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?
Sorry but your information is not very good. Silver is not a heavy metal, gold is, iron is, copper is, bismuth is (pepto bismol). Silver is not a heavy metal, if you do not believe me check the Merck Manual 18th edition, pages 2021 and 2022. The Merck is generally accepted as being like the bible of science. Silver is sometimes mistakenly listed as one because of things it is mixed with like nitrates (salts). Heavy metals are those that cause what is called “nephropathy” or metals that can damage the kidneys, silver will not.
Point number two is that the ASAP silver product (pictured above) and brother to Silverbotics, is a nano silver product, not an ionic. I have a number of independent studies showing that at the 10 ppm level it is sold at, it will not even inhibit the growth of probiotic bacteria (digestive bacteria). It will not kill the good bacteria but it will easily kill MRSA. I have hundreds of studies, published papers and test series and i would be pleased to send hard copies of the independent data to anyone who would like to have them.
We also have published the first ever single blind human ingestion study showing that our nano silver when ingested has no negative effect on any major system in the body and that it washes out in 24 hours so it cannot build up in the system. That daily use study should anyone wish to see it is available in PUBMED as well as a blood platelet study showing that the ASAP nano silver did not damage any blood cells. Hard data knowledge is always the best. Have a great day.
Hi! I would very much like to have a look at these studies, because there is a growing “witchhunt” here in Sweden, and some environmental people are calling this a “deadly environmental toxin” that kills of fish (then why is it sold as fish-medicine in pet shops?) and destroys the environment permanently (then why didnt it when it was used in the photo industry…) etc etc. Some “researchers” even say it creates antibiotic resistant bacteria (no study ever backed this) and that is the main reason it should be banned. So where can i contact you for this?
Regards
/HB
Beautifully stated and i would love having your data. Just to shut those up spewing negative hearsay. Thanks
Keith you never left a way to contact you.
Hmmmm I don’t see Sarah’s reply to this. I cant find it, where’s is at?
Hi Keith, Will you be so very kind to point me in the right direction re papers/ studies re nano silver not killing good bacteria; however killing bad? I wonder if it kills eubacteria for eg? (I hope not as mine – and 3 others in family, interestingly the non breastfed people; was undetectable prior to antibiotic) Dr said it is important to have eubacteria in our gut) I am wanting to kill off intestinal strep const. and my husband – enterocoocus for eg? (sp) I have had hugely overpopulated strep (I then took emycin) however it came back in force; and I so very much appreciate your links? PS My son is currently detoxing from copper; so his liver pathways must not detox well (currently he has started taking defencell/enduracel (sulforaphane) to aid this – (through a Dr) as well as zinc etc.. may take a year to lower – have been having nasty side effects. However he also had more strep than desired; so not confident good for him.. I was desparate; and took emycin again last week; however I am not confident it is effective let alone side effects. I am very interested in the nano silver.. not sure what dose to take if appropriate for me… Thanks in advance ever so much; [email protected] PS Dr said that defencell/enduracel (sulforaphane)- broccoli sprouts will most likely get gut flora more normalised; zinc kills them somewhat too; however when I had 162 million (should be under 300 000) strep count; I sure need a helping hand.
Herbal remedies DO in fact have significant risks of harmful side effects.
Oregano Oil is contraindicated during pregnancy, and it is VERY hard on a damaged digestive system (should not be used by individuals with digestive disorders). Garlic is a blood thinner, and can cause a rebound clotting effect if used for more than a few weeks at a time in therapeutic doses. Turmeric requires fairly high doses to have healing effects, and has many cautions for people with auto-immune or liver disease at those higher doses. Cayenne causes severe gastric pain in most people with digestive disorders when taken in therapeutic amounts.
Echinacea, Golden Seal, Olive Leaf Extract, Calendula, Oregon Grape, Hops, and many other herbs are very good antibiotic herbs, but they have the SAME potential destructive effect on digestive microbes as Pharmaceutical Antibiotics. It’s kind of a rule – if it kills unfriendly bacteria, it will kill friendly bacteria, whether the remedy is herbal, mineral, or chemical. So we use them wisely.
Just as we use Colloidal Silver wisely. Using it as part of a “wellness routine” is NOT a good idea. That is like taking an antibiotic daily just because.
