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Colloidal silver might not be a recognized health treatment by the professional medical community.
However, it is used daily by tens of thousands of natural medicine fans around the world, who swear by its effectiveness. It’s time to look at the many colloidal silver uses and benefits.
Colloidal Silver Myths
A heated debate over both the benefits and side effects of colloidal silver still rages both online and in the medical community.
No, consuming colloidal silver will NOT make you turn blue! At least, not unless you far exceed the recommended daily consumption amounts on a repeated basis.
Argyria is the irreversible medical condition of “turning blue”. The rare known cases of this condition are believed to have been caused by overuse. This was potentially due to cheaper commercial versions of colloidal silver, like silver protein or ionic silver, and not true colloidal silver.
A 1999 FDA study is often cited by colloidal silver detractors when trying to convince readers, viewers, or listeners to stick with commercially manufactured drugs filled with synthetic and chemical ingredients. The report basically states there is no “scientific evidence” that colloidal silver provides health benefits.
So, if you are the kind of prepper who is guided by government announcements and reports, colloidal silver might not be for you.
I have not been to see a doctor in over a decade, treating myself with natural remedies I grow on our survival homestead and concoct from the comfort of my very own kitchen has served me well.
I am not encouraging you all to follow my example, which is viewed as extreme by some non-prepper loved ones. Rather, I am merely urging you to learn more about the value of natural health remedies to rid your body of as many synthetic medicines as you deem responsible.
Likewise, teach you how to stockpile as many natural alternative medicines as possible for your survival apothecary now. Before the SHTF and you can’t call a doctor.
Can You Ingest Colloidal Silver?
You can ingest, inhale, and apply colloidal silver topically to treat illness and injury and to ward off health problems.
Long, long ago, back before refrigerators were invented and when our coins were actually made out of precious metals, dropping a silver coin into a jug of milk to preserve it while preventing the growth of bacteria, was commonplace.
In fact, until about the 1930s, silver was still widely used as an antibiotic. It really seems there was a concerted effort to completely erase colloidal silver from the medical history books.
An in-depth report about the history of colloidal silver by Health Wyze indicates the Bureau of Chemistry, the original name of the Food and Drug Administration, was in bed with the medical establishment even way back then.
The federal agency extolled the virtues of the chemicals used in prescription drugs. Deemed to be “generally recognized as safe” while concurrently obscuring natural medicines.
You know, the kind you can make yourself and not pay an arm and a leg for only after a licensed physician has lightened your wallet.
One of the first actions taken by the Bureau of Chemistry after its formation was to remove colloidal silver from the marketplace. At the same time allowing it to be flooded with bottles of drugs made by big companies that bore their stamp of approval.
Purchase or DIY
You can buy a commercially manufactured bottle of colloidal silver. Nearly every health food store or natural medicine section of an online store offers several brands of colloidal silver solutions.
It is both feasible and cheaper to make your own colloidal silver, which we get into below.
This is how our colloidal silver-making setup looks. The silver wires are pushed through the baby bottle nipples that fit snugly into holes in the Mason jar lid that my husband drilled. The lid is then secured onto the Mason jar with its ring.
Colloidal Silver Benefits
This natural wonder can help heal our bodies in several ways. My husband and I take a teaspoon of the colloidal silver we make each morning. Just as you would a vitamin.
Several decades of both playing and coaching sports, coupled with outdoor recreational activities, have left my knees feeling like they belong to an 85-year-old. The cracking and popping noises they started making in my twenties did not hurt. The noise just sounded like it would.
Now…the cracking and popping definitely hurt. The colloidal silver really seems to helps A LOT with the inflammation and aching joints in my knees.
Colloidal silver is also taken by many folks to reduce or quickly eliminate symptoms associated with the common cold. It is also routinely used to naturally treat bronchitis and pneumonia.
Three Ways Colloidal Silver Can Help Heal The Body
DNA Binding
Colloidal silver may enter bacteria in the DNA to bind with it without actually destroying the hydrogen that bonds it together.
