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?
To me, based on both sides of the research, if you have serious minor or major unhealthy microbes populating in your body, wherever, for me there is enough evidence to suggest that it is first far better to get the colloidal silver working for you to as quickly as possible get rid of the unhealthy, damaging microbes short term and far less as a prevention, then to jump in to antibiotics, as they are known to become resistant and yes you can try the cayenne, garlic herbs and foods at the same time, but I would be taking a little colloidal silver too, start small increase until you find issue has been killed off, not ridiculous overdose amounts ever would be needed, as therapeutic-grade essential oils or foods even act the same way, as all nature works this way, everything in moderation/balance is the key. My mother had massive external breast cancer and every time the conventional medical put their antibiotic creams on, it made it spread and red and inflamed, internal antibiotics showed nothing which is drug resistance, hormonal therapy which is chemo (drops the white blood cell counts to next to 0) shrunk tumor but quality of life dropped with excruciating bone pain and peripheral neuropathy so you can’t function, on the other hand, colloidal silver taken externally on wound care and internally (no big amounts) controlled and subdued massive infections and no spreading of cancer, radiation spread the cancer like wild flower in front of my eyes and gave permanent lymphedema and killed her weeks later from the huge spreading of the cancer as radiation killed all good healthy t issue cells….no argument I saw it as clinical evidence and I don’t need science to prove the truth differently, ug, ug, lol. Bottom line, if and when you need colloidal silver, in however way, use it sensibly with good common sense and judgment, intuition, it works and is safe and I would NEVER use conventional IF there are better ways and colloidal silver with cancer is definitely without a doubt in my mind, as I witnessed first hand, the best way to go, a little goes a long way, it is gentle but very powerful and effective, thus safe, especially when you have a negative, unhealthy, potentially dangerous health condition, use it without a doubt, why would you not, you have nothing to lose….and give a chance, meaning don’t just use it once or twice and stop, claiming it didn’t do anything for me, give it a real chance and if you are sick from potentially dangerous microbes you need something asap, try it, don’t shy away from it during that small period of time in your life that you need it, because in the big long period of your years of life, that time is very small, nothing to fret or go on to much about, get it working in or on you as needed asap and monitor your illness from there. I personally would not take silver daily all my life, why? But without a single doubt in my mind if anything, anywhere is appearing to be infected I would not even hesitate to apply or use it short-term to get results before things get out of control and I most certainly would use it before conventional medical means, but monitor it as there may be an underlying reason and call for action to treat the real cause, like dental tooth extraction if there’s a sinus infection, get X-rays of dental and sinus / throat area, sometimes X-rays tell the story so do it, …. we are all going to die sometime for sure guaranteed, use common sense and healthiest practices first if you have time, with my mom’s cancer, we had time believe it or not, even with slower growing cancers you do have time….good luck everyone. Great work Sarah. Thanks. All the best.
Very well written. Like you said use common sense and in balanced moderation. I use Mesosilver colloidal nanometer sized silver particles. I have sinus problems often. I use the silver as nasal spray from 1 to 3-4 times a night depending the need. It clears my sinuses within minutes when nasal membranes are swollen allowing me to breathe through my nose. I use it only when having difficulty. I use the gel on all types of small cuts and abrasions with instant pain relief.
This is my go to med for just about all problems. Better to stay out of the Doctors office.
I am going on my 5th year of use and am thrilled with results especially using as nose spray
Colloidal silver is great!!! I’ve been consuming colloidal for almost 7 years. Your skin turning blue, is BS.
suggest a brand I can use Please, I’m really sick n antibiotics never worked..
MESO silver
Honestly just get your own generator, we use one from thesilveredge.com and my friend has been using his for over 7 years without issues
This is crazy to me … create some concoction at home and ingest the results that has metal in it? Wow.
Hi Sarah. I have been making my own colloidal silver and consuming it for years. It has never worked against me in any manner. It is very benign to the human body as it is excreted within a few hours. Making your own is safe and easy. Just don’t use salt in the formula and you’ll be fine. It’s really that easy and safe. Thanks.
