The most frequently
asked question I get is “What’s the difference between true colloidal silver,
nanosilver and ionic silver?”
This question is
largely spurred by websites promoting the erroneous idea that there’s only one
kind of colloidal silver – which they refer to as “true colloidal silver” – and
that all other silver solutions are somehow inferior to it in antimicrobial
effectiveness.
Of course, nothing
could be further from the truth. And
I’ll document that for you step-by-step, directly below. Here are the basic scientific facts the
purveyors of “true colloidal silver” don’t want you to know…
People continue to ask me what the difference is between
“true colloidal silver”, “nanosilver” and “ionic silver.”
To understand, you first have to grasp the simple fact that
the term “colloidal silver” is an umbrella
term covering many different types of liquid antimicrobial silver products,
such as:
- Ionic
silver -- extremely small, positively charged atoms or molecules of
silver in a colloidal suspension
- Metallic
silver -- bare metal silver particles averaging 100 nm or larger, in a
colloidal suspension
- Nanosilver
– bare metal silver particles averaging less than 100 nm in size, in a
colloidal suspension
- Mild Silver
Protein – bare metal particles of silver complexed with denatured protein
such as casein, in a colloidal suspension
- Silver Citrate
-- ionic silver complexed with citric acid, in a colloidal suspension
While there are some pretty big differences between each of
these forms of colloidal silver, the main thing to remember is that they’re all
“colloidal” in nature.
That is to say, they’re all composed of relatively small
particles of one form of silver or another, suspended homogenously and
indefinitely in water. They’re not dissolved in the water. They’re tiny, submicroscopic particles of
silver suspended in the water.
What makes each of these forms of colloidal silver different
is how they’re produced and how they work inside the human body.
So in the remainder of this article we’re going to examine those
two crucial factors carefully. But for
the sake of time, we’re only going to look at the two most popular forms of
colloidal silver, i.e., the ionic
form and the metallic form.
The Differences
Between
Ionic Silver and Metallic
Silver
The two main types of colloidal silver vying for the
spotlight today are the ionic form,
and the metallic form. And it’s around these two forms of colloidal
silver that most of the controversy swirls.
So we’ll take a good hard look at the differences between these two forms
of colloidal silver, below.
The ionic form of colloidal silver is the most common form
sold in health food stores today.
Indeed, it’s been the #1 best-selling form of colloidal silver for over
100 years, and it continues to be the bestselling form of colloidal silver to
this very day.
The metallic form of colloidal silver is the second most common form sold in health
food stores today. It can also be referred
to as nanoparticle silver, but only if
the metallic silver particles it’s composed of are less than 100 nm in size on
average.
Metallic Silver Facts:
Let’s examine the metallic
form of colloidal silver first:
This form of colloidal silver is also often erroneously referred
to by internet marketers as “true colloidal silver.”
It’s important to note, however, that the term “true
colloidal silver” is a completely made-up term.
It cannot be found anywhere in the scientific or medical
nomenclature. That’s because it’s an advertising gimmick, and not an actual
recognized medical or scientific term.
In fact, a friend of mine who’s been the research director
of a pharmaceutical firm for years often challenges people to find the term
“true colloidal silver” in any reputable medical textbook or clinical reference
work. He even offers to buy them a
gallon of their favorite brand of “true colloidal silver” if they can produce
such a reference.
But he’s never
been taken up on the challenge because there’s simply no reference to “true
colloidal silver” in any of the standard recognized medical or clinical
reference texts in the entire world.
In short, there’s simply no such thing as “true colloidal
silver.” Clinical researchers won’t even
use the term in their clinical studies because they don’t want to be laughed
out of the room.
So for the sake of clarity and scientific accuracy we’ll
continue to use the correct nomenclature and refer to the so-called “true
colloidal silver” as the metallic form of colloidal silver, or nanosilver.
The metallic form of colloidal silver is generally manufactured
through a chemical process in which a
silver compound such as silver nitrate or silver acetate is chemically reduced
until there’s nothing left but tiny, bare metal particles of elemental silver
suspended in water.
But metallic silver can also be manufactured through a
high-voltage A/C process in which extremely high voltages of electricity up to
25,000 volts are used to force tiny particles of elemental silver to
disassociate (i.e., break loose) into water from a larger silver rod or bar.
Another less-often-used method for producing the metallic
form of colloidal silver is to take finely ground-up elemental silver and add
it to water while sonicating it (i.e., mechanically agitating the silver
particles) in order to bring it into a colloidal suspension.
The bottom line is that no matter how you produce the
metallic form of colloidal silver, when you drink it you’re drinking tiny particles of bare metal elemental silver.
It would be the same as if you could use your knife to whittle raw
silver particles off a silver coin, only the silver metal particles in the
metallic form of colloidal silver are much smaller, of course.
Ionic Silver Facts
Now let’s examine the ionic
form of colloidal silver:
The ionic form of colloidal silver is almost always produced
through a low-voltage D/C electrical
process, rather than being chemically manufactured, ground up and mechanically sonicated
or disassociated with from elemental silver using high-voltages of electricity.
What happens is that a current of low-voltage electricity is
passed through two pure silver rods immersed in pure distilled water. As the electrical current passes through one
of the silver rods, hydrogen and hydroxide ions are produced making the distilled
water slightly conductive – just enough to allow the electrical current to flow
through the water toward the other silver rod.
As this process gradually accelerates, submicroscopic silver
ions (i.e., tiny atomic and molecular particles of pure silver) are slowly liberated
into the water from one of the silver rods, where they’re suspended by a
positive electrical charge.
These tiny atomic and molecular particles of silver act as
electrolytes, allowing the electrical current to flow even more strongly
between the two silver rods, liberating even more silver ions in the
process.
Unlike the metallic form of colloidal silver, these are not tiny
particles of bare metal elemental silver.
Instead, they’re tiny, electrically-charged atomic and molecular particles of silver – which is to say, they’re
silver particles missing an electron.
Physically, the missing electron and the resulting positive
electrical charge is the only thing that distinguishes these silver particles
from bare metal elemental silver particles.
Indeed, it’s that missing electron that allows the tiny
silver ions to carry their positive electrical charge, which does two things:
1.) makes the silver far more biologically active inside the human
body against pathogens, and…
2.) makes the silver and far more bio-available (i.e., easier for the body
to absorb and utilize).
