Argyria: A Silver Negative?
By Mark Metcalf
In the spring of 1995, a scientist (Dr. Bob Beck) introduced me to the rather astonishing subject of making and using colloidal silver. Back then, common opinion on silver colloid supposed two immutable negatives concerning what was otherwise, the unblemished story of a gentle, healing giant.
1. Medical doctors would never endorse colloidal silver because it would put them out of business.
2. Heavy silver users would always run some risk of contracting a rare, non-toxic cosmetic condition known as “argyria” whereby the skin takes on a permanent grey, or bluish cast.
The first of these two immovable obstacles to the popular use of colloidal silver crumbled in 2001 with the publication of the fourth edition of my doctor-endorsed book, Colloidal Silver: Making the Safest and Most Powerful Medicine on Earth for the Price of Water.
“In every instance in which colloidal silver has been used by me, it has been successful. Even when antibiotics failed. I heartfully recommend becoming familiar with this book.”—Albert Cullum, M.D.
“We now have more than twenty patients using your (colloidal silver) generator. We are getting excellent results in a variety of conditions including upper respiratory infection and pneumonia.”—Dr. W.E. Winslow, Diplomate American Osteopathic Board of Surgery.
“Mark Metcalf’s (colloidal silver) generator has been very effective in my clinical practice, producing a natural anti-inflammatory and natural antibiotic. Everyone should know how to make and use colloidal silver.”—Deborah Banker, M.D.
Argyria
In that same edition, the second negative also tumbled. My book contained quotes from the government’s own studies of argyria and the ingestion of silver. To my surprise, the Environmental Protection Agency’s doctors and chemists revealed that silver does not cause argyria, but rather, that argyria is caused by a silver-induced selenium deficiency.
“…a silver-induced selenium deficiency that inhibits the synthesis of the seleno-enzyme glutathione peroxidase. In animals supplemented with selenium and/or vitamin E, exposures of silver as high as 140 mg/kg/day were well-tolerated.”[1] Conversion: 140 mg/kg/day equals 1.6 gallons of colloidal silver at a high concentration of 100 parts per million, per day, ingested by a 10 lb. dog. In short, a person with a selenium-rich diet would have to ingest such fantastic volumes of the sub-microscopic silver particles that they would succumb to drowning long before the onset of argyria.
Conclusion
The data from these EPA studies clearly solved the former mysteries of argyria and further underscored the unsurpassed safety of colloidal silver use. For example, doctors had been scratching their heads over how a woman eating silver foil-encased candy in the Midwest had incurred an argyric condition in less than three months while a man in Japan
The answer is that the body’s natural eliminative mechanism is to chelate silver out with selenium, with vitamin E helping in the process. The Japanese fisherman was eating rice every day, and rice-brown rice being the best source—is loaded with high quality vitamin E and selenium. The woman in the Midwest simply had a poor diet, and over time as a result of her daily intake of silver, began to run out of selenium.
Selenium is an important mineral for the body, helping to build muscles, strengthen the heart and regulate the metabolism. Vitamin E is also important because it detoxifies the body, even eliminating lipofuscin deposits (liver spots) when ingested in sufficient quantities over a period of months. (Avocados are also an excellent source of vitamin E—and protein too.) Lipofuscin deposits are a serious matter because whenever they are seen on the skin they are also present on the heart, nerves and brain, and they inhibit normal body function. This is why elderly people with pronounced liver spots often exhibit the uncontrollable shaking associated with nerve damage.
Selenium Supplement Dosage for Daily Colloidal Silver Users
Silver is an analgesic (pain reliever) that speeds healing, stops infection, reduces scarring (both internal and external) and depression, reduces inflammation and increases mobility of injured tissue. Individuals who ingest large amounts of colloidal silver over prolonged periods of time (due to a serious medical condition that is not necessarily cured, but “managed” with colloidal silver) are more at risk of argyria. For these long-term users, a selenium supplement is also a good idea. As luck would have it, selenium supplements are normally the lowest cost item on vitamin store shelves. Consulting with a medical doctor who is also a nutritional specialist, I was told 200 mcg of selenium a day is an ideal dosage for those ingesting colloidal silver on a daily basis.
For more information regarding how to make and use colloidal silver, I recommend you join with 20,000 other readers and consult my book, currently in its fifth edition and on sale for $17.95.
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Contact Mark Metcalf: guardianwisdom@gmail.com
Note: Yellow colloids (made from distilled water without saline) are more electrically conductive (the valance electron is not tied to a chloride ion) and thus, more potent than silver chloride (colloidal silver made with normal spring water which has natural saline).
Disclaimer
Silver Protects, Inc., has two separate marketing divisions. Neither division is under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is because our colloidal silver generators are sold to produce silver solutions strictly for inedible plants and flowers. Be aware that the government’s attack on businesses that come to the aid of the public does not affect the freedoms of individuals. For example, if you were to buy a colloidal silver generator for your inedible plants and flowers and later discovered that you liked to use it for completely different applications; that’s your own business. There are no restrictions for your activities as a private individual. The FDA laws are simply designed to restrict the seller so as to quietly dry up material and informational resources that are safe and natural, and that fortify the public’s life-sustaining powers.
[1] U.S.
