A Colloid is a small particle which will not settle out of its surrounding medium.  One Colloidal Silver particle consists of a cluster of many silver atoms.  Colloidal Silver is a tasteless, odorless, nontoxic, pure, natural substance consisting of pure water and pure silver.  Colloidal Silver is found naturally in parts per billion in the earths water supply.  Colloidal Silver particles vary in size (see Electron Microscope photos).  These particles do not settle but remain suspended due to size and electric charge causing them to repel each other.

The properties of silver have been known for millennia.  In ancient civilizations, the wealthy would store their water in silver vessels to keep bacteria from growing.  American settlers would put a silver dollar in milk containers to delay its spoilage.
      As early as 1834, a German obstetrician named F. Crede, administered 1% silver nitrate to the eyes of newborn infants, almost eliminating the incidence of blindness caused by disease in newborns.  It was not until the late 1800's that Western scientists began to prove what had been known in Eastern medicine for thousands of years...that silver was a proven germ fighter!
      By the early 1900's the antibacterial solution called Colloidal Silver became the choice of medical practitioners.  It proved to be effective against infectious organisms and extremely safe to use, without the negative side effects associated with drugs.  But unfortunately its use was short lived.  Silver was put on the back shelf while new "improved" antibiotic drugs became the choice of medical treatment. Silvers came back in medicine in the 1930's with silver nitrate.
      In the 1970's Dr. Carl Moyer, chairman of Washington University's Department of Surgery, received a grant to develop better treatment for burn victims.  Dr. Harry Margraf of St. Louis, as the chief biochemist, worked with Dr. Moyer and other surgeons to find an antiseptic strong enough, yet safe for use over large areas of the body.  Dr. Margraf reviewed 22 antiseptic compounds and found drawbacks in them all.  He noted that many of these antibiotics were ineffective against a number of harmful bacteria, including the biggest killer in burn cases - greenish blue bacterium called  Pseudomonas Acruginose.  Extensive trials proved silver to be the most effective and it is currently used in  major burn centers in the United States.  "What we actually have done, was rediscover that silver kills bacteria", stated Dr. Robert O. Becker M. D, (who became a "pioneer" for Colloidal Silver).
      Today, silver is used by the Soviets to sterilize recycled water aboard the space stations.  NASA selected a silver water system for the space shuttle.  Many of the world's airlines use silver water filters to protect passengers from diseases such as dysentery.  Silver has been effectively used to replace chlorine in swimming pool water, and it does not sting the eyes.

How Does Colloidal Silver Work

What makes Colloidal Silver so successful is the ionic charge that silver brings into the body.  The micro electrical (ionic) charge disables the particular enzyme that all one celled bacteria, fungi and viruses use for their oxygen metabolism, its chemical lung.  Colloidal Silver travels with the blood and enters the cells to seek out and destroy harmful organisms.  Within minutes after the initial contact, the pathogen dies, then it is cleared out of the body.  Colloidal Silver is absolutely nontoxic and safe for humans, reptiles, and plants.  The body does not build up a tolerance to it and studies show that colloidal silver does not form silver deposits within the body.
      The British Medical Journal reports that it rapidly subdues inflammation and promotes healing. Dr. Robert Becker noticed a correlation between low silver levels and sickness; colds, flu, etc.

Silver has been used as an Ayurvedic medicine in India for well over 2500 years.  It is very common for foods in India to be covered with a very soft and edible silver foil.    Chewing and ingesting such a medicine would provide hundreds of times more silver than is generally found in Homeopathic and Supplemental Colloidal Silver products in North America.  Yet there are no reports of toxicity or buildup of silver in the human body in these forms.

      The author interviewed an elderly gentleman from who stated that as a boy he was once treated by a Doctor in India who grated silver into a glass of water.  This method produced mammoth quantity and size of silver particles in comparison to the size of Colloidal Silver,  without adverse side effect.

      Since the early 1930's there have been rumors and warnings and fear issued against the use of medicinal, food grade, or homeopathic Colloidal Silver.  These rumors have been circulated by those who have not distinguished between Silver Nitrates, Salts, Chlorides, Phosphates and Colloidal Silver.  The differences cannot be overstated.   Unfortunately before science and technology were able to determine that these other products were harmful, individuals had administered Silver Nitrate and subsequently developed a condition called argyria.  Argyria is caused by the photo reduction of silver nitrate lodged in tissues of the skin producing graying of the skin.  It is impossible for low concentration or Homeopathic Colloidal Silver to produce this condition.

      According to an article that appeared in the Silver News, The Silver Institute Washington, D.C., patients at the Struggle Against AIDS clinic in Honduras were given very substantial single dosages of polyvalent silver oxide, (approximately 40 parts per million of blood volume) and they did not experience any side effects or reaction whatsoever, nor did they develop the unseemly condition that is known as argyria.  Neither are there reports available to indicate that Colloidal Silver could interact or interfere with other medicine being taken.

Therefore Colloidal Silver is a natural and safe remedy with wide spectrum capabilities.

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The simple and most common method of making Colloidal Silver is to place an electrical charge on a silver anode (positive electrode) and a cathode (negative electrode) in water.  The electrical energy removes micro particles off the silver anode which then become suspended in the water.  These particles called colloids, each carry a micro electrical charge or zeta charge that holds them in suspension.  The  temperature, ionization, and molecular structure of the water as well as the electrical current, duration and purity of silver used in the process determine the size, quantity and quality of the silver colloids.

The manufacturing objective is to produce a Silver Colloid that has like properties of those colloids found in natural water and plant sources.  This is important because just as there are thousands of nutrients in nature, there are also thousands of reactions that happen within our bodies between these nutrients and harmful substances they might encounter in the body. All nutrients, minerals and vitamins work synergistically in our bodies, it is therefore important to note that Colloidal Silver is not a "cure all".  The body, as a whole, needs a combination of many nutrients to properly sustain health and immunity.  Each individual concerned about their health should determine whether they are getting sufficient trace minerals in their  food and water.  Studies have shown the relative bio availability of either Silver Inorganic complexes or Silver Organic complexes appears to depend on the individual compounds. Studies show that it appears Silver Inorganic complexes are more common in the marine environment, therefore it is also safe.

      The Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks at the University of British Columbia Canada, while developing ambient water quality criteria, reported the following findings regarding the qualities of Silver in drinking water. The Compendium Study on Ambient Water Quality 1996 stated that the ionic form of silver is necessary for biological activity and the lipid phase of the membrane appears to be important in adsorbing silver ions to living cells. The active sites on enzymes which are affected by silver are apparently the electron rich functional groups such as-SH groups.

      Silver combines with plasma proteins, is removed by the liver and over 90% is eliminated in the bile; most of this in the feces with very little in the urine. 

      The study reported that ionic silver was more toxic to aquatic organisms than silver compounds, which again suggests that it is the micro electrical charge carried by the silver which makes it effective.

      Also reported, silver is a disinfectant for non spore forming bacteria at concentrations about 1000 times lower than the levels at which it is toxic to mammalian life. This extreme mammalian to bacterial toxicity differential is the definition of an oligodynamic material. The low concentration necessary for oligodynamic activity allows silver or one of its insoluble salts to be used indefinitely in contact with sterile liquids without silver levels building up to concentrations harmful to people.