Anything used to fight infection or heal the body has to be used with wisdom and caution. Because EVERYTHING has side effects.
The body DOES recover from microbial destruction. But you have to put back what got killed. Fresh fruits and veggies (straight from the garden WITHOUT washing them is best), raw milk, raw eggs (fresh from the chicken- not eggs that have sat around for months with bacteria multiplying in them), fermented vegetables, and cultured milk products all help to put good microbes back into your gut. If all your food is sterilized, then your gut won’t recover. If it isn’t, then it will.
If you are taking any substance to kill infectious microbes, then you better figure on putting back some friendlies by incorporating them into your diet.
But there is nothing medicinally useful that does not have risks.
If anyone is interested, Natural News has a few articles on Colloidal Silver…A VERY TRUSTED SOURCE!!
They also go over some of the “questions” that were posted here.
http://www.naturalnews.com/colloidal_silver.html
Sarah,
We do take CS internally during very serious illnesses, although we do usually use it topically more often. I have cured mastitis with it by using it both topically and internally. I appreciate you sharing your view on the topic. However I think there is a time and place for its internal use (and the same goes for antibiotics). I have always believed that CS kills of good microbes also and I agree that can be problematic. We can use CS as a medicine and still be cautious with it (just as we would with any pharmaceutical drug and even herbs, which can also be dangerous.)
You are saying that silver is a heavy metal, which that may be true, there are some sources that say both gold and silver are needed in trace minerals. I happen to be believe that that’s true, which is why Radiant Life sells a liquid based mineral supplement with trace silver and gold.
http://www.radiantlifecatalog.com/product/concentrace-ionic-minerals/salts-minerals
Thanks for pointing out the risks to using CS. I have never indiscriminately used it on myself or my children. We also use the Sovereign Silver brand and I feel like it is much safer to use a trusted company’s silver than to make your own at home, which can be much more dangerous.
One thing I was thinking as reading your article is about GMOs. When we eat GMOs and we get these bacteria inside of us from the GMO, according to some, these foreign cells can actually produce pesticides inside of us. Also, a lot of us have the S.mutans bacteria in our mouths which is the most correlated bacteria with tooth decay. So, there are times where it would be good to wipe out the bacteria in the gut and begin anew. Most of us have already had antibiotics in our lifetimes anyway, so using CS here and there probably is not much different nor is going to make our healthy much more.
I love your blog, Sarah! I have been following it for many years and I have shared numerous of your videos with friends and family. Keep up the good work!
Great input! Thank you for sharing 🙂
What stops silver topically on wounds from accumulating in the body? I thought skin was the largest organ?
Same system as for internal use. Science. Reason. Ion reactions. Silver does not accumulate.
??? Silver does indeed accumulate and there are blue/grey people to prove it. The *claim* is that colloidal silver can’t accumulate and is the *only safe* form for ingesting silver but there is no definitive proof of this. One lady on my FB page says that a woman in her practice turned blue from colloidal silver, not another form of silver solution.
anyone have any input on ionic/angstrom sized silver. i have heard that it is superior to colloidal silver but i don’t see many people taking an interest in it.
The first time I took CS (homemade, with a SilverGen SG6 generator and double – distilled water, at around 15PPM), I took a lot. Probably about 20ml to 30ml. I got diahorrea – presumably because of the high dosage (which I later read can happen) and/or because my body wasn’t used to CS.
I also read that, in such cases, eating yoghurt (vegan yoghurt, in my case – as I’m vegan) would restore the good bacteria. So I did that, and I was fine again.
I still take CS, just not loads like I used too. And I’ve kept healthy – whilst others have been getting whatever been going round and being knocked out for a week, at the first sign of symptoms, I would up my CS intake and I’ve been perfectly fine. (I’m not particularly healthy, either – I eat a lot of junk, drink a lot on a weekend and don’t exercise a great deal.)
The diarrhoea has never returned. Maybe that’s because I am used to CS now or that I’m not swigging it like I used to. But if ever it did come back, I would simply buy some yoghurt and eat that again to restore normality.
So, from my personal experience, I would say that, yes, there probably is something in the claim that CS can affect your good bacteria, but the positive effects of CS are way more pronounced and certain. So, like the ‘blue man’ story, I would not let this article put you off taking CS.
