Now you know why the ionic form of colloidal silver has been the world's #1 best-selling form of colloidal silver for over 60 years.
The ionic form of colloidal silver sells better, because it works faster and more efficiently in the human body than the metallic form (i.e., nanosilver, or so-called "true colloidal silver") which is composed of nothing but tiny bare particles of elemental silver metal that cannot even begin to kill microbes until they start shedding silver ions.
So the question of the day is this:
Why even bother to ingest a colloidal silver solution consisting of bare metal silver particles that need to be converted into silver ions inside the human body, when instead you can ingest a colloidal silver solution consisting of pure silver ions that need no conversion at all?
Stomach Acid Nonsense
Now, of course, the purveyors of the metallic form of colloidal silver will tell you that the ionic form of colloidal silver simply doesn’t work against pathogens in the human body.
They claim – erroneously, of course – that this is because silver ions easily get tied-up in the gut by hydrochloric acid (i.e., stomach acid) and are thereby converted to silver chloride and neutralized.
And they claim that only their metallic form of colloidal silver can possibly work inside the human body, because it doesn’t get tied-up in the gut by stomach acid, but instead is absorbed through the gastrointestinal barrier and ends up in the blood where it's carried into the body's cells, tissues and organs.
But if that little bit of marketing claptrap were true, then the metallic form of colloidal silver – the so-called "true colloidal silver" – could not possibly work either.
After all, as I've demonstrated repeatedly in this article, for the metallic form of colloidal silver to work in the body, pathogen-killing silver ions must be liberated from the bare metal silver particles.
And that conversion from metallic silver to ionic silver can only take place in the presence of acidic bodily fluids or highly-oxygenated tissues.
Of course, stomach acid is highly acidic. That's why they call it stomach acid. So, metallic silver begins shedding silver ions as soon as it comes into contact with stomach acid.
But if ionic silver is tied-up and neutralized in the gut by hydrochloric acid, then the silver ions being shed by metallic
silver particles inside the stomach would also become tied-up and neutralized by stomach acid.
And in such a case, neither form of colloidal silver could possibly kill pathogens inside the human body, because it's the silver ion that's the biologically active, infection-fighting "specie" of silver. The silver ion, and only the silver ion, kills pathogens.
So the purveyors of the metallic form of colloidal silver shoot themselves in the foot every time they make the claim that silver ions get tied up in the gut by stomach acid and are thereby turned into silver chloride and neutralized.
Again, if this were true the effectiveness of their own product would be equally neutralized once ingested, since it begins shedding silver ions in the gut in reaction to stomach acid, and indeed, is completely dependent upon shedding silver ions in order to work against pathogens.
“Well, Steve," you might say, "what if the metal particles are absorbed across the gastrointestinal barrier and into the bloodstream, and only then begin to shed silver ions?"
Interesting question. Aside from the fact that it physically can't happen that way due to the hydrochloric acid in the stomach which starts the process of liberating silver ions from the metallic silver in earnest, there's another problem, as well. Here it is:
The "true colloidal silver" people make the following claim on their own website: "If some ionic silver were ever able to get into the bloodstream it would encounter a large supply of chloride ions owing to the fact that the blood serum is rich in sodium and potassium chloride, again, quickly forming silver chloride."
So if that's true, then metallic silver particles releasing silver ions in the bloodstream would also have their effectiveness completely neutralized, because the released silver ions would be neutralized as they formed silver chloride.
Do you see how the "true colloidal silver" people continue to shoot themselves in the foot over and over and over again with their spurious claims?
In just a moment, I'll show you exactly how silver ions manage to get through the harsh chemical environment of the gastrointestinal tract, and the bloodstream, and make it into the cells, tissues and organs of the human body where they can work their magic against pathogens.
But first, here's a big surprise for you:
A Big Surprise...
While the so-called "true colloidal silver" people continue to make the claim that ionic silver gets tied-up in the gut and neutralized by hydrochloric acid, recent clinical research demonstrates that it's actually their metallic form of colloidal silver that gets tied-up in the gut and neutralized by hydrochloric acid.
In fact, this has been demonstrated clinically, time and time again, most recently by researchers from the University of Nevada in cooperation with scientists from the EPA's Office of Research and Development.
In their clinical study, these researchers "exposed silver nanoparticles to synthetic human stomach fluid to see how ingested nanoparticles could be altered by the stomach's very acidic environment."