I’ll explain why this is true, in-depth, throughout the
remainder of this article. But simply
put, the ionic form of colloidal silver is the
most readily bio-available and bio-effective
form, which is exactly why it’s been the #1 best-selling form of colloidal
silver for nearly 100 years.
You may not realize it, but the ionic form of colloidal silver
is the same naturally occurring form of silver found in food plants such as
wheat, edible mushrooms, edible sea vegetables (Nori, Kombu, Wakame, Arame,
Hijiki, Dulse) and others.
You see, plants absorb minerals from the ground or from the
water through their root systems or other nutrient intake systems. And they quickly convert these minerals into
their ionic form.
Why? Because it’s the
ionic form that’s the most readily
bio-available…the most biologically active…and therefore the most useful and beneficial
in the body for both humans and animals that eat the plants.
So Mother Nature makes sure that minerals are in their most
bioavailable form in our food plants, so we’ll get the most out of them,
nutritionally speaking, when we eat them.
Were this not true, there would be little positive benefit whatsoever
from eating plants in order to obtain the minerals our bodies need to function. We could just eat dirt instead, and consume
our minerals in their elemental (i.e., metallic) form. But the human body is simply not equipped to
use the elemental form of silver very well.
Instead, nature has decreed that the human body utilizes
minerals – including silver -- in the ionic
form, which, again, is exactly why Mother Nature has her food plants convert
minerals into the ionic form.
So when you use the ionic form of colloidal silver, you’re
using the same form that occurs naturally
in food plants. In other words, minerals
in their ionic form are the way Mother Nature intended for them to be ingested.
A Brief Review
To briefly review, when you ingest the metallic form of colloidal silver (i.e., nanosilver, or so-called
“true colloidal silver”), you’re ingesting tiny, bare metal elemental silver
particles in a colloidal suspension.
And when you ingest the ionic
form of colloidal silver, you’re ingesting tiny, submicroscopic atoms and molecules of silver – also known as ionic silver particles -- that
have been electrically liberated from bare metal silver into a colloidal
suspension.
In spite of what’s been said on the internet, both metallic
silver suspensions and ionic silver suspensions
are “colloidal silver.” After all,
they’re both composed of tiny particles of silver suspended homogenously and
indefinitely in a liquid solution.
The big difference between the two is that the metallic form
of colloidal silver is composed of tiny, bare metal particles of elemental
silver, while the ionic form of colloidal silver is composed of tiny positively-charged
atomic or molecular particles of silver that have been liberated from metallic
silver using low-voltage electricity.
Both are “colloids,” with the bare metal elemental silver suspension
being a metallic colloid, and the
ionic silver suspension being a colloidal
electrolyte (due to the electrically charged atomic and molecular particles
of silver).
This is why both
forms – metallic and ionic -- have been universally called “colloidal silver”
for the past 100-plus years, until only recently when purveyors of the metallic
form began claiming only theirs could be called a “true colloid.” It’s a great marketing gimmick. But scientifically speaking, the claim is a
farce.
The metallic silver suspensions are colloids. And the ionic
silver suspensions are colloids. Again, one is a colloidal suspension of tiny
metal particles of silver. And one is a
colloidal suspension of tiny electrically-charged ionic particles of silver just
like you’d find naturally in edible plants.
The Truly Important
Distinction
Now here’s the truly important
distinction you need to understand:
It’s the tiny, submicroscopic silver ions (i.e., positively charged atoms or molecules of silver) that
give ALL forms of colloidal silver their infection-fighting properties.
In fact, ALL reputable experts agree that silver ions are the biologically active,
infection-fighting “specie” of silver, while bare metal elemental silver
particles have almost no infection-fighting qualities of their own except to the extent that they shed silver
ions when they come into contact with acidic bodily fluids or
highly-oxygenated body tissues.
For example, here’s a quote from Britain’s top expert on
antimicrobial silver, Alan B.G. Lansdown, author of Silver In Healthcare: Its
Antimicrobial Efficacy and Safety in Use, which is considered to be the
definitive textbook for doctors on the medical use of silver:
“Metallic silver is inert in
the presence of human tissues but ionizes in the presence of moisture,
body fluids, and secretions to release the biologically active Ag+ (i.e.,
ionic silver)”.
-- Alan B.G. Lansdown, A Pharmacological and Toxicological Profile of
Silver as an Antimicrobial Agent in Medical Devices, Advances in
Pharmacological Sciences, Vol. 2010, Article ID 910686
As you can see, Dr. Lansdown agrees that the silver ion (also
known as Ag+) is the biologically active, infection-fighting form of silver,
and that metallic silver is basically inert except
to the extent it begins to shed silver ions in the body when it comes into
contact with certain bodily fluids.
Here’s another quote; this one from Microbe Wiki, the online
encyclopedia of all things microbial:
"In order for silver to have any antimicrobial properties, it must
be in its ionized form. Silver in its non-ionized form is
inert, but contact with moisture leads to the release of silver ions."
-- Microbe Wiki, Silver
As An Antimicrobial Agent
That’s pretty darned clear, I think you’ll agree. Silver must be in the ionized (i.e., ionic)
form in order to kill pathogens.
If silver is in its non-ionized
form (i.e., metallic elemental silver) it can only kill pathogens to the extent
it begins to shed silver ions when it comes into contact with acidic bodily
fluids. This simple fact is recognized
throughout both science and industry.
For example, here’s another quote, this one from an industry source:
“Metallic silver is relatively unreactive. However, when exposed to aqueous environments
some ionic silver (Ag+) is released… the principle activity of silver
is as a result of the production of silver ions within an aqueous matrix.”
-- Technical White Paper:
Antimicrobial Activity of Silver, Industrial Microbiological Services
Ltd., September 2005
And here’s another expert quote, this one from top Rice
University researchers who have studied the question of metallic versus ionic
silver extensively:
“Scientists
have long known that silver ions, which flow from nanoparticles when oxidized
[i.e., when they lose an electron -- ED] are
deadly to bacteria.
But
scientists have also suspected silver nanoparticles themselves may be toxic to
bacteria, particularly the smallest of them at about 3 nanometers.
Not
so, according to the Rice team that reported its results this month in the
American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters.
In
fact, when the possibility of ionization is taken away from silver, the
nanoparticles are practically benign in the presence of microbes.”