I’m glad it’s working for you … I won’t ever ingest it however for the reasons stated in the article. Better to use colloidal silver topically only or gargling and use another natural antibiotic internally like garlic, oregano oil etc.
I understand that you, Sarah, have two main concerns – that is:
1) the accumulation of a heavy metal in one’s system (I cannot help but wonder about people who drink “Goldschlager”)
and
2) gut flora devastation
But you say that gargling or topical application or even eye drops are “o.k.” Won’t the metal accumulate in one’s body if it is absorbed in other ways – (under the tongue for example?)
I use thieves oil and have had great success with it, but I’m finding myself with a sinus infection these past few weeks that is persistent and I am searching for ways to kill that. I am leaning toward a CS nasal spray – got the idea here, thanks very much… I appreciate your post, mostly because of the “lively” discussion it instigated.
everything in moderation. including colloidal silver.
My point is why use it even in moderation with the risk to gut health when there are plenty of other options that don’t harm gut flora?
What do you prefer to use instead? That doesn’t mess with gut flora but is effective? Is there something you use for infant/young children?
First of all, thank you Sara so much for enlightening me on this topic. I have been struggling with the decision to ingest this product or not. I don’t always believe packaging, but I don’t always believe “medical studies ” either because we all know they are controlled by big Pharma. I was introduced to CS from a holistic nutritionist friend, when I was pretty sure I had a sinus infection, and had been working on healing my gut and really didn’t want to take antibiotics. I used a few droppers full in the saline rinse kit I had (neti pot). It worked like a charm, you can’t believe what it flushed out. After using it 3-4 times a day for 4-5 days I was completely healed. I am a strong believer in it for that usage. But I have chest congestion now, and a client of mine told me she swallowed it when she feels this coming on, and it clears it right up. I was considering it, but was uneasy about ingesting it. Your article has helped me come to a decision not to. What you say totally makes sense. Thank you so much for your thoughtful article.
Colloidal Silver is a highly effective anti-microbial /bacterial solution. And in some cases, far and away better than any antibiotic out there. Though it remains that drinking it is the least effective method of intake as most of the silver component will end-up destroyed by the acids in the gut. And what little silver compound actually makes it past the digestive tract is usually too insignificant an amount to do the work.
And so the best alternatives are; trandermal intakes such as placing the solution under the tongue and/or nebulization. Both of which, will maximize the introduction of silver ions into the bloodstream.
Can it also be used for bv as a douche along with lactic acids gels suppositories after that treatment?
use CS through a nebulise
I was instructed to gargle this with water and not to swallow it. Do you have a position on that?
Gargling with colloidal silver is fine! Won’t harm the delicate gut flora if you don’t swallow it.
I’m confused: if it kills all bacteria in gut if ingested, won’t it kill all bacteria in your mouth as well? how can that be any good with the same rationale?
Yes, but killing the bacteria in your mouth is a lot less damaging than in your gut! If this concerns you, then keep it on the skin … externally based only.
Yes, it will kill the oral probiotics in your mouth as well. But, this is much less damaging than swallowing it and then it does damage all the way through the digestive tract.
Do you know if you can safely use in a sinus rinse? For chronic sinus infection or polyps?
Safe for sinus infection and works well – I’m using 12 ppm that I just made. I’ve had a growing headache for the last two days and I’m sure it was an infection. I don’t get headaches. I dumped out a sinus spray bottle so i could use it, rinse it out with distilled water and added CS. Started using it this AM and by afternoon headache was gone. I put some under my tongue too just for the heck of it. I didn’t go overboard with it, just every hour or two. Make sure you can’t blame your headache on something else like maybe lack of coffee or something and spray away.
Polyps? I can’t say as i have no experience with them.
Confusing article. Not helpful at all.