According to the researchers:
"A variety of analytical methods showed that nanoparticles formed large aggregates and produced silver chloride when exposed to stomach fluid.
Changes in nanoparticle physical form and surface chemistry that occur in the stomach may affect how much silver will be absorbed across the gastrointestinal barrier."
In short, the researchers discovered that metallic silver nanoparticles (i.e., nanosilver, or so-called "true colloidal silver") formed large clumps and began converting to silver chloride when exposed to stomach acids.
The researchers surmised that because of this, the human body would likely have significant trouble absorbing and utilizing metallic nanosilver particles.
Of course, that's just the opposite of what the "true colloidal silver" people will tell you. They claim that metallic silver will not interact with stomach fluids, and that therefore it's easily absorbable into the body from the gastrointestinal tract.
They further claim that it's the ionic form of colloidal silver that gets tied up in the gut and cannot make past the gastrointestinal barrier. But the only evidence they produce for their claims is from their own in-house lab.
No independent clinical research backs up their claims. Quite the opposite, in fact – most truly independent clinical research destroys their claims.
Even the infamous Brown University clinical study on argyria, conducted in August 2012, found that metallic nanosilver was "not terribly likely to make it from the GI tract to the blood..." but that silver ions shed by the metal nanosilver in reaction to the acidic environment of the stomach were "easily absorbed into the bloodstream". Again, that's the exact opposite of what the purveyors of "true colloidal silver" claim.
Indeed, the Brown University researchers found that:
"...nanosilver corrodes in stomach acid in much the same way it does in other acidic environments.
Corrosion strips silver atoms of electrons, forming positively charged silver salt ions. Those ions can easily be taken into the bloodstream..."
So in light of these studies and others like them, it would seem that the purveyors of the metallic nanosilver products which they erroneously call "true colloidal silver" are either ignorant of the actual science, or not always completely honest with their customers.
That's probably a gross understatement.
The Problem With Simulated Studies
Nevertheless, while the above two studies are fascinating because they further document the fact that metallic nanosilver by itself is basically worthless except to the extent that it sheds silver ions in the body, both studies were nevertheless based upon simulated body systems, i.e., they used simulated stomach acid, simulated blood, simulated tissues, simulated skin, etc.
And in such clinical simulations, no matter how close these researchers can come to the real thing, they still can't reproduce the dynamic biological milieu of the human body, with all of its chemical complexities.
I say this for a very specific reason.
After all, in spite of the simulation studies, it's abundantly clear from real-life experience as well as from clinical experience that both forms of colloidal silver – the ionic form and the metallic form – work effectively against pathogens inside the human body.
So please don't think I'm trying to say that metallic silver doesn't work. I'm not. I'm just demonstrating that their claims against ionic silver are based on fantasy, deception or gross misunderstanding of the colloidal science.
Indeed, there's tons of clinical documentation for the effectiveness of the metallic form of colloidal silver. And there's tons more clinical documentation for the effectiveness of the ionic form of colloidal silver.
There's also thousands upon thousands of real-life human and animal anecdotal accounts demonstrating the effectiveness of both forms of colloidal silver.
What's more, this broad spectrum of evidence for the effectiveness of both forms of colloidal silver stretch back over a period of more than 100 years. So how can this be?
How can both forms of colloidal silver work against pathogens in the human body if metallic silver gets corroded by stomach acid, forming clumps and turning into silver chloride (as the University of Nevada and Brown University clinical studies clearly demonstrate), and if ionic silver gets turned into silver chloride in the stomach and is neutralized (as the purveyors of the metallic form of colloidal silver claim)?
Thankfully, there's a very simple, often overlooked answer...
The Metalloprotein Transport System:
The Final Piece of the Puzzle
Both forms of colloidal silver – the metallic silver form and the ionic silver form – demonstrate broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity in the human body for one reason, and one reason only:
It's because the human body has a very effective transport mechanism for safely escorting silver ions through the harsh acidic chemical environments encountered inside the human body and into the cells, tissues and organs where they can work against pathogens that colonize and cause illness and disease.
And it's this transport mechanism – known as the Metalloprotein Transport System – the clinical researchers simply can't duplicate in their simulated studies.
I've written about the Metalloprotein Transport System many times. So if you'd like, you can read more extensively about it in my article titled "Metalloproteins – the Body's Transport Mechanism for Ionic Silver".