Catalytic Oxidation
The colloidal silver may attach to oxygen molecules and react with the sulfhydryl groups that commonly orbit about viruses and bacteria and enhance or protect a compromised respiration system.
The silver solution can be inhaled or ingested to help clear up a bronchial or related condition in just a few days, for some users. Typically, one teaspoon of colloidal silver is inhaled via a nebulizer for about 10 minutes up to three times a day, to get the benefits from the natural alternative medicine.
Bacterial Cell Membranes
Colloidal silver may attach to bacterial cell membranes and produces a beneficial blocking effect.
What Exactly is Colloidal Silver?
It is a solution of water that contains very tiny, or nanometer (one billionth of a meter) sized particles of suspended silver. The total silver container in a bottle of colloidal silver is measured in milligrams per liter of water and expressed as PPM – parts per million.
The silver content in a bottle of colloidal silver is separated into two figures, one for silver particles and another to show the ionic silver content.
When browsing colloidal silver products in a store or online, you will likely discover there are actually three different types of products that are offered, all bearing a colloidal silver label.
The three most commonly found types of colloidal silver on the market are: silver protein, ionic silver solutions, and true colloidal silver.
Silver Protein
This type of colloidal silver product adds gelatin to the mixture to keep the silver particles suspended. It is also often sold as a silver protein powder.
Even though it is a very popular item on the open market, it is not generally considered “real” or true colloidal silver. Therefore it could be far less effective in fighting and preventing health issues.
Ionic Silver
This type of colloidal silver product is made primarily from silver ions.
While this too, is a popular product that bears a colloidal silver label, it still is not true colloidal silver and will not likely produce the same potential health and medical benefits.
Ionic silver is considered useless as a topical healing agent by many colloidal silver users.
True Colloidal Silver
I saved the best for last. True colloidal silver does not contain a single speck of protein or any other additive. It consists entirely of nanometer-sized silver particles and water.
True colloidal silver often has a color, unlike ionic silver, that always remains clear. Real silver (which also includes ionic silver particles) has larger particles. Therefore it has a more substantial surface area.
Colloidal Silver Uses
Building up a tolerance to conventional prescription medicines may have caused more than two million Americans to battle antibiotic-resistant infections. This has caused about 23,000 deaths, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report.
To date, there are no known cases where a person has built up a tolerance to colloidal silver and rendered it an ineffective means of treatment.
Wounds
The colloidal silver solution can have a great healing effect on not just wounds, but on rashes, burns, and similar skin problems as well. Because colloidal silver is believed to possess anti-fungal properties, some folks use it to treat ringworm, thrush, eczema, and psoriasis.
Natural Antibacterial Agent
During a study at UCLA Medical School during the 1980s, Doctor Larry C. Ford documented that more than 650 disease-causing pathogens were destroyed in mere moments after being exposed to only a small amount of colloidal silver.
Anti-viral
According to a report from the Institute for Optimum Nutrition by Dr. Martin Hum, colloidal silver is beneficial in fighting pneumonia, HIV/AIDS, warts, herpes, and shingles.
The silver solution is believed to suffocate the viral infection and reduce the negative bodily activity it creates. Colloidal silver may also help fight hepatitis C, hepatitis C, whooping cough, and Lyme disease.
Sinusitis
Not only could colloidal silver be ingested or used as a nasal spray to help fight sinus congestion and infection, but it may also be beneficial in combating respiratory infections that are common to asthma and allergy sufferers.
Ear Infections and Pink Eye
Pink eye involves an inflamed mucous membrane that covers both the lining of the eyelid and the eyeball. Pink eye is typically sparked primarily by a viral or bacterial infection.
Colloidal silver can be useful in healing the irritation. The colloidal silver is believed to attract the infected sell electromagnetically and forces them into the bloodstream so they can be eliminated.
Food Poisoning
Colloidal silver may be useful as a natural medicine to treat food poisoning.
Pneumonia
When pneumonia is caused by a viral infection, antibiotics will not help the patient. Colloidal silver could help heal the body regardless of the type of pathogen that caused pneumonia, bronchitis, or similar infection.
