November
09
Is Colloidal Silver Turning You Into a Smurf?
I know the Beauty Brains don’t recommend that you take dietary supplements and here’s
yet another reason to avoid them. Colloidal silver can permanently turn your skin blue. According to these health experts the silver can accumulate in your body and give the skin a bluish gray color. And this change is permanent because there is no way to remove the silver. It’s not a serious problem if you take only small amounts but since the product has no benefit anyway, why take it at all?
Do YOU take supplements with the hopes of improving your skin or health? Has your skin ever changed color because of it. Leave a comment and let the entire Beauty Brains community know.
-Mid Brain
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Meg the Florida Bargain Queen Says:
That’s so sad. And I know people who take it.
Kristy Says:
I don’t take supplements for my skin but I do pop open vitamin E capsules and apply them to my cuticles in hopes of smoothing them. Do you guys think this actually makes any difference?
Diane Says:
Colloidal silver is supposed to be used for only short periods of time, such as a week. It is not for long term use. It was being researched at the beginning of the 20th century for use against colds flus and infections. Then they discovered penicillin, and the research dwindled off. I have used colloidal silver, short term use only, to ward off various colds and flus over many years, it does seem to help, and it certainly does not turn me blue. It sounds like you are unnecessarily trying to strike fear into people. I have read medical research that eating excessive amounts of carrots can turn the skin yellow. That does not mean carrots are bad for you, either. The study you quote seems to take a product, then use examples of people being stupid with it and using it incorrectly, and then inferring it must be dangerous. Using aspirin and tylenol excessively, and not following the package directions, nor doctor’s advice, will also make you very ill. Does that mean not to take it? No, it means don’t be stupid.
Also, as far as not recommending any dietary supplements ever, for anything? My doctors have recommended various supplements for me, such as Vitamin E, calcium, omega 3, at various times (only the vitamin E was for skin - re scars).
I would take your advice, and the study that you quote, with a grain of salt. And, by the way, although salt is necessary for the human body, excessive amounts or other stupid uses of it, can prove harmful.
Left Brain Says:
Diane, you are correct that taking an excessive amount of most anything can have negative consequences. The difference between colloidal silver and carrots is that the body will eventually filter the beta carotene out of your system. The body has no metabolic pathway to remove silver so it just builds up in your tissue and can make you turn blue.
I think you missed the part where Midbrain said “It’s not a serious problem if you take only small amounts…”
You also are bold to flippantly disregard a study published by the Harvard Medical School. Authority doesn’t mean much to the Beauty Brains but it is certainly notable that leading experts would say you should be cautious. Perhaps it’s more of a problem (people using the product stupidly) than you know.
One of the things the Midbrain didn’t stress enough is that Colloidal Silver HAS NO BENEFITS! It didn’t cure your cold. It has no positive health benefits at all. The reason people stopped researching it was because they found their answer, it doesn’t do anything for colds or other diseases. Scientists spend their time researching things where they get positive results.
But perhaps my research is incomplete. If you have some published medical research that shows colloidal silver having any benefit for anything, please enlighten me and the rest of the Beauty Brains community.
LipstickFace Says:
My roommate drank the KoolAid and foolishly believed that colloidal silver cured one of hundreds of ailments, and so drank massive quantities and colloidal silver. He now has a mild case of argyria, and now when we go places, people say rude things to him (”What are you, a zombie?” “Why are you wearing that grey makeup?” “Dude, you’re totally freaking me out!”). He hasta but all his clothes to try to play down his skin color, but when I’m with him (I’m a healthy shade of pink), by comparison, I make him look pretty bad. I keep thinking up nasty comebacks *afterwards* (”Sir, he’s undergoing chemo”), but I’d like to beat the snot out of him because there was a time when he tried to convince *me* to take colloidal silver (and once I even did, during a nasty bout of pneumonia. It did nothing for the pneumonia).
Colloidal silver is being sold all over the net by snake oil salesmen (aka “alternative health practitioners”), and it creeps me out. I wish they’d *also* post photos of that poor congressman with the full-blown case of argyria to demonstrate what happens to people who fiddle around with nonsense.
Lynnette Says:
Kristy,
Capsule Vitamin E used on your cuticles is not really going to do anything. You need a product made for the cuticles and nails. There are many on the market.
You can find CND’s Solar Oil at salons or go to Sally’s and pick up a Haken cuticle oil in one of many scents.