The upshot of the matter is this: Without the Metalloprotein Transport System, neither the ionic form of colloidal silver nor the metallic form of colloidal silver could possibly work inside the human body.
After all, the ionic form of colloidal silver is composed largely of pure silver ions. And the metallic form of colloidal silver is completely dependent upon conversion to silver ions inside the body in order to demonstrate any antimicrobial activity whatsoever.
So both forms would ultimately be neutralized by acids or chloride ions not just in the stomach, but elsewhere in the body as well.
But substances called metalloproteins protectively bond with silver ions and then escort them through the harsh chemical environment of the gastrointestinal tract and into the bloodstream where they’re carried safely into the cells, tissues and organs of the human body before being released to work their magic against pathogens.
And that's why both form of colloidal silver work well in the human body.
You see, metalloproteins are produced inside the human body in direct response to the presence of metallic ions. This is true for silver ions, zinc ions, copper ions or any other metallic mineral ion.
So when you ingest ionic silver, your body will immediately begin to produce metalloproteins such as metallothionein to escort those silver ions through the harsh chemical environment of the stomach, and into the deeper reaches of the body.
And when you ingest metallic silver, the same things happens, but far more slowly. As the metallic silver particles come into contact with acidic bodily fluids beginning in the GI tract, these metal particles begin shedding silver ions, just as the above studies have documented.
And it's at that point the body will start producing the metalloproteins needed to escort those silver ions through that harsh chemical environment and into the bloodstream, organs, tissues and cells of the body where pathogens colonize.
Researchers can't simulate that in a study, because it's too difficult to simulate the rich biochemical milieu of the human body in its entirety.
They can't coax a simulated body system – with simulated blood, simulated stomach acid, simulated tissues and simulated skin – to produce metalloproteins in response to the presence of silver ions.
But the human body, of course, is quite capable of doing so. It's not a simulated system. It's the real deal. And in the human body, metalloproteins are always produced in response to the presence of metallic ions such as silver, zinc, copper and others.
Now, here's the interesting part:
When using the ionic form of colloidal silver, the metalloprotein "escort" process starts immediately, because it's the silver ion that stimulates the body to produce metalloproteins in the first place.
But when using the metallic form of colloidal silver, the process is far more gradual due to the fact that it takes a while for the body to start converting metallic silver particles into silver ions, en masse.
his is why some clinical studies have demonstrated that it takes significantly longer for metallic silver to kill pathogens than it does for ionic silver.
The $64,000 Question
Finally, I ask you to put your thinking cap on for just a second and ask yourself this simple question:
If it were true that only elemental metals could survive the harsh acidic environment of the GI tract, and that ionic metals "can't last more than a few seconds in the body" as the so-called "true colloidal silver" people claim, then how does the human body absorb and utilize minerals from the food plants we eat, since they're all in the ionic form, and they all end up in the stomach in contact with stomach acid?
If the "true colloidal silver" people were correct in their assertions that ions can’t exist in the presence of stomach acid for "more than a few seconds", then it follows that human body could not absorb and utilize minerals from food plants at all, for the simple reason nature has those plants convert all minerals, including silver, to the ionic form.
That fact that our body does indeed absorb and utilize ionic minerals from plants is all of the evidence you need that the "true colloidal silver" people are being awfully disingenuous (to put it mildly) when they say ionic silver "can't work in the human body".
Now please don't get me wrong, by any means. I'm not against the metallic form of colloidal silver or its metallic silver counterpart, nanosilver. I've documented in this report why both of them work, as well as how they work.
But I'm not going to deny the science behind colloidal silver just to make people feel better about their choices. And I'm not going to allow shifty marketers to get away with twisting the science all out of proportion to make one colloidal silver product sound superior to all others, when nothing could be further from the truth.
My advice to colloidal silver vendors is that they should allow their products compete in the open marketplace based upon their merits, and not upon "weird science" from their in-house labs that simply can't be backed up by valid and competent independent clinical research.
People will come back time-and-time again to purchase products that actually work. And if your colloidal silver product works, people will enthusiastically promote it for you, both online and among their own families and friends.
But if you lie to them about the science, then skepticism about all of your claims inevitably kicks in. And the old saying "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me," will eventually take its toll on your product sales as truth comes to light.