Mouth Health
Gargling colloidal silver may help heal or prevent bleeding gums and tooth decay and to deter the build-up of plaque.
MRSA
Colloidal silver could be beneficial in treating and curing MRSA and staph infections.
Anti-Inflammatory
Some, dare I suggest many (all the ones I know at least) folks who use colloidal silver to treat anti-inflammatory problems, enhance the speed of healing, and give a hearty boost to cell recovery.
Cancer
Colloidal silver has been used by cancer patients seeking a natural alternative to chemotherapy and as a preventative during remission.
Hair
To help cure dandruff and promote hair growth, massage some colloidal silver onto the scalp.
Cold and Flu
Colloidal silver has been used to treat everything from the common cold to the even swine flu. It is used to help alleviate congestion, dry cough, stuffy nose, sore throat, and general aches and pains.
Prescription antibiotics are created to work only against a very specific type of infection or bacteria, colloidal silver is a multi-purpose alternative medicine.
Colloidal silver has also been taken to combat MS, cholera, Crohn’s disease, tuberculosis, syphilis, and diarrhea.
Colloidal Silver Recommended Dosage Guidelines
The manner in which colloidal silver is applied and what type of condition it is going to treat impacts how much should be used. Listed below are merely some commonly used dosages for specific treatments.
Some colloidal silver experts recommend not taking it for more than 14 consecutive days. Additionally, others believe small doses, like the single teaspoon I noted my husband and myself take, are beneficial and not harmful.
The parts per million of silver in the mixture can widely dictate dosage. According to a Dr. Axe report, each condition requires a different application of colloidal silver. They advise to never use it for more than 14 days in a row.
You will have to do your own research on the subject and then make the best-informed decision for yourself. I would not recommend giving colloidal silver to children, although many users do and consider it safe.
- For pink eye, use up to 2 drops of colloidal silver
- To treat a skin issue, use up to 5 drops of colloidal silver
- For general well-being and immune system support, take up to 1 teaspoon daily.
- Up to 10 drops could be used when colloidal silver is being used either anally or vaginally to treat a related condition, such as a yeast infection.
- When using colloidal silver added to a neti pot or as a nasal spray, use up to 5 drops.
- As a wound disinfectant, use up to 2 drops of colloidal silver.
How to Make Colloidal Silver
The process to make the first batch of colloidal silver typically takes approximately three hours. Each immediately following batch will take about one and a half to two hours.
The second and future batches are completed more quickly because you are now working with “seeded: or “cooked” silver rods that generate a stronger electrical current.
Do not make too many batches of colloidal silver at once. It does not have an incredibly long shelf life in my personal experience. It begins to lose potency somewhere between the two-week and two-month mark.
Materials
Silver
- 9999 pure (99.99% pure) suitable for making...
- Cut to size for many brands of colloidal silver...
- A copy of the Certificate of Analysis included...
Make certain you purchase pure silver rods (also referred to as wires) that are 12 to 14-gauge.
We have used both gauges of the rods and seem to consistently get the best results with the 14-gauge variety. The silver rods also MUST be between 99.95 percent and 99.999 percent pure silver.
NEVER use sterling silver to make colloidal silver because it contains nickel.
The rods or wires you purchase must be at least 1 foot long. I find it handier and cheaper to buy the wires by the foot because we make a new batch every 45 to 60 days.
ALWAYS keep the silver rods wrapped and stored to prevent them from being exposed to light. The exception is when they are attached to the power source and exposed to light.
We prefer only to purchase silver wires that are manufactured in America. And they are not easy to find.
Readily available silver wires and manufactured in China and can be contaminated impurities. I worry most about the presence of nickel or lead in the Chinese silver rods.
I figure if numerous toys and other products have been recalled for this reason. It is reasonable to assume the same type of impurities could be contained in the silver wires.
Some colloidal silver makers use silver bullion bars instead of wire for just this reason. If you take the silver bar route, do not use soap to clean them because a residue is likely to develop.