-- Rice University News, “Ions,
Not Particles, Make Silver Toxic to Bacteria,” quoting Pedro Alvarez, George R.
Brown Professor and chair of Rice’s Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department
And quoting directly from the Abstract of the actual Rice
University study, titled “Negligible Particle-Specific Antibacterial Activity
of Silver Nanoparticles,” which was published in the July 5, 2012 issue of the
journal Nano Letters:
“For
nearly a decade, researchers have debated the mechanisms by which AgNPs [i.e.,
silver nanoparticles] exert toxicity to bacteria and other organisms.
The
most elusive question has been whether the AgNPs exert direct
‘particle-specific’ effects beyond the known antimicrobial activity of released
silver ions (Ag+).
Here,
we infer that Ag+ [i.e, silver ions – ED] is the definitive molecular toxicant.
We
rule out direct particle-specific biological effects by showing the lack of
toxicity of AgNPs [i.e., metallic silver – ED] when synthesized and tested under strictly anaerobic conditions that
preclude Ag(0) oxidation and Ag+ release.”
In other words, when the researchers took away the ability
of the metallic nanosilver to shed silver ions, the metal particles were no
longer toxic to bacteria. It is only
when metallic silver (i.e., nanosilver) is able to shed silver ions that it can
kill bacteria.
Again, that’s brand new research by top clinical researchers
from Rice University. But it’s been
known for over half a century that metallic silver is biologically inert –
meaning it has no antimicrobial qualities of its own except to the extent it
sheds biologically active silver ions.
But it’s backed up by tons of previous research. In January 2009, in the journal Quanta, researcher S.M. Foran wrote in
an article titled “Therapeutic Properties of Silver: An Historical and Technical Review”:
“Neutral
silver [i.e., metallic silver – ED] does not have the microcidal nature that
silver does in the ionic state. The
charge of the ion is necessary in facilitating electron displacement in
microbes...
…Reduced
or neutral silver [i.e., metallic silver – ED] have no known medical
value. These include silver salts,
silver compounds and colloids that are
created without ions…
…These
produces will still provide some benefits if there are silver ions present, but
most of them have difficulty achieving biologically meaning concentrations of
Ag+”
And in their technical white paper “Everything You Ever
Wanted to Know About the Use of Silver in Wound Therapy, Systagenix Wound
Management (one of the world’s largest providers of wound care products for
hospitals and doctors) wrote:
“Silver
can exist in ‘elemental’ or ‘ionic’ form.
Silver ions are also referred to as ‘Ag+’ or ‘silver cations.’
All
silver-containing products, whether elemental or ionic, achieve their
antimicrobial effect via the action of silver cations (i.e., silver ions).”
In other words, the silver can be in the elemental metal
state, or it can be in the ionic state, but there’s no way for it to kill
pathogens except in the ionic state. The elemental metal form has to convert to
the ionic form in order to work. It has
to shed silver ions in the presence of pathogens, or it’s otherwise
benign.
In that article, you’ll find dozens of quotes from bona-fide clinical research and medical
experts going back half a century or more and documenting the fact that the
silver ion (i.e., ionic silver) is the biologically active, infection-fighting
“specie” of silver, and that metallic (or elemental) silver, even in its
nanoparticle form is biologically inert
against pathogens except to the extent it
sheds silver ions.
So here’s the key to understanding the controversy over the
ionic form of colloidal silver versus the metallic form of colloidal silver
(which is erroneously referred to as “true colloidal silver”):
When you ingest the metallic form of colloidal silver, in
order for these tiny particles of bare metal elemental silver to be effective
in the human body they must first be
converted by the body into the ionic
form of silver.
In other words, they have to shed silver ions. They do this
when they come into contact with acidic bodily fluids or highly-oxygenated
tissues. This, in turn causes the metal
particles to liberate silver ions into the surrounding area. It’s a far slower and less effective process
than simply ingesting silver ions.
In other words, for the metallic form of colloidal silver to
work, it has to be broken down and
converted inside of your body into the ionic form of silver, i.e., into
those tiny components of silver we call silver ions.
But when you ingest the electrically-generated ionic form of
colloidal silver, there’s no conversion
process needed. Your body does not need to break it down any
further, because it’s ALREADY in the biologically active, infection-fighting
form – the same naturally bio-available form you’ll find it in, in plants.
With the ionic form of colloidal silver, you’re ingesting
tiny, submicroscopic, electrically-charged atoms and molecules of silver,
called silver ions. Silver ions are the
“bioactive” form of silver that are so useful in the human body because they’re
so deadly to pathogens.
Which One Works?
The bottom line is this:
Technically speaking, either
form of colloidal silver – ionic or metallic – work. Both have powerful antimicrobial qualities.
But…in order for the metallic form of colloidal silver to
kill pathogens it has to undergo a gradual conversion process inside the human
body. It has to come into contact with
acidic bodily fluids or highly oxygenated tissues and then start shedding
silver ions, which are what actually kill
the bacteria.
On the other hand, when you ingest the
electrically-generated ionic form of
colloidal silver no conversion is necessary.
It’s ready to work immediately
because it’s already in the biologically active, infection-fighting state.
The bottom line is that both of them work just fine.
But the metallic form (i.e., the so-called “true colloidal
silver”) works much slower, and far less efficiently, because the tiny
bare metal particles it’s composed of are inert (i.e., have no antimicrobial
activity on their own) and have to undergo that gradual conversion into silver
ions inside the human body before they can even begin to work against
pathogens.
For further documentation, see this article
from Rice University researchers demonstrating that the metallic (i.e.,
nanoparticle) form of silver is biologically inert, and cannot kill pathogens
unless it sheds biologically active silver ions.
Electrical Charges
As long as we’re delving this deeply into the science behind
colloidal silver, I suppose I could also explain that ionic silver works best
against pathogens because it carries a positive electrical charge, while
metallic silver (or nanosilver) carries no
electrical charge at all.
This is very important to understand. In science, it’s well known that like electrical charges repel each other, and opposite electrical charges attract each other.
And since bacteria tend to carry a negative electrical
charge on their cell wall, positively-charged silver ions have a strong
affinity for them.
You see gram positive bacteria carry a negative electrical
charge on their cell walls thanks to the presence of teichoic acids linked to
either the peptidoglycan or to the underlying plasma membrane. These teichoic
acids are negatively charged because of presence of phosphate in their
structure.
