Silica & The Importance Of This Mineral

 

 

Whatever our age, we all need silica.

It is vital for healthy skin, fingernails, ligaments, tendons and bones and is regarded as one of nature's building blocks providing the answer to healthier, younger looking, more radiant skin, hair, nails and especially helping good bone health.

Silica is often associated with the growth of hair

In fact, silica is one of the most important constituents of the body’s connective tissue. Bones need silica to re-calcify and to strengthen bone tissue. Silica is a precursor to calcium and the body coverts silica into calcium as it is needed. We have all heard about osteoporosis and how it is a symptom of the aging process.

As calcium in our body system leaches, our bones become brittle and weak. Taking only a calcium supplement cannot correct or stop this threatening and crippling disease because the body cannot assimilate and make use of the calcium without the presence of silica.

Evidence suggests that, instead of affecting healing, supplemental mineral calcium, on the contrary, accelerates the leaching away of bone calcium and thus hastens the degenerative process of osteoporosis and similar diseases that affect the supportive and connective tissues in the human body.

Magnesium, vitamin D and vitamin K along with silica are all important

They are pieces of the calcium puzzle in building healthy bones.

For osteoporosis, silica can stop the pain and even restore the body’s self repair process. Osteoporosis symptoms attack women primarily after menopause but the degenerative process starts much earlier in their younger days.

Many women actually die of fractures caused by osteoporosis. In order to help re-mineralize damaged bones by depositing minerals (and especially calcium) into the bones as well as to heed up any healing of fractures or reduce scarring at the site of such fracture, it is recommended that a sufficient silica supplement be taken daily.

Apart from supplements, from where do we get silica?

Good sources of silica are vegetables such as:

• Cucumbers
• Bell peppers
• Tomatoes
• Beetroot
• Brussels sprouts

If you can eat these raw rather than cooked, all the better.

The best source of silica is horsetail (proper name eqisetum arvense). Horsetail is also rich in calcium and several other minerals needed to rebuild injured tissue and is also very helpful in the healing of various forms of arthritis. It is also a good remedy for recurrent calcium urololithiasis which is the condition where urinary calculi are formed or located anywhere in the urinary system.

Nettles are another source of silica while wholewheat, oat straw, alfalfa and raw cacao are further good sources.

So many health benefits when you have sufficient levels of silica

It is extra important to eat the right things and to take a supplement if needed:

• Silica fortifies blood vessels to help guard against the effects of coronary disease.

• Silica aids in the repair and maintenance of vital lung tissues while defending them from pollution.

• Silica has positive effects on the lymphatic system as it decreases swelling.

• Silica assists in the prevention of kidney stones and can also heal urinary tract infections, being a natural diuretic.

• Silica is helpful in averting or clearing up both diarrhea and constipation – that is normalizing bowel movements.

• Silica can also assist in normalizing hemorrhoidal tissues, while lessening lower back pain.

• When inflammation of the middle ear is a problem, silica helps in the treatment.

• Silica may normalize circulation and regulate high blood pressure.

• Silica improves elasticity of the joints leading to better mobility as well as helping with the pain of osteoarthritis and and rheumatism.

• Silica may stimulate cell metabolism and division while delaying the ageing process.

• Silica beautifies hair and regenerates skin.

Silica may even assist in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease by inhibiting the body from absorbing aluminum and flush out aluminum from the body's tissues.

 

Sources

Ablon G. (2015). A 3-month, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating the ability of an extra-strength marine protein supplement to promote hair growth and decrease shedding in women with self-perceived thinning hair.
hindawi.com/journals/drp/2015/841570/

Advincula de Araújo L, et al. (2016). Use of silicon for skin and hair care: An approach of chemical forms available and efficacy. DOI:
10.1590/abd1806-4841.20163986

Cetojević-Simin DD, et al. (2010). Antioxidative and antiproliferative activities of different horsetail (Equisetum arvense L.) extracts. DOI:
10.1089/jmf.2008.0159

Daniels G, et al. (2019). Can plant‐derived phytochemicals provide symptom relief for hair loss? A critical review. DOI:
10.1111/ics.12554