Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Does Colloidal Silver Kill Off Friendly Digestive Bacteria?

Does Colloidal Silver Kill Off Friendly Digestive Bacteria?


A reader recently wrote me asking the following questions:


"I understand colloidal silver kills viruses and one-celled bacteria. Will taking it daily interfere with the digestive process in any way? Does it also kill the good digestive bacteria? What would be your personal dosage experience as to a regular consumption of colloidal silver?"


Answer:


Generally speaking, for immune system maintenance and nutritional supplementation purposes, I personally take about an ounce of colloidal silver a day -- i.e., a small shot glass full each and every morning.


And occasionally, if a flu virus is going around, or if I’ve been exposed to someone sick, or if I eat out one night pick up an inconvenient case of food poisoning, or if I’m just feeling a little bit under the weather for some reason, I might increase my daily dosage significantly, to up to four ounces or more a day, which I generally take in increments throughout the day.


I’m not a doctor, so I’m not prescribing what you should do. But this is what I’ve been doing quite successfully for some 13 years now.


Digestive Aid


Taking colloidal silver in any amount has never interfered with my digestion, but instead, seems to aid my digestion.


In fact, when I’m taking colloidal silver daily I tend to have better and more frequent bowel movements. (Which is nice, because honestly, I hate prune juice!)


Beneficial Microorganisms


When I'm only taking a single ounce of colloidal silver daily, which is most of the time, I don't bother supplementing with beneficial bacteria on a regular basis. Just an occasional basis. (See more below.)


Why? Because the average human body has about seven pounds of beneficial microorganisms in the colon and spread throughout the large and small intestines.


You're simply not going to kill off seven pounds of beneficial bacteria with an ounce of colloidal silver. And since the friendly little critters are very prolific at reproducing (they don’t call them “friendly” microorganisms for nothing!), any die-off is probably replaced through reproduction with new “friendlies” before the day is over, particularly if you eat a good, balanced diet.


Larger Dosages of Colloidal Silver


But if I start taking larger dosages of colloidal silver for any reason (larger meaning more than an ounce a day), then I go ahead and supplement daily with a good beneficial bacteria supplement, to make sure that any die-off is replaced with fresh “friendlies.”


I’ll take the beneficial microbes every day that I’m taking larger dosages of colloidal silver. And I’ll continue to take the beneficial microbes for about a week or so after I’ve stopped taking the higher dosages of colloidal silver.


Usually, I take the colloidal silver in the morning before breakfast, and the beneficial microbial supplement in the evening, before dinner. If I’ve been taking colloidal silver in incremental dosages throughout the day, I’ll take my beneficial microbes just before bedtime.


Nature Abhors a Vacuum


I do this not merely to replace any colonies of beneficial microbes that may have been killed off when I was taking higher doses of colloidal silver. I do it chiefly to make sure that friendly microbes take the place of the colonies of health-robbing bacterial or fungal pathogens that have been killed off while I was taking larger dosages of colloidal silver.


As the old saying goes, “Nature abhors a vacuum.” If you kill off a bunch of nasty pathogens in your body with higher dosages of colloidal silver, something is going to fill that void. If you’re smart, you want it to be something friendly.


Hence, most experienced colloidal silver users will always supplement with beneficial microbes during and after a period of time in which they’ve been taking doses of colloidal silver larger than an ounce a day.


Recommendation


Currently, I use the NOW brand beneficial microbes called Gr8-Dophilis, because each capsule contains what I like to call a full “grid” of eight vital beneficial intestinal microbial strains, with a whopping four billion organisms per capsule.


Most other beneficial bacteria supplements contain only one or two beneficial microbial strains at most, such as the well known Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum.


There are other great beneficial microbial supplements that contain a full “grid” of friendly microorganisms, such as Flora-Source.


A Good Idea, Whether You Take Colloidal Silver or Not


Whether you take colloidal silver in any amount, or not, you should probably supplement with beneficial microbes from time to time, anyway.


As the natural health experts have pointed out repeatedly on this topic, your immunity begins in your stomach. Good stomach health generally equals good bodily health.


Eating a small container of yogurt with active bacterial cultures from time to time is a very smart way to keep your body’s stores of beneficial microbes in balance. After all, your body’s beneficial microbes can be killed off in any number of ways.


For example, a diet high in sugar encourages the growth of colonies of fungal pathogens, such as Candida yeast, which in turn compete for territory in your intestinal tract with your body’s beneficial microbes. Drinking alcohol to excess can destroy beneficial microorganisms. Taking prescription antibiotic drugs can kill off your body’s entire stores of beneficial microbes. Lack of dairy products in your diet can deplete stores of beneficial microbes by depriving them of the nutrition they need.


So consider beefing up your body’s vital stores of beneficial bacteria by eating some yogurt with live cultures every now and then. And if you don’t like yogurt, then consider buying a good beneficial microbial supplement such as Gr8-Dophilis or Flora-Source, and take it for a few days in a row, at least several times a month.


Learn More: FREE Downloadable

Colloidal Silver “Safe Dosage” Report


If you haven’t done so already, be sure to download the FREE colloidal silver “Safe Dosage" report located in the upper left-hand corner of the home page of the following web site: www.TheSilverEdge.com.


You’ll learn a simple formula for determining your personal safe daily dosage level of colloidal silver, based upon your own body weight. And it’s all based on the EPA’s own figures for what constitutes safe maximum daily dosage levels of silver for the human body.


Stay healthy,

Spencer Jones


Helpful Links:


Colloidal Silver Kills Viruses

Colloidal Silver Cures MRSA

Make Your Own Colloidal Silver

The Colloidal Silver Secrets Video

The Ultimate Colloidal Silver Manual

The New Micro-Particle Colloidal Silver Generator

Colloidal Silver Secrets blog

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Didn't you say in one of your blogs that colloidal silver will kill anaerobic, but not aerobic bacteria? And that since our "friendly" intestinal bacteria are aerobic, silver doesn't kill them?

Just wondering..... Mrs WTD

Steve Barwick said...

Hi Mrs. Davis,

Thanks for your question.

I sure hope I didn't make that statement about colloidal silver not affecting the beneficial bacteria in the human body, because it's simply not true.

I've seen that erroneous statement on other people's web sites, but not on my Colloidal Silver Secrets blog.

Actually, we did cover the topic of colloidal silver and intestinal bacteria once already, in the blog post of February 4, 2008, which you can read in its entirety at the following web link:
http://colloidalsilversecrets.blogspot.com/2008/02/does-colloidal-silver-kill-both-good.html

Here's a short excerpt of what we said on the blog back in February 2008:

"Many purveyors of commercial brands of colloidal silver claim that it does not kill the beneficial microorganisms that colonize the human intestinal tract and provide innumberable benefits to the body such as aiding in the digestion of foods, the extraction of nutrients from those foods, the assimilation of those nutrients throughout the body, and the processing of waste products from the body.

"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.

"However, taking small daily doses of colloidal silver is not as problematic in this regard as you might think. That's because there are anywhere from three to seven pounds of beneficial microorganisms populating the entirety of the intestinal tract at any point in time. So if you are taking a small daily maintenance dose of colloidal silver – which most researchers put at about one tablespoon to one ounce a day of 5 ppm to 10 ppm in strength – you will not kill off very many of the friendly "gut bugs" that line the intestinal tract."

My best wishes to you for a Happy New Year!

Regards,
Spencer