has an electric charge. In the case of “electro-colloidal” silver, this electric charge is ALWAYS positive. Silver will not form a negatively charged ion. So, the truth is that electro-colloidal silver is BOTH colloidal and ionic. It is considered colloidal because of the particle SIZE and it is considered ionic because of the particle CHARGE. In fact, most of the biological studies suggest it is colloidal silver’s ionic characteristics that make it such a good germicide. It is also interesting to note that the old chemistry books make no distinction between the colloidal and ionic states of the electro-colloidal metals.
I have in the past used colloidal silver spray, and plan to again. Also have used iodine (ammonium iodide) and read that a fact often overlooked about iodine is that it disloves fat. So the cyst I had that would come and go is now gone.
Good for you PiT about the cyst dissolving. And I understand your dilemma with having to care for yourself and no health insurance to rely on or enough money to care for yourself any other way than naturally, which in my opinion is the only way.
I still think that Sarah’s article is very good in bringing out info that we may not be aware of. Her personal choice on Colliodal Silver is her own
I don’t believe everything here. And i’m not sure about the turning blue part. I’ve got a friend who has been drinking the silver for 7 years now, happily not needing antibiotics or other medications as the silver seems to take care of it all. They havn’t turned blue, and I’ve personally finished 1L of silver in the past 2 years and I’m not turning blue yet either :p
With the killing of the guy bacteria yeah this is true, but that’s why you eat yoghurt or other good dairy foods to boost the gut bacteria levels.
And the thing is people will come and read this article and be scared to use it, and never reap the benefits.
It is absolutely true that people can turn blue. I saw this guy on the Today Show years ago:http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/man-turned-blue-silver-dies-article-1.1466905
You can turn blue only if you are using a non-colloidal form of silver, especially silver proteins (which are inappropriately labeled as colloidal silver, but in fact are not true colloids.
Apparently not. I am investigating a case of someone whose skin turned blue from colloidal silver. I think the more appropriate statement would be that no one has turned blue from collidal silver – yet. And the “yet” part may have already arrived.
If there truly is someone who has turned blue from ingesting pure colloidal silver, then this would be a first in known history. Though my gut(pun) tells me this isn’t the case as the requirements needed to develop Argyria from drinking pure colloidal silver would simply be too high to tolerate or consider for most any person. – see 6-10 litres per day, over long periods of time*years)
That said, in cases where someone would have developed Argyria drinking colloidal silver, then the most likely outcome is that they took a solution that contained compounds or additives so as to allow for higher concentrations since colloidal silver solutions will cap-out at/or around 20ppm before dropping out. Which create a sort of fail safe in terms of bio-accumulation.
Sarah do you even know how small these particles are? Most are are on a micron level smaller then most of your cells in your body. The one we use is actually nano-micron level. To accumulate enough silver in your skin would require a massive amount (PPM/parts per million) for a long period of time. Most sellers of generators will warn people of this, as any mineral/vitamin should be taken in moderation. Although Silver is one of the LEAST toxic metals your body will absorb.
Least toxic is still toxic. Why risk it at all when there are completely nontoxic alternatives that don’t risk gut health? I just don’t get the position of some to ingest this stuff. There is absolutely no reason to ever do this!
What they failed to tell you in this article is that this man was adding salt to his solution as a catalyst to reduce production time. It created a completely different compound called silver chloride. the silver concentration in his solution was suspected to be around 300 PPM”s!
Over 20 years ago, both the European Commission and the US Health and Human Services concluded, based on scientific evidence, that silver was toxic and should not be consumed.
Those promoting silver are those who make it and profit from it.
IMO. Colloidal Silver should never be viewed as a dietary supplement. That said, I’d consider colloidal silver to be on the same level as antibiotics insofar as use and precautions go.
That said, I’d also add that most all things known to us ingested or otherwise, have a toxicity level. And so trying to paint silver which is part of our own elemental daily intake as toxic isn’t likely wise either.
It amazes me that people talk about gut bacteria like it is something that is easily replaced. Many yogurt companies have been ripping people off for years as virtually no good bacteria present. Even supplements could contain more dead bacteria than alive.
People assume we only have a couple of kinds of gut bacteria when we are just starting to learn about gut bacteria varieties.
A new “skinny bacteria” has been isolated and they think skinny people may have it. There could be hundreds so if you kill them off you may never get that strain back again.
We are abusing antibiotics in people, farm animals and farmed fish and creating bacteria that won’t die.
More research is needed and how to better use these safer tools.
Bravo … excellent comment. My sentiments exactly. Folks are too flippant with “oh I’ll just take a probiotic” like that undoes the damage completely (which it doesn’t). Research is suggesting that a single round of antibiotics damages the gut irreparably. Probiotics helps but do not fix things entirely. What would regular use of colloidal silver do?
I have used probiotics to get my digestive system back in shape. They work, yogurt and pill form.
all a matter of personal opinion,I agree with you and the blue guy is true but you have to research it to understand why