Oh please. 30mls a lot??
When I am sick I take 30mls every 2 hours for days at a time.
I was searching for this research paper and finally found it. I hope it is helpful to at least some people. http://silver-lightning.com/research.html
Sarah – You keep repeating that silver is a “heavy” metal. Aren’t gold and silver considered to be “noble” metals?
Noble metal just signifies its value as a precious metals due to rarity … silver is still a heavy metal.
And just as “noble” is used to categorize – so is “heavy”. It is only about the weight of metal – NOT toxicity. Ask any scientist. Iron, copper, gold, silver etc – all heavy metals. Heavy means heavy.
Lead, mercury, cadmium and aluminum are all heavy metals as well.
You are right. But does that mean that “heavy metals” are toxic? No – you dont want to eliminate copper and iron from your body, right? Just stop insinuating that “heavy” means “toxic”. It is a word describing the weight of the metal. It is not a word for describing a poison.
If you want to look into toxicity – i recommend looking into such things as “LD50” or other.
Actually copper and iron are both toxic at high levels … I would not ingest a colloidal solution of them either. Here’s an interesting read on the subject. http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/metals-and-the-mind/
Sarah thank you so much for sharing this link! For me, more to do with copper toxicity! I haven’t got to silver yet. 🙂 I have read WestonPrice work before about nutrition; however this gives me more insight to our family problem. It shows a LOT of insight. Interesting how I don’t ever seem to be able to get enough magnesium. I do wonder if my organs are storing it as my levels were reasonably low. My brother was highly strung. Worry worry too. Unfortunately he died last year- emphysema (which is mentioned there too.) And maybe my issues are not just the high strep. Thanks again.
There is a huge difference between Colloidal Silver and Nano- particle Silver. I have read many studies that say it does not accumulate and it does not kill beneficial bacteria. The pathogens it kills are far worse than anything that the Silver can do- in my opinion. I read your blog a lot and like it. If you want more info, search Silver Shield. I’ve found it to be an excellent product.
Hi Patrice~
Could you post the studies that show colloidal silver does not effect beneficial bacteria.
can you share some links to these studies about nano-particle silver?
Boy this lady who runs this page does not know a thing about colloidal silver, every one here needs to go to thesilveredge.com you will find ALL the info you need if one takes a table spoon per day it will not collect in the body Indians hammer silver out to foil wrap candy with and consume it wrapper and all and have been doing this for hundreds of years man woman and child with no side effects. What this lady is doing is making sure people do not reap the benefits of silver, everyone should read a book from Dr. Robert Becker, trust me you will be astounded. When you go to a burn unit they put you in a bath of colloidal silver, the silver has shown to rebuild skin tissue blood vessels and bone. I have been making my own for 7 years and ‘no side effects. 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. What most people do not know is that there is silver in our atmosphere naturally occurring, there is so much more to write about the goodness of silver but I will let the reader have the pleasure to discover
All silver compounds have a potential to accumulate.
Also, there are no studies showing it doesn’t accumulate. In fact, there is very little research on the effects of colloidal silver in the human body let alone measuring the overall effects of accumulation and excretion based on particle size. And so ‘it’s important to not continue to spread disinformation in this way.
The truth is the term “nano particle” is an unverified term used by certain colloidal silver sellers who claim that making CS with very low voltages(3v or less) using an AC circuit will produce the smallest silver particle size possible. That said, the particular claim has no validation whatsoever and customer reviews and testimonials suggest that the solution is no better than any other solution in terms of effectiveness. And so, based on this, I’d have to say that the evidence isn’t supporting the claims made by these particular manufacturers.
Fact is, the colloidal silver industry is a highly competitive market. And that the sellers and manufacturers who take part in it are in constant need to try and reinvent themselves so as to stand-out and provide it’s potential customers with some form of advantage amidst the competition.
I agree with your comments about colloidal silver being a broad spectrum antibiotic. However the fact that it will kill staph, strep and other potentially antibiotic resistance bacteria makes it worth a look. I suggest you contact a company in Texas called Silverkare. They can provide you with published research results and a host of testimonials. They also will distinguish therapeutic doses from non-therapeutic doses. I believe they sell to more than 30 hospitals for wound care, burn units, etc. Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater!