When it comes to colloidal silver, there is a lot of misinformation that people take at face value without doing the research. In this article, we’ll separate fact from fiction and discuss a few of the most confusing myths about colloidal silver.
1) More is not always better
Often, people mistakenly think that a high PPM (parts per million) in a colloidal silver supplement is a good thing. However, that is not the case.
Before we address PPM, or concentration of silver, we need to learn about particle charge, because it is a major factor that determines the effectiveness of a silver product. Particle charge acknowledges the bio-active state of silver, called the cation (Ag+). Unfortunately, most manufactured colloidal silvers are bound into neutral silver metal particles, or compounds like silver salts and silver proteins. This practice is a cheap way to achieve higher total silver PPM concentrations. However, throwing more silver into colloidal suspension (or dissolved solution, in the case of silver salts) does not necessarily result in greater benefit. For efficacy,* what matters most is the total percentage of concentration of bio-active silver, or positively charged silver. The scientific community has found that positively charged silver ions create an environment which is unfriendly to unwanted organisms, whereas the neutral silver metal particles have a “negligible effect”.1
When you have a majority of bio-active silver (Ag+), you need only a small amount to effect powerful and positive changes within the biological environment. For example, 10 parts per million of a greater than 98% bio-active silver suspension can exert far more powerful effects than 500 parts-per-million silver colloids with only 10% bioactivity.
Sovereign Silver’s Bio-Active Silver Hydrosol™ is made of just two ingredients: 99.999% pure silver (as a pure mixture of positively charged silver ions and silver nanoclusters) and pharmaceutical-grade purified water. With a safe,* low concentration of 10 PPM, Bio-Active Silver Hydrosol is all that you’ll ever need.
For more information, please read Silver Myths Busted: 250 PPM is 25X More Silver Than 10 PPM.
2) Bigger is not always better
Smaller metal particles are easier to be converted from an inactive reservoir of silver metal into positively charged bio-active silver during silver’s normal half-life in the body.* Additionally, the smaller the size of each individual particle of silver that is suspended in the liquid, the better absorbed* and more surface area it has, which are both factors in being more effective.*
For example, imagine shaker salt compared to chunky rock salt. The tiny grains of shaker salt cover food more evenly and provide consistent flavor. However, if you put chunky rock salt on your food, some bites would be too salty, and some would have no salt flavor at all. Silver nanoparticles are much smaller than shaker salt and are measured in nanometers. Nanometers are really small. In fact, you could lay one million nanometers across the head of a pin.
Only the smallest of the neutral silver metal particles (for example, those less than one nanometer) are converted in the body to bio-active positively charged silver. This means silver hydrosol, a mixture of positively charged silver ions and silver nanoclusters, provides the greatest one-two punch for immune support.*
For more information, please read Busting Silver Myths: Does Particle Size Really Matter?
3) Silver does not destroy the friendly and beneficial probiotics in the intestine
Despite the rumors out there, silver does not alter the distribution of species in the gut microbiome.* A peer-reviewed literature study by researchers at the University of Michigan looked at whether ionic silver or colloidal silver particles in pure forms altered the natural distribution of species in the gut microbiome.2 A similar number of overall species was observed between a water-only control and all forms of silver administered orally at 2,000 times the EPA Reference Dose for 28 days.2
Comparably, a prescription antibiotic was found to disrupt over half of the species observed.2
4) Silver supplements aren't allowed to make disease claims
Sovereign Silver’s Bio-Active Silver Hydrosol is marketed as a Dietary Supplement under DSHEA. In the USA, Dietary supplements may not be presented as drugs, because they do not require FDA’s authorization to be marketed. As a general rule for supplements, the product may not assert or even suggest that it treats, cures, prevents or mitigates any disease. That’s why you will always see the asterisk (*) symbol in our content linking to the disclaimer: “*These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.”
If the FDA deems that a manufacturer has broken this rule, it can force the company into a market withdrawal (recall) among other enforcement actions conjointly with the FTC or even the attorney general….This could put the entire category at risk, not just one manufacturer’s products!
For more information, please read The Silver Silencer: The Truth Behind Why We Won’t Make Health Claims.
5) Your colloidal silver supplement should be clear
Bio-Active Silver Hydrosol is a mixture of positively charged silver ions and silver nanoclusters (particles as small as 0.8 nanometers). Most other colloidal silver products in the marketplace have larger particles (more than 5 nanometers), which lead to a visible yellow color because the larger the particle, the more light is absorbed, and is therefore visible.
Darker color is an indication of one or more of the following: Large particles that reflect or absorb visible light, compounds (salts or proteins), reduction of bio-active silver ions, or other impurities. A smaller particle is desirable due to surface area – and if visible color is an indication of larger particles, then visible color is your visual cue to less effective (larger particles) products. So yellow is your caution sign!
For more information, please read Busting Silver Myths: Should Colloidal Silver Be Amber or Clear?
References:
Xiu et al., 2012
Wilding, et al., Nanotoxicology, 2016