And gram negative bacteria have an outer covering of
phospholipids and lipopolysaccharides, with the lipopolysaccharides imparting a
strongly negative charge to the surface of the bacterial cell wall.
So thanks to the positive electrical charge on silver ions,
a very strong affinity exists between them and gram positive and gram negative
forms of bacteria. In short, the silver ions are strongly attracted to bacteria.
But metallic silver does not
carry this same electrical attraction, because it does not carry an electrical
charge.
The bottom line, as Albert T. McManus, M.D., Chief of
Microbiology, Institute of Surgical Research at Fort Sam Houston Army Burn
Center in Houston, Texas has observed:
“…conversion
of metallic silver to silver ions is necessary for efficacy” and “the silver ion will react with any
negative charge presented by a pathogen’s transport or membrane proteins and
deactivate them.”
In short, because silver ions are missing an electron,
they’re positively charged, which causes them to be attracted to the cell wall
of the pathogens at which point they then begin to destabilize the cell wall
and disrupt cellular metabolism of the pathogen.
As clinical researcher Eric Rentz states in his
retrospective study of silver, published in the Journal of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine:
Microbial
cells “selectively bond only with
Ag+ [i.e., ionic silver – ED].”
And as researcher S.M. Foran wrote in an article titled
“Therapeutic Properties of Silver: An
Historical and Technical Review,” which was published in the January 2009 issue
of the journal Quanta:
“Neutral
silver [i.e., metallic silver – ED] does not have the microcidal nature that
silver does in the ionic state. The
charge of the ion is necessary in facilitating electron displacement in
microbes...
So again, it’s the SILVER ION that gives silver all of its infection-fighting
properties. And it’s largely the positive electrical charge held by the
silver ion that makes silver’s biocidal properties possible.
Metalic silver does not
carry this crucial positive electrical charge.
So it does not seek out, bind to and destroy pathogens like ionic silver
does. It can only destroy pathogens to the extent that it converts to the ionic
form of silver in the human body, which generally happens on a very gradual
basis in the presence of acidic bodily fluids or highly oxygenated tissues – a
much slower and less effective process. Never
let anyone tell you differently.
Now You Know…
Now you know why the ionic
form of colloidal silver has been the world’s #1 best-selling form of colloidal
silver for over 60 years.
The ionic form of colloidal silver sells better, because it
works faster and more efficiently in the human body than the metallic
form (i.e., nanosilver, or so-called “true colloidal silver”) which is composed
of nothing but tiny bare particles of elemental silver metal that cannot even
begin to kill microbes until they start shedding silver ions.
So the question of the day is this:
Why even bother to ingest a colloidal silver solution
consisting of bare metal silver particles that need to be converted into silver
ions inside the human body, when instead you can ingest a colloidal silver
solution consisting of pure silver ions that need no conversion at all?
Stomach Acid Nonsense
Now, of course, the purveyors of the metallic form of
colloidal silver will tell you that the ionic form of colloidal silver simply doesn’t
work against pathogens in the human body.
They claim – erroneously, of course – that this is because silver
ions easily get tied-up in the gut by hydrochloric acid (i.e., stomach acid) and
are thereby converted to silver chloride and neutralized.
And they claim that only their metallic form of colloidal
silver can possibly work inside the human body, because it doesn’t get tied-up
in the gut by stomach acid, but instead is absorbed through the
gastrointestinal barrier and ends up in the blood where it’s carried into the
body’s cells, tissues and organs.
But if that little bit of marketing claptrap were true, then
the metallic form of colloidal silver – the so-called “true colloidal silver”
-- could not possibly work either.
After all, as I’ve demonstrated repeatedly in this article, for
the metallic form of colloidal silver to work in the body, pathogen-killing
silver ions must be liberated from the bare metal silver particles.
And that
conversion from metallic silver to ionic silver can only take place in the presence of acidic bodily fluids or highly-oxygenated
tissues.
Of course, stomach acid is highly acidic. That’s why they call it stomach acid.
So, metallic silver begins shedding silver ions as soon as it comes into
contact with stomach acid.
But if ionic silver is tied-up and neutralized in the gut by
hydrochloric acid, then the silver ions
being shed by metallic silver particles inside the stomach would also become
tied-up and neutralized by stomach acid.
And in such a case, neither
form of colloidal silver could possibly kill pathogens inside the human body,
because it’s the silver ion that’s
the biologically active, infection-fighting “specie” of silver. The
silver ion, and only the silver ion,
kills pathogens.
So the purveyors of the metallic form of colloidal silver
shoot themselves in the foot every time they make the claim that silver ions
get tied up in the gut by stomach acid and are thereby turned into silver
chloride and neutralized.
Again, if this were true the effectiveness of their own
product would be equally neutralized once ingested, since it begins shedding
silver ions in the gut in reaction to stomach acid, and indeed, is completely
dependent upon shedding silver ions in order to work against pathogens.
“Well, Steve,” you might say, “what if the metal particles
are absorbed across the gastrointestinal barrier and into the bloodstream, and
only then begin to shed silver ions?”
Interesting question.
Aside from the fact that it physically
can’t happen that way due to the hydrochloric acid in the stomach which
starts the process of liberating silver ions from the metallic silver in
earnest, there’s another problem, as well.
Here it is:
The “true colloidal silver” people make the following claim
on their own website: “If some ionic silver were ever able to get
into the bloodstream it would encounter a large supply of chloride ions owing
to the fact that the blood serum is rich in sodium and potassium chloride,
again, quickly forming silver chloride.”
So if that’s true,
then metallic silver particles releasing silver ions in the bloodstream would
also have their effectiveness completely neutralized, because the released
silver ions would be neutralized as they formed silver chloride.
Do you see how the “true colloidal silver” people continue
to shoot themselves in the foot over and over and over again with their
spurious claims?
In just a moment, I’ll show you exactly how silver ions manage to get through the harsh chemical
environment of the gastrointestinal tract, and the bloodstream, and make it
into the cells, tissues and organs of the human body where they can work their
magic against pathogens.
But first, here’s a big surprise for you:
A Big Surprise…
While the so-called “true colloidal silver” people continue
to make the claim that ionic silver gets tied-up in the gut and neutralized by
hydrochloric acid, recent clinical research demonstrates that it’s actually their
metallic form of colloidal silver
that gets tied-up in the gut and neutralized by hydrochloric acid.