The comment that follows – “The blue people she describes is only one man in this country who consumed quarts a day, when you do that it trys to come out of the skin, there is a safe dose to follow,” is quite correct. What you have taken on Sarah, and another comment mentioned seeing this decades ago, is one case of a man who turned blue though the over-ingestion of Col. Silver. It was a media beat-up story, in that it was used to scare people off silver as a safe antibiotic. The story turned into – you will turn blue if you use Col Silver – and has stuck with the antiSilver media stuff. Its a one-in-a-million case that was used to scare. Now you’ve taken it on and rolled it out again. Its sad you’ve done that, given all your other good stories.
I use Col Silver when I need it with flu, throat issues and skin problems. I sometimes swallow and sometimes don’t. I have no problems with it. I’ve been using it at least 15 years. I suggest Sarah that you check the ‘turn blue’ story and will find its a weirdly rare case and no reason not to use Col Silver. Thanks.
I agree that turning blue is a rare side effect. But, still why even use colloidal silver internally when it contributes to gut imbalance issues and kills off beneficial microbes in the gut when there are plenty of other options that don’t have this side effect like garlic, oregano oil etc? In addition, colloidal silver has been associated with ulcers, just came across this research and need to update the post with this information.
I’ve been swallowing a shot glass of colloidal (10 to 15 ppm) almost 3 times a week for almost 7 years with no side affects. And I can’t remember the last time I was sick with a cold or flu. I use it for my eyes, ears, teeth and nose also. We give it to our pet dog also. Best cure ever. I love it!!!
But my hubby took it had so much pain when ge had liver cancer,didnt help with the pain at all…maybe the silver with protein is bad
You could please tell what helps balance this flora after it has been disrupted. Like yogurts and probiotics prebiotic just like finishing antibiotics? I also use thieves oil as well as garlic onions rosemary etcetera. Yet when something that calls for antibiotics or strong action I would rather use silver vs mold derivative antibiotics. And then worry about replenishing flora afterwards. I would like to know of anything else that can help the balance of flora after any damage done? I used key biotics 10+ strands & yogurts etc. what do you recommend
Try fermented foods, especially Saurkraut. It produces more good bacteria than all the yougurt put together. Read up on it.
You have to get probiotics from a refrigerated section of the health food store. Room temp will probably be mostly dead already.
Actually the unrefrigerated probiotics are better quality. Check out the GAPS book for more info on this from Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride.
Wow! Lots of great comments, especially the one differentiating between the types of silvers. I make my own Ionic silver (as I shall now correctly call it) and as a kinesiologist I can tell you that my body actually asks for it and I am currently taking it internally to get rid of a particularly persistent virus and it is the only thing that is working (so yes, it is quite safe). However, I will be ‘repopulating’ afterwards with a dose or two of a product called ‘Culterelle’.
Sarah, following on from a comment you made about garlic and onion. I have just found out that as a fast oxidiser (someone who metabolises food quickly) these are really not good for me. Nonetheless, I have had my body ask for garlic tablets in the past and I am not about to stop using either one in my food as they taste great, but at least I am now aware.
There is no ‘one’ product out there and no ‘one’ food that is good for ‘everyone’ all of the time. If we start saying that sort of thing, then we are going down the route of conventional doctors who effectively say that we are all the same (like robots). Even modern medication is occasionally asked for and accepted by the body because it is necessary at that time (I know this is akin to blasphemy in these circles, but it’s true).
I have found that raw milk from some farmers is not tolerated by the body, whilst others are actually wanted by it. This could be due to a number of different factors such as how the cows are kept or how sanitary the various machines are. Even with the farm that produces the milk my body likes, I find that when the cows are brought in for the winter, something changes in the milk so my body rejects it.
As a fast oxidiser, my body wants a high fat, high protein diet, but slow oxidisers NEED a vegetarian diet and do badly on animal protein.
One further comment that I feel obliged to make (and this may well land me in the soup). The fermented cod liver oil that is so enthusiastically advertised … I have yet to find anyone whose body actually wants it. Now, it could be that people do need fermented cod liver oil, but that particular product is not suitable for some reason. I bought it at vast expense and was disappointed when I discovered my body rejected it and no one else needed it.
