Colloidal Silver, Part Two: Explanation

See also:
- Colloidal Silver, Part One: Backstory
Coming soon:
- Colloidal Silver, Part Three: Homebrew
- Colloidal Silver, Part Four: Results

[ Disclaimer: Any time you write about something related to health and medicine, it seems you need a disclaimer. So here's mine. I am not a doctor. I am not an expert. I cannot be responsible for what you do or don't do. I am not making any claims, nor selling a product. Be careful, be reasonable, be intelligent. Do your own research. I'm just hear to share some experiences. Insert all the standard disclaimers here: Void where prohibited. Not a Flying Toy. Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball. ]


Much of the information in this post is from a book called Colloidal Silver - @ntibiotic Superhero. The author is listed as Johnny Silverseed. [I'm not linking to the book so that I don't get any Amazon commission on referred sales. Just trying to remain as unbiased as possible here. Plus, I'n not exactly giving it a ringing endorsement below. I'm sure you can find it if you want.]

The book actually came with a tiny colloidal silver generator, consisting of a plastic RJ-11 phone line terminator (like the thing at the end of the phone cord that plugs into the wall), with two silver wires sticking out of it. The idea is that you can make colloidal silver by just using the voltage present in a phone line. (I tried it but it didn't seem to work. I didn't spend a lot of time trying to figure out why.)

The book itself is no great work of literature. Parts of it are hard to parse, vague, or disorganized. It reads more like a collection of somebody's research notes than a book. The photo quality is pretty bad. But, having said that, the information I wanted was all there, complete with references.

I mentioned in the previous post that colloidal silver was widely used prior to World War II. The interesting thing is that it was used in concentrations thousands of times higher than what you'll find today. At those high doses, argyria was well within the realm of possibility. Even so, I haven't been able to find many reports or references to any other types of toxicity or negative side effects to high doses. This article shows what an extreme case of argyria looks like, and it does mention the possibility of kidney and liver damage and brain seizures due to heavy metal poisoning from high exposure. The only other references to toxicity I can find are vague in that they combine colloidal silver, silver salts, silver chloride, silver iodine, silver protein, etc. This article goes into some detail specifically on the question of toxicity of low-level consumption of colloidal silver. And here is the EPA's highly technical report which seems to conclude that it won't cause cancer, but doesn't indicate much beyond that from what I can tell.

According to the book, there are three tiers of colloidal silver. For simplicity's sake, I'll call them, small, medium, and large, in reference to the size of the colloid molecules. A solution with very small molecules (clusters of only a few atoms each) is undesirable because it can affect beneficial bacteria. This solution will be clear. A solution with very large molecules is undesirable because it creates a risk of argyria. This solution will appear gray. In between is the target zone, with the solution turning a golden color, putting it in the 10 to 50 parts per million range, which is thought to be the most effective. (More on that in the next post.) This golden form of colloidal silver is supposed to prevent argyria, and I've seen several sources that say that no documented cases of argyria exist from people using colloidal silver in the 10-50 ppm range.

So how does it work? Well, I'm not a molecular biologist, but according to Silverseed's book, the most widely accepted theory seems to be that anaerobic bacteria seem to attract silver ions and are soon overwhelmed. Luckily, the beneficial bacteria in our bodies are aerobic, and produce colloidal enzymes which prevent them from being affected by the silver ions. Viruses seem to be prevented from entering host cells, or if already inside a host cell, they attract silver ions which prevent the virus from functioning properly. (This is from pages 9 & 10 of the aforementioned book, which cites the work of Dr. Peter L. Reynolds.)

Okay, so check out this partial list of ailments that have, at one time or another, been treated with colloidal silver:
Acne
Athlete's foot
Appendicitis
Anthrax bacilli
Bladder infection
Bronchitis
Conjunctivitis
Diarrhoea
Diptheria
Dysentery
Ear infections
E. Coli
Hemorrhoids
Hepatitis
Influenza
Pneumonia
Polio virus I
Salmonella
Staphylococcus Auroros
Staphylococcus Pyogenea
Staphylococcus Pyogens Albus
Staphylococcus Pyogens Aureus
Streptococci
Tuberculosis
Typhoid
Vincent's angina
Warts
Whooping cough

Now please, if you have appendicitis or tuberculosis or whatever, don't rely on something you read on some blog that one time. But in an emergency situation, with no other alternatives available, I'd probably rather try it than do nothing.

The author even touches on some research relating to certain types of cancer, but I'm hesitant to even mention it for fear of giving somebody false hope. Is there some microbial agent involved in some types of cancer? I really don't know. You're totally on your own for the serious stuff.

On the lighter side, the author mentions keeping some in a spray bottle for use around the house: spray stinky shoes or pet bedding, disinfect countertops, various personal hygiene uses, helping ailing pets, keeping fruits and veggies fresh longer, fungal problems in plants, keeping cut flowers fresh longer, preventing mold and mildew in showers, etc.

Worth a shot?

Up next:
Colloidal Silver, Part Three: Homebrew

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