In fact, this has been demonstrated clinically, time and
time again, most recently by researchers from the University of Nevada in
cooperation with scientists from the EPA’s Office of Research and Development.
In their clinical study, these researchers “exposed silver
nanoparticles to synthetic human stomach fluid to see how ingested
nanoparticles could be altered by the stomach’s very acidic environment.”
According to the researchers:
“A
variety of analytical methods showed that nanoparticles formed large
aggregates and produced silver chloride when exposed to stomach fluid.
Changes
in nanoparticle physical form and surface chemistry that occur in the stomach
may affect how much silver will be absorbed across the gastrointestinal barrier.”
In short, the researchers discovered that metallic silver
nanoparticles (i.e., nanosilver, or so-called “true colloidal silver”) formed
large clumps and began converting to silver chloride when exposed to stomach acids.
The researchers surmised that because of this, the human
body would likely have significant trouble absorbing and utilizing metallic nanosilver
particles.
Of course, that’s just the opposite of what the “true colloidal silver” people will tell
you. They claim that metallic silver
will not interact with stomach
fluids, and that therefore it’s easily absorbable into the body from the
gastrointestinal tract.
They further claim that it’s the ionic form of colloidal silver
that gets tied up in the gut and cannot make past the gastrointestinal
barrier. But the only evidence they produce for their claims is from their own in-house
lab.
No independent clinical research backs up their claims. Quite the opposite,
in fact – most truly independent clinical research destroys their claims.
Even the infamous Brown University clinical study on
argyria, conducted in August 2012, found that metallic nanosilver was “not
terribly likely to make it from the GI tract to the blood…” but that silver ions shed by the metal nanosilver
in reaction to the acidic environment of the stomach were “easily absorbed into
the bloodstream.” Again, that’s the exact opposite
of what the purveyors of “true colloidal silver” claim.
Indeed, the Brown University researchers found that:
“…nanosilver
corrodes in stomach acid in much the same way it does in other acidic
environments.
Corrosion
strips silver atoms of electrons, forming positively charged silver salt ions.
Those ions can easily be taken into the bloodstream…”
So in light of these studies and others like them, it would
seem that the purveyors of the metallic nanosilver products which they erroneously
call “true colloidal silver” are either ignorant of the actual science, or not
always completely honest with their customers.
That’s probably a gross understatement.
The Problem with
Simulated Studies
Nevertheless, while the above two studies are fascinating
because they further document the fact that metallic nanosilver by itself is
basically worthless except to the extent that it sheds silver ions in the body,
both studies were nevertheless based upon simulated
body systems, i.e., they used simulated stomach acid, simulated blood,
simulated tissues, simulated skin, etc.
And in such clinical simulations, no matter how close these
researchers can come to the real thing, they still can’t reproduce the dynamic
biological milieu of the human body, with all of its chemical complexities.
I say this for a very specific reason.
After all, in spite of the simulation studies, it’s abundantly
clear from real-life experience as well as from clinical experience that both forms of colloidal silver – the
ionic form and the metallic form -- work effectively against pathogens inside the
human body.
So please don’t think I’m trying to say that metallic silver
doesn’t work. I’m not. I’m just demonstrating that their claims against ionic silver are based
on fantasy, deception or gross misunderstanding of the colloidal science.
Indeed, there’s tons
of clinical documentation for the effectiveness of the metallic form of
colloidal silver. And there’s tons more clinical documentation for the
effectiveness of the ionic form of
colloidal silver.
There’s also thousands upon thousands of real-life human and
animal anecdotal accounts demonstrating the effectiveness of both forms of colloidal silver.
What’s more, this broad spectrum of evidence for the
effectiveness of both forms of
colloidal silver stretch back over a period of more than 100 years. So how can this be?
How can both forms
of colloidal silver work against pathogens in the human body if metallic silver
gets corroded by stomach acid, forming clumps and turning into silver chloride
(as the University of Nevada and Brown University clinical studies clearly
demonstrate), and if ionic silver gets turned into silver chloride in the
stomach and is neutralized (as the purveyors of the metallic form of colloidal
silver claim)?
Thankfully, there’s a very simple, often overlooked answer...
The Metalloprotein
Transport System
Both forms of colloidal silver – the metallic silver form
and the ionic silver form – demonstrate broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity
in the human body for one reason, and one reason only:
It’s because the human body has a very effective transport mechanism
for safely escorting silver ions through
the harsh acidic chemical environments encountered inside the human body and
into the cells, tissues and organs where they can work against pathogens that colonize
and cause illness and disease.
And it’s this transport mechanism – known as the
Metalloprotein Transport System -- the clinical researchers simply can’t
duplicate in their simulated studies.
The upshot of the matter is this: Without the Metalloprotein Transport System,
neither the ionic form of colloidal silver nor the metallic form of colloidal
silver could possibly work inside the human body.
After all, the ionic form of colloidal silver is composed largely
of pure silver ions. And the metallic
form of colloidal silver is completely dependent upon conversion to silver ions inside the body in order to demonstrate
any antimicrobial activity whatsoever.
So both forms
would ultimately be neutralized by acids or chloride ions not just in the
stomach, but elsewhere in the body as well.
But substances called metalloproteins
protectively bond with silver ions and then escort them through the harsh
chemical environment of the gastrointestinal tract and into the bloodstream
where they’re carried safely into the cells, tissues and organs of the human
body before being released to work their magic against pathogens.
And that’s why both
form of colloidal silver work well in the human body.
You see, metalloproteins are produced inside the human body in direct response to the presence of
metallic ions. This is true for
silver ions, zinc ions, copper ions or any other metallic mineral ion.
So when you ingest ionic silver, your body will immediately begin to produce
metalloproteins such as metallothionein
to escort those silver ions through the harsh chemical environment of the
stomach, and into the deeper reaches of the body.
And when you ingest metallic silver, the same things
happens, but far more slowly. As the metallic silver particles come into
contact with acidic bodily fluids beginning in the GI tract, these metal particles
begin shedding silver ions, just as the above studies have documented.
And it’s at that point
the body will start producing the metalloproteins needed to escort those silver
ions through that harsh chemical environment and into the bloodstream, organs,
tissues and cells of the body where pathogens colonize.