Sarah, I am an avid follower. Keep up the great work and thanks for being such a great teacher.
Nice additional thoughts, on testing and persistent viruses, which seem pretty common. I also muscle test stuff and have never gotten yes to fermented cod liver oil either. Luckily here in Seattle area, cows don’t really have to go in for winter so I haven’t encountered that. Curious what you think, I test that fast oxidizer, slow oxidizer, is a small matter to most people, but there could be other emotional, belief system factors, conscious & unconscious, that can effect how someone does with particular foods. I just like keeping a good balance of most all whole organic foods. Jeremy
Jeremy, I don’t understand what you mean when you say ” I test that fast oxidizer, slow oxidizer, is a small matter to most people”.
I am aware that certain foods can trigger strong emotions in some people due to earlier experiences, having a friend who is a hypnotist and who told me a story about a man who could not eat vegetables for emotional reasons – she cured him of it!
Why do you think culturelle has the ability to repopulate your gut? Most probiotics are transient.. the only one that I know of that has been verified to stay in the gut from an external source are the NCFS strains(ultra flora I believe makes a product with them). Is there any science to back this up? I know probiotics are good and helpful, but not necessarily with repopulation, that’s why most people are looking forward/towards fecal matter transplants.
Denis, I simply chose culturelle because my body wants it. There are a number of probiotic products out there, but my body wanted this one rather than any other that I have available.
What is NCFS please?
I am aware of faecal transplants, but I’d rather try other methods first. It is said that those living on dairy farms have greater varieties of bacteria in their intestines, but my garden isn’t quite big enough for a cow! So I try my best in various different ways, including buying raw milk and cream.
Christina,
I believe Denis meant the NCFM strain of Lactobacillus acidophilus, as in singular strain with many research studies.
NCFM is a registered trademark of the North Carolina Agricultural Foundation, Inc. (North Carolina Dairy Foundation in the U.S.) which identifies the way that their form of Lactobacillus acidophilus is produced through a fermentation process utilizing seed vials of starting material, specifically the N2 isolate from NCFM that was found to be bile resistant and is therefore separated as a pure N2 culture and is used as the sole isolate for all commercial production of NCFM. This information, as well as the manufacturing process can be found in a document filed with the FDA, Office of Food Additive Safety, GRAS Notification Program, in their GRAS (generally recognized as safe) notice exemption on October 21, 2010.
There are not different strains of NCFM, just the Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM strain which has been found to have excellent survival through the stomach acidity, as well as excellent ability to bind to the gut wall lining.
Additionally, while it is good to see that this is in the probiotic product that you are taking, there are multiple products that incorporate this into their formula and one can simply search the web for Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM. As you stated correctly, Ultra Flora does, but so does OptiBAC probiotics, Inner Health Plus, etc.
well show me this people with the blue faces, I certainly have not seen one yet. But what is in for you that you write against it?
Christina-
How does one tell if they are a fast oxidizer? I am so fascinated by the knowledge you have it’s incredible i never knew many of the things you brought up and would love to educate myself more on these things. Can you point me to some literature or a blog that would be good for someone wanting to learn more about this?
I like the points you made Sarah and i agree i am cautious about putting a metal into my body or my chills though i know so many mothers who use colloidal silver alternatively in place of medicine from a doctor and as a mother with a 3yr old who often gets sick i came to this blog while trying to research alternatives to medicine as i don’t like the idea of giving my daughter medicine that i have no idea what it consists of. But what i find your post lacks is alternative options. Would you suggest Thieves Vinegar for internal consumption in place of Colloidal Silver? Or anything else? I would appreciate any advice!
What do you and the commenters have to say about this article?
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/12/07/nano_silver_kills_microbes_epa_up_in_arms.htm
A pathology test for silver will show if one has too much silver. I took two litres of it (over time as per directions) and I was above the normal range but didn’t feel any the worse for it. AS I was over though, decided to stop it.
Easy to check though.