Mostly the oil from the capsule, like Vaseline. are just barrier oils and will not do much but keep the moisture in your skin and from moisture from getting in.
buenos dias,
Lynnette
Bob Says:
I think Diane is right, and “throwing out the baby with the bathwater” is not the intelligent way to treat any supplement where studies have found there to be legitimate use. Please consider the following patent information
LipstickFace Says:
Bob, you can apply for, and even obtain, patents for all manner of silly, stupid, useless, and even dangerous things. Just because something is patented doesn’t make it good. See http://www.patentlysilly.com/
thebeautybrains Says:
Exactly. A patent isn’t an indication of good and reliable science. For medical treatments, nothing short of a publication in a peer reviewed journal would suffice as significant proof.
Proofs in patents are practically worthless.
Bob Says:
I’m not sure that I agree that the patent is worthless; if you read the details, it does demonstrate a level of efficacy of the product based on the tests performed.
LipstickFace Says:
A demonstration by *whom*, Bob? The whackjobs selling magnets to cure everything from cancer to AIDS can “demonstrate” via all their many happy customers that magnets cured them, too! Yes, silver *does* kill germs, but that doesn’t mean you should ingest it. Clorox kills germs, but you don’t ingest *that*. Apply it to a wound instead.
Bob Says:
Taking Lipstick’s argument a little further, prescribed heart medicine is good, but you don’t take nitro pills by the fistful, and monostat’s great for yeast infections, but you don’t ingest it.
However, concerning Clorox, yes it does kill germs, and when you add a couple of drops to a gallon of water, it in fact does purify the water and makes it drinkable, and most everyone who drinks tap water is ingesting a minute amount of chlorine in that water. Better that than the risk of ingesting bacteria, germs and micro-organisms that can cause dysentery, or other gastro-intestinal ailments.
My point is simply, we often ingest or topically apply small amounts of what would otherwise be considered toxic substances for the benefits they convey. Most of those substances are known as “medicine” when applied correctly in the right quantity. To label all viable uses of colloidal silver under the sensationalized heading of “magnet therapy” is simply short sighted.
Consider the “witch doctors” of Africa, most Europeans considered them as complete quacks, however, those open minded enough were able to learn that the use of cocoa leaves by some of those “which doctors” had a narcotic affect for those who chewed them. The numerous products and medicines that resulted from that discovery are too numerous to list here.
Concluding, not all “whackjobs” are “quacks”, and not all “quacks” are entirely off-base. Good things can come from intelligent, open minded scrutiny, with an able to discern & separate fact from fiction. Hence, my original comment of not throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
LipstickFace Says:
Bob, actually you *can* take oral medications for yeast (I did it for years, and a yeast infection in the throat is called “thrush”), but I’ll not derail the topic further. The entire point of the blog post was that taking too much colloidal silver can result in argyria, a permanent (and super-tragic) skin condition in which your skin turns blue. Given that there’s no proven benefit to drinking colloidal silver, why would anyone risk looking like this man? http://www.doh.state.fl.us/pharmacy/Images/silver1.jpg
Bob Says:
Point made, and I agree that argyria is a valid issue for those who foolishly overdose on colloidal silver. However, I don’t concede that there are no benefits to ingesting small, responsible quantities of the supplement. The studies will be ongoing for years I’m sure, touting both the benefits and risks. Thanks for your candid remarks.
LipstickFace Says:
I just clicked your link, Bob, and hafta commend you for your measured arguments here. I’m more used to seeing emotional, inflammatory comments demonstrating no critical thinking (”If you’re not on our side, then the medical establishment has brainwashed you and you’re obviously poisoning yourselves with pills!”).
I’ve got a grey-colored roommate who fiddled around with colloidal silver, so it frightens me when people want to drink it instead of apply it to their BandAids.
Bob Says:
I appreciate your compliment and can very well sympathize with the plight you’ve experienced with your roommate. It must be hard to live with (the roommate with himself that is).
You’d be inhumane not to be greatly affected by his difficult circumstances and presumable emotional pain.
Spencer Jones Says:
Yes, argyria (skin greying) is a very real side effect of excessive usage of colloidal silver.
But diabetes, pancreatitis and heart disease are very real side effects of excessive usage of sugar.
Cirrhosis of the liver and heart failure are very real side effects of the excessive usage of iron supplements. ‘
Kidney malfunction, calcification of soft tissue within the body, cellular toxicity and impaired immune function are very real side effects of excess usage of calcium.