Researchers can’t simulate
that in a study, because it’s too difficult to simulate the rich biochemical
milieu of the human body in its entirety.
They can’t coax a simulated body system – with simulated
blood, simulated stomach acid, simulated tissues and simulated skin – to produce metalloproteins in response to
the presence of silver ions.
But the human body, of course, is quite capable of doing
so. It’s not a simulated system. It’s the real deal. And in the human body, metalloproteins are
always produced in response to the presence of metallic ions such as silver, zinc,
copper and others.
Now, here’s the interesting part:
When using the ionic
form of colloidal silver, the metalloprotein “escort” process starts immediately, because it’s the silver ion
that stimulates the body to produce metalloproteins in the first place.
But when using the metallic
form of colloidal silver, the process is far more gradual due to the fact that it takes a while for the body to start
converting metallic silver particles into silver ions, en masse.
This is why some clinical studies
have demonstrated that it takes significantly longer for metallic silver to
kill pathogens than it does for ionic silver.
The $64,000 Question
Finally, I ask you to put your thinking cap on for just a
second and ask yourself this simple question:
If it were true that only elemental metals could survive the
harsh acidic environment of the GI tract, and that ionic metals “can’t last
more than a few seconds in the body” as the so-called “true colloidal silver”
people claim, then how does the human body absorb and utilize minerals from the
food plants we eat, since they’re all in the ionic form, and they all end up in
the stomach in contact with stomach acid?
If the “true colloidal silver” people were correct in their
assertions that ions can’t exist in the presence of stomach acid for “more than
a few seconds,” then it follows that human body could not absorb and utilize
minerals from food plants at all, for the simple reason nature has those plants
convert all minerals, including silver, to the ionic form.
That fact that our body does indeed absorb and utilize ionic
minerals from plants is all of the evidence you need that the “true colloidal
silver” people are being awfully disingenuous (to put it mildly) when they say
ionic silver “can’t work in the human body.”
Now please don’t get me wrong, by any means. I’m not against the metallic form of
colloidal silver or its metallic silver counterpart, nanosilver. I’ve documented in this report why both of them work, as well as how they work.
And I’ll go so far as to admit there are some pretty darned good
brands of metallic silver, such as the one manufactured by my good friends at
American Biotech Labs, known as ASAP Colloidal Silver or Silver Sol, which I’ve
recommended many times when people have told me they wanted to try a nanosilver
product to compare against their favorite ionic silver product.
But I’m not going to deny the science behind colloidal
silver just to make people feel better about their choices. And I’m not going to allow shifty marketers
to get away with twisting the science all out of proportion to make one colloidal
silver product sound superior to all others, when nothing could be further from
the truth.
My advice to colloidal silver vendors is that they should
allow their products compete in the open marketplace based upon their merits,
and not upon “weird science” from their in-house labs that simply can’t be
backed up by valid and competent independent clinical research.
People will come back time-and-time again to purchase
products that actually work. And if your
colloidal silver product works, people will enthusiastically promote it for
you, both online and among their own families and friends.
But if you lie to them about the science, then skepticism
about all of your claims inevitably
kicks in. And the old saying “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me,” will eventually
take its toll on your product sales as truth comes to light.
The Ion/Particle
Debate
As long as we’re still in learning mode, let’s take this one
step further.
It’s important to note that some colloidal silver marketers,
in an attempt to make their product appear superior, would lead you to believe
that an ion is not a particle, and that therefore the ionic form of colloidal silver
cannot really be considered “colloidal” in nature, because there are supposedly
no “particles” in it.
This is ridiculous, of course. Just think it through for yourself. An ion is simply a particle of bare metallic silver that’s missing an electron. That’s
it. Taking away the electron from a
particle of silver does not change the fact that it’s a particle of
silver. It’s just a particle of silver missing an electron, i.e., an ionic
particle.
- Metallic silver is composed of silver particles
that are not missing an electron (and
thus are biologically inactive/inert against pathogens).
- And ionic silver is composed of silver particles
that are missing an electron (which gives
them a positive electrical charge and makes them biologically active against
pathogens).
But don’t just believe me. The International Union of Pure and Applied
Chemistry defines an “ion” like this:
"An atomic or molecular particle having
a net electric charge."
You can’t get any simpler or more accurate than that.
The IUPAC is the recognized
world authority in chemical terminology and nomenclature. It’s even informally
referred to as the “Gold Book,” because it’s considered to be the gold standard
for scientific definitions. And its definitions
are applicable to ALL fields of science.
Of course, you’ll have some of these “true colloidal silver”
people tell you “Yes, I know what the Gold Books says, but that definition doesn’t
apply to my product because it has
special physical properties not covered in the Gold Book.”
All I can say is in response to that little bit of silliness
is please chuckle softly when they make that claim. Don’t laugh too hard. Say something like “Well, bless your pointed
little head,” and avert your eyes as if you’re embarrassed for them.
The IUPAC further
states that colloid components include ionic
particles. It even refers to
the "colloidal ion."
So any colloidal silver marketer who would lead you to
believe that an ion is not a particle and therefore cannot be part of a “true
colloid” (or more accurately spoken, a true colloidal
suspension) is either uninformed or attempting to deceive you with
semantics.
In short, if you absolutely have to use the term “true
colloidal silver,” at least do so with the understanding that ionic colloidal
silver is every bit as much “true colloidal silver” as the metallic form of colloidal
silver claims to be.
In fact, ionic silver is even more so, because it’s already in the biologically active,
infection-fighting form, whereas metallic colloidal silver has to be converted inside the body into the biologically
active, infection-fighting form in order to kill pathogens.
Again, they both
work against pathogens. It’s just that
the metallic form works far more slowly
inside the human body because it has to be converted to the biologically active,
infection-fighting “specie” of silver (i.e., ionic silver) before it can be of
any benefit whatsoever.
One Last Bit of
Nonsense Debunked
Finally, let me address one more piece of nonsense being
promulgated by colloidal silver marketers.
I know you’re tired. You’ve had
to take in quite a lot in this long article.
So I’ll be as brief as possible, I promise.
I’m talking about the people on the internet who claim that ionic
silver is not effective inside the human body unless you first add a reducing
agent to it, like powdered dextrose, in order to turn it into “true colloidal
silver” (i.e., metallic silver) before drinking it.
This is where I lift my head to the sky and make a loud,
disgusting pirate noise: Arrrggghhh!
Why in the world would anyone
bother to convert ionic silver back into metallic silver before drinking it, knowing
that your body is just going to have to convert it back to ionic silver for
it to be effective against pathogens?
It’s like saying, after you’ve prepared tomato soup for
lunch that you have to convert it back to whole tomatoes before you can eat
it. Or after you’ve boiled potatoes for
dinner you have to convert them back to raw potatoes before eating them. There’s just no sense in it. It’s a gimmick, pure and simple.
As I've stated over and over again:
- Ionic silver is the biologically active,
infection-fighting form of colloidal silver. If it’s not ionic, it cannot kill pathogens.
- Metallic silver is biologically inert. It has zero effect against pathogens
in the human body, until it gets
converted to ionic silver by shedding silver ions in the presence of acidic
bodily fluids.
Every reputable clinical expert on silver acknowledges that
fact. So repeat that to yourself over and over and over again until it’s so ingrained in your brain that no one can ever
dislodge it again with their ridiculous gimmicky ideas and silly notions.
If you’ve got ionic silver, you’ve got silver that’s already in its active,
infection-fighting form. If you convert
it back to metallic silver from whence it came, your body will simply have to
convert it back to ionic silver when
you ingest it. So why not just ingest
the ionic silver? Anything else is just
plain stupid.
Look, there’s plenty of money to be made in colloidal silver
gimmickry. And there are plenty of
people willing to part you from your hard-earned money with those
gimmicks.
I’ll just suffice it to say, there’s no need on the face of
God’s green earth to convert your ionic colloidal silver to metallic colloidal
silver. All you’re doing is making it
work slower in the body, because once you chemically convert it back to
metallic silver and ingest it in its metallic form, it then has to be gradually
converted back to ionic silver in the
body order to be effective against pathogens.
I’ve already explained that process numerous times throughout
the course of this article. And I’ve demonstrated that the human body is
designed to use silver (and all other minerals) in their ionic form rather than their elemental metal form. I’ve repeated it until I’m blue in the face,
and the blue color is not because of
argyria, it’s because of exasperation with all of the nonsense being
promulgated on the internet about colloidal silver.
I’ve even shown that the human body has a special transport mechanism
for escorting silver ions through the harsh chemical environment of the
gastrointestinal tract and into the bloodstream, tissues, organs and cells of
the body where pathogens like to colonize.
So I’ll suffice it to say this:
If someone tells you that you have to buy their magic pixie
dust and add it to your ionic colloidal silver suspension in order to turn it
into “true colloidal silver”…smile politely while hiding your wallet, and walk
quickly away in the other direction.
Okay. One last time, I’ll summarize the facts for you. And then I’m done with this topic.
To Sum Up
Although there are many forms of colloidal silver, you have
two main forms vying for the spotlight today. They’re the ionic form of colloidal silver and the metallic form (which is often erroneously referred to as “true
colloidal silver”).
- The metallic form is largely composed of bare
metal particles of elemental silver in a colloidal suspension. This form is also referred to as “nanosilver”
when the metallic silver particles average less than 100 nm in size.
- The ionic form is largely composed of tiny,
electrically-charged atomic and molecular
silver particles in a colloidal suspension.
These are known as silver ions, and they’re the same biologically active
form of silver you’ll find naturally in plants such as wheat and mushrooms.
- All
recognized scientific, clinical and medical research experts agree that the ionic form of silver is the biologically
active, infection-fighting form, and that the metallic form only works against
pathogens to the extent it’s able to shed silver ions.
- Both forms of colloidal silver – the ionic form
and the metallic form – work against pathogens inside the human body. But the ionic form works because it’s already in the biologically active,
infection-fighting state, and the metallic form works only to the extent it’s converted inside the human body to the
ionic form.
- Finally, the body has a built-in mechanism for
escorting positively-charged silver ions through the harsh chemical environment
of the stomach and into the cells, tissues and organs of the body where
pathogens colonize. It’s called the
Metalloprotein Transport System, and without it no form of colloidal silver could possibly work inside the human
body because all forms of colloidal
silver are dependent upon silver ions to work against pathogens. (And this is true for ALL metallic minerals in the
body, not just silver. All metallic
minerals must be converted into the ionic
form so the Metalloprotein Transport System can protect them from the harsh
chemical environment of the body and transport them into the organs, tissues
and cells where they provide nutrition and perform other functions as well. This is why Mother Nature makes that
conversion for us, for example, when plants absorb metallic or elemental minerals
from the ground and convert them to the ionic form.)
All right. I’ve
explained the science inside-out.
And unlike the “true colloidal silver” people who base the
majority of their claims on “research” conducted in their own in-house lab and
which has never been confirmed through independent, unbiased research, in this
report I’ve demonstrated through independent
university-level clinical research conducted by unbiased researchers with no axes to grind that the ionic form of
colloidal silver is hands-down the most effective form.
And why is the ionic form of colloidal silver the most
effective form? It’s because the silver
ion is the active, infection-fighting "specie" of silver, whereas the
metallic form of silver has no infection-fighting qualities whatsoever, except
to the extent it sheds silver ions.
I’ve also amply demonstrated why the "true colloidal
silver" people are full of bat stink with their spurious claims about
ionic silver being rendered ineffective in the human body by "chloride
ions" or “hydrochloric acid.”
And I’ve explained why the body’s Metalloprotein Transport
System makes all of those silly claims moot since it’s the system through which
all metallic ions – including silver
ions -- are safely transported through the harsh chemical environment of the GI
tract and into the blood, organs, tissues and cells of the body where pathogens
colonize.
When using the ionic
form of colloidal silver, the metalloprotein “escort” process starts immediately, because it’s the silver ion
that stimulates the body to produce metalloproteins in the first place.
But when using the metallic
form of colloidal silver, the process is far more gradual due to the fact that it takes a while for the body to start
converting metallic silver particles into silver ions, en masse.
Finally, I’ve explained that ionic silver works best against
pathogens in the human body because, unlike metallic silver, it carries a positive
electrical charge, while bacteria carry a negative electrical charge, causing
silver ions to have a strong affinity for both gram negative and gram positive
bacteria.
So if you’ve absorbed the above information with even a
moderate degree of understanding, you can feel confident that you now understand
more about colloidal silver than 99% of people, including most of the
self-appointed online “experts.”
High-Quality Colloidal Silver
for Less Than 36 Cents a Quart?
Okay, I know you’ve been wondering when my sales pitch was coming. So here it is:
When you own a brand new Micro-Particle Colloidal Silver
Generator from The Silver Edge (see photo, left), you can make your own
high-quality colloidal silver in the superior ionic form for less than
36 cents a quart.
There’s simply no longer any
reason whatsoever to pay exorbitant health food store prices for ionic colloidal
silver…“true colloidal silver”…nanosilver…Super-Duper Silver… Colloidal-Silver-on-Crack…Colloidal-Silver-on-Steroids…or
any other incarnation or manifestation of colloidal silver found in health food
stores or on the internet.
Because it’s all
stupid. And it’s all way over-priced. You’re
paying far more for the fancy marketing pitches, the interactive websites and
shiny foil labels on the bottles than you are for the silver and water itself.
Why Pay a 60,000% Mark-Up?
You see, by the time your favorite brand of colloidal silver
gets to your favorite vendor, it’s been marked up in price by some 60,000%.
Yep, you read that right.
A typical, four-ounce bottle of colloidal silver contains
only two simple ingredients: a couple
cents worth of distilled water and a couple cents worth of tiny, submicroscopic
silver particles that are suspended in that water.
Indeed, the total cost for that four ounces worth of
distilled water and silver is about five cents. But health
food stores usually charge $20 to $30 or more for that tiny four-ounce bottle
of colloidal silver -- a 60,000% mark-up by the time it’s sold to you.
This makes colloidal silver, quite literally, the most
over-priced nutritional supplement on the face of the earth!
But vendors get away with charging such exorbitant prices
for colloidal silver because it’s so darned effective
at healing infections naturally.
The bottom line is that the retail price of colloidal silver
reflects its value to the consumer far more so than its actual
cost to produce.
Colloidal Silver at Actual Cost
For the Rest of Your Life!
But colloidal silver is not expensive at
all if you make it yourself.
By making your own colloidal silver with a high-quality
Micro-Particle Colloidal Silver Generator from The Silver Edge, you can always
have it “at cost”.
In fact, you can make an entire quart of some of the
most highly-effective colloidal silver on the face of the earth, for a grand
total of one quarter, one dime and one penny. That’s thirty-six
cents.
And it’s just as high-quality as the colloidal silver you’ll
find in health food stores – even better
in most cases because you’re making it fresh
every time. It’s not sitting on some
shelf in a warehouse for six months before being shipped to a health food store
where it sits on a shelf for another six months before being sold to you at a
60,000% mark-up.
Indeed, when making your own high-quality colloidal silver
with a new Micro-Particle Colloidal Silver Generator from The Silver Edge, your
greatest ongoing cost is the steam-distilled water, which is usually a paltry
$1.25 a gallon at your local Walmart.
And once every year or two you’ll have to spend about $35 or
so to buy a new set of pure, .999 fine silver rods for your
generator. (You get your first set free
with your generator.)
After figuring in your ongoing costs of about $1.25 a gallon
for the steam distilled water, $35 a year for the silver rods, and enough
electricity to run a Christmas tree bulb each time you make colloidal silver, it
really does pencil out to a bit less than
36 cents a quart.
That’s it. That’s the whole she-bang, in a
nutshell. It’s just ridiculous to pay those expensive
health food store prices for colloidal silver when you can make it yourself for
a few pennies per one-quart batch.
If you’d like to learn more about making your own colloidal
silver, here’s some helpful links:
- To see a 4-step visual depiction of how
utterly simple it is to make your own colloidal silver with a
new Micro-Particle Colloidal Silver Generator from The Silver Edge, go
to this link.
- To learn more about the many money-saving
benefits of making and
using colloidal silver with a brand new Micro-Particle Colloidal
Silver Generator from The Silver Edge, just click the link in this
sentence.
- And to learn how the Micro-Particle Colloidal Silver Generator compares
to all of the other colloidal silver generators on the market, and why it’s
been the world’s #1 best-selling colloidal silver generator for over
seven years running, just click
here.
- Finally, to save a whopping $100 off
the cost of a brand new Micro-Particle Colloidal Silver Generator from The
Silver Edge, just click on
this link.
And if you have any questions at all, feel free to call one
of the knowledgeable Customer Service Representatives at The Silver Edge,
toll-free:
1-888-528-0559 (M-F,
8am to 4pm Pacific Standard Time).
They’ll be happy to answer all of your questions, and take
your order for your new Micro-Particle Colloidal Silver Generator when you’re ready. No
pushy sales pitches or pressure tactics. Just the answers you’ve
been looking for.
But do keep in mind the special $100 savings described above
is valid for the next 15 days only. So if you’ve ever wanted
to start making your own colloidal silver for just pennies per batch, this is
certainly the time to do it while you can save a whopping $100!
Meanwhile, I’ll be back next week with another great article on
colloidal silver….
Yours for the safe, sane and responsible
use of colloidal silver,
Helpful Links:
Important Note and
Disclaimer: The contents of this Ezine have not been
evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
Information conveyed herein is from sources deemed to be accurate and
reliable, but no guarantee can be made in regards to the accuracy and
reliability thereof. The author, Steve
Barwick, is a natural health journalist with over 30 years of experience
writing professionally about natural health topics. He is not
a doctor. Therefore, nothing stated in
this Ezine should be construed as prescriptive in nature, nor is any part of
this Ezine meant to be considered a substitute for professional medical
advice. Nothing reported herein is
intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The author is simply reporting in
journalistic fashion what he has learned during the past 17 years of
journalistic research into colloidal silver and its usage. Therefore, the information and data presented
should be considered for informational purposes only, and approached with
caution. Readers should verify for
themselves, and to their own satisfaction, from other knowledgeable sources
such as their doctor, the accuracy and reliability of all reports, ideas,
conclusions, comments and opinions stated herein. All important health care decisions should be
made under the guidance and direction of a legitimate, knowledgeable and
experienced health care professional.
Readers are solely responsible for their choices. The author and publisher disclaim
responsibility and/or liability for any loss or hardship that may be incurred
as a result of the use or application of any information included in this
Ezine.
Copyright
2014 | Life & Health Research Group, LLC | PO Box 1239 | Peoria AZ
85380-1239 | All rights reserved.
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