Soak the bar in distilled white vinegar that is fairly saturated with salt to scrub them. Alternatively, wash them off with some vodka, and then rinse with some of your distilled water.
Mason Jar and Lid
- Ball Quart Jar with Silver Lid, Wide Mouth, Set of...
A wide-mouth jar is recommended because the silver rods cannot touch during the cooking process.
Storing the silver in a Mason jar is fine, but it is best to keep it in a glass amber bottle if you can find one.
Nipples
- NIPPLE FOR GROWING BABY. Dr. Brown’s Medium Flow...
- ANTI-COLIC BABY BOTTLE WITH NIPPLE. Level 2...
- CONSISTENT FLOW RATE. Vacuum-free feeding is...
Nipples are optional but really make the process a lot less hectic.
I still recall the day my Bobby finally got his power supply and silver rods in the mail. He was working away on it while I was cooking dinner.
At some point he yelled over, “Hey honey, do you have any extra nipples?” Not being privy to all the colloidal silver-making tips he learned at a workshop the previous weekend, you can imagine the baffled and shocked look on my face.
We have young grand kiddos. So I keep sippy cups, plastic plates, bottles, and yes, extra nipples, in one of the kitchen cabinets.
If you cut two holes in the Mason jar lid just large enough for the tip of the nipples to slide through, you can then glide a silver rod through each to stabilize them and prevent them from touching during the silver process. Some folks use alligator clips to hold the rods in place, but we had nipples, so we used nipples.
Distilled Water
DO NOT use your awesomely clear well water, tap water, or bottled water when making colloidal silver! Minerals, even good ones, commonly found in anything but distilled water can react badly during the cooking process and cause health issues.
Pay close attention to the distilled water you are purchasing. Make certain it was distilled through steam and not a reverse osmosis process. If little black chunks are floating around in your jar while making colloidal silver, you likely used water that was not distilled or distilled improperly.
The gray you will likely notice in the water are silver particles. They are not only safe but part of the reason why colloidal silver works so well on burns and other skin health issues. You can use a cheesecloth or coffee filter to remove the gray particles if the colloidal silver is going to be used internally.
Wooden Spoons
Never, ever, use metal utensils or any type of metal container or other tools that will touch the colloidal silver.
Power Supply Options
We use a 12-volt D.C. 60Hz, 20-watt 400 milliamps power supply. These instructions and “cooking” times are based upon the use of this type of power supply.
If you opt to use a weaker or stronger power supply, like the 800 milliamps power supply some colloidal silver makers favor, the cooking times will need to be adjusted accordingly.
Our power supply device came with alligator clip-style ends, but not all do. Pay careful attention to the description of any device you purchase so you can order companion clips if the item in your cart does not have any. These clips will attach the silver wires that go inside the Mason jar.
Some colloidal silver makers use a 30-volt D.C. power supply that has at least a 3-amp capacity. The power supply boxes are not expensive and are easy to use, even for most beginners.
Before you plug the power supply into an electrical outlet and then strip the two rather lengthy wires on the front of the device, so they can be attached to the silver rods.
There are many variations of colloidal silver making. The video below shows one easy to grasp route to follow:
How to Make Colloidal Silver Using 9-Volt Batteries as a Power Source
You can also go a simpler and cheaper route and use three 9-volt batteries that are connected.
This route eliminates any chance of getting shocked because you are playing around with both electricity and water at the same time. The batteries are connected with each positive terminal connected to a negative terminal on another battery.
Once they are all connected, one battery should still have one positive connector that was left unused and the battery opposite of it should have an open negative connection. These two open terminals are connected to the silver rods.
The terminals on most 9-volt batteries have enough wire on their terminals to connect without the need for any additional wire to be used. Although some makers of colloidal silver do use extra wire.
If you choose to use wire, it is recommended to never use aluminum and to always use copper.
Conclusion
No matter which variation of making colloidal silver you choose to use, the final product should result in a valuable survival emergency medicine that can also be used in a pre-SHTF world to treat many common ailments and as a preventative as well.
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