Muscle pain, fatigue, irritability, depression, schizophrenia, fever, liver damage and anemia are very real side effects of the excessive usage of Vitamin A.
What’s more, DEATH is a very real side effect of the excessive usage of…water (it’s called “drowning”).
None of those side effects justify being afraid to use the substances mentioned. Why? Because the key phrase involved in each one is “excessive use.” When used in moderation, these substances are not only benign, but helpful. When used in excess, they can cause serious health consequences.
It is exactly the same with colloidal silver. If you use it in moderation it is completely harmless, and in fact extremely beneficial for boosting immunity and warding off infections of all sorts. It even helps the body heal from chronic degenerative diseases such as lupus, MS, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, Lyme disease and a host of others that often are caused by underlying hidden infections. But if used in excess daily over long periods of time, the result can be argyria, or skin-staining. It is a harmless, but cosmetically unappealing condition resulting from silver particles being pushed to the skin (the body’s third major organ of elimination) at which point they oxidize (or tarnish)from exposure to the sun.
Out of the estimated 10 million users of colloidal silver throughout North America, only a very small handful have been naive, ignorant or ill-informed enough to take such excessive quantities over such long periods of time to result in skin-staining. It is ridiculous to blame the substance for the mis-use by the person. That’s kinda like saying water is terrrible for you because several thousand people a year die in it due to drowning.
For anyone interested in learning about safe and common sense colloidal silver usage, please visit our web site at http://www.thesilveredge.com and download our FREE special report titled “What’s the “Safest” Daily Dosage for Colloidal Silver?” which uses the EPA’s (Environmental Protection Agency) own figures to determine how much colloidal silver is safe to take daily. Just use the link in the located in the upper left-hand corner of the home page.
Also, if you want to learn even more about the safe usage of colloidal silver, a company called Life & Health Research Group has recently placed their one-hour, studio-quality Colloidal Silver Secrets video on sale for only twenty bucks. If features Steve Barwick, author of The Ultimate Colloidal Silver Manual, being interviewed relentlessly by television personality Kristyn Burtt on just about every aspect of colloidal silver usage you can imagine. Check it out now at http://www.lifeandhealthresearchgroup.com
Lipstick Face Says:
Spencer, in the document FDA says:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is issuing a final rule establishing that all over-the- counter (OTC) drug products containing colloidal silver ingredients or silver salts for internal or external use are not generally recognized as safe and effective and are misbranded. FDA is issuing this final rule because many OTC drug products containing colloidal silver ingredients or silver salts are being marketed for numerous serious disease conditions and FDA is not aware of any substantial scientific evidence that supports the use of OTC colloidal silver ingredients or silver salts for these disease conditions.
The Harvard Health Letter says here “brain and nerve damage from silver exposure is rare, but colloidal silver can cause kidney damage, stomach distress, and headaches.”
The Australian government doesn’t like colloidal silver, either: Read this.
I could go on, but it seems you’re here for a sales pitch, and you’re poised to shoot down data anyway.
BTW, silver’s harming the environment, too.
Billy Lee Says:
I’ve Personally Used Colloidal Silver For Over A Year And I’m Still White As A Ghost. Also, My Good Friend Has Been Using It For Over 10 Years And He Isn’t Blue Either. My Friend Became Hospitalized With An Illness That Was Later Discovered To Be HCV. My Friend Then Began Inferon Treatment And After Several Months The Doctor Said It Wasn’t Helping And His Viral Load Kept Climbing. It Was 6 Months Later That He Went To Get His Next Viral Load Tests To Find He Was HCV Negative After Being Informed About Colloidal Silver By A Naturopathic Doctor. It’s Been 10 Years Since That Time And He Hasn’t Been Sick To Date And He Still Comes Up HCV Negative.
I’ve Personally Used Colloidal Silver For Candidiasis Albanian Which Spread All Over My Body. I Know Within 2 Weeks Of Using Colloidal Silver It Was Completely Gone.
I Also Plan To See If One Of My Other Friends Would Try It For His HCV To See What Comes Of It.
The True Point Of This Post Is That I Haven’t Turned Blue With Over A Years Use, And My Friend Hasn’t Turned Blue With Over 10 Years Of Use.
Colloidal Silver Should Be Made With A Good Quality Distilled Water To Insure The Smallest Particle Size To Prevent The Particles From Being Pushed To The Skin By The Lymph System.