Silica - Areas of application and effectiveness

contents

• Effect of silica
• How does hair loss, against the silica should act?
• Silica and silicon
• No risk to health?
• Is silicon safe??
• What to do?
• silicon shortage?
• No valid studies

Effect of silica

Siliceous earth has a reputation for helping with brittle hair, dry skin and brittle nails. "Traditionally," many people use silica and vendors use a trick to prevent the substance from being approved as a drug. You may write: "Traditionally used for the prevention of brittle fingernails and hair, to strengthen the connective tissue. This information is based solely on tradition and many years of experience". That sounds nice, but says the bottom line only: An effect can not be proven scientifically, they can only believe that it works.

How does hair loss, against the silica should act?

Hair loss can have many reasons: nutritional deficiency, hormonal fluctuations, wrong handling of hair or age. The cause should be clarified with your doctor. If there is a nutritional deficiency, then the doctor can prescribe a preparation for them. Taking supplements can generally make sense if you suffer from a deficiency in the substances that enable a healthy hair growth. Adding more of these nutrients - beyond the compensation of the shortage - brings nothing and sometimes even harm. For example, there is not only too low, but also too high a level of some vitamins.

Silica and silicon

Silica refers to minerals with a high level of silicon. Silicon is usually absorbed by water, grains and vegetables. It is a trace element that has no elemental function in the body - in contrast to minerals such as iron or vitamins such as vitamin C. While a lack of necessary vitamins and minerals to diseases such as rickets or scurvy, this is most likely with "silicon deficiency" not the case.

Silicon is found in the body in bones, enamel and connective tissue. Some scientists believe that it has a function, such as keeping the connective tissue elastic (smooth skin) or strengthening the bones - there is no evidence for that. The fact that silicon is present in the body is not surprising, because it is the second most common element of all. In the body, humans have about 1.4 grams, and in almost all body cells. Whether and how much of it we need is unknown. In any case, a person consumes about 30 mg a day with a mixed diet, vegetarians up to 150 mg.

A lot of silicon contains millet, wheat, potatoes, parsley and cauliflower.
Silicon is not pure in nature, but it combines with oxygen to form silica. Its acid is called silicon dioxide and is found in the skeletons of various animals and plants. Siliceous earth is usually the remainder of dead diatoms.

No risk to health?

It could be argued that, even if the benefits are scientifically unproven, silica does not harm either. Approved according to EU Directive 2002/46 / EC, Annex II, in the EU as a dietary supplement are chlorine-stabilized orthosilicic acid, silica, silica gel and organic silicon. But caution is advised: In three of four samples, the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing found cheap quartz and cristobalite instead of more expensive algae powder in samples. This puts placebos' products into the area of ​​potentially hazardous substances without chemical action. And: They might as well eat sand. Whether it is consumer delusion or skimmed it by a hair, is put there.

Quartz and cristobalite as crystalline forms of silicon dioxide are considered by industry to be "hazardous substances". In the long term such drugs potentially harm the organism. In addition, silicic acid can cause prolonged use of the kidneys.

Is silicon safe??

Silicon is widespread, 25% of the earth's crust consists of it, more often is only oxygen. Silicon is in quartz, sand, stones or silica. Silicates are silicon-oxygen compounds, which can be found in ceramics, concrete or glass. Silicon compounds are not always without danger: For example, asbestos is a silicate in very fine fibers. These insulate perfectly and withstand fire, but have the unpleasant side effect of being inhaled, causing lung disease and even lung cancer. Similarly, fine dust from silicates can lead to "black lung".

What to do?

If you have brittle hair or dry skin, discuss the causes with your doctor. If you want to adjust your diet to counteract brittle hair and cracked nails, you should pay attention not to silicon but to biotin, folic acid and zinc. A lack of these three substances proves that hair, skin and nails suffer. These elements are increasingly present in whole grain foods, legumes, eggs and nuts.

silicon shortage?

A lack of a substance can only exist in the body if it plays a role in the organism. In medical literature, there is not the phenomenon of silicon deficiency. Whether silicon has a function in the body or is useless remains unknown in medicine. That's why there are no scientific recommendations for a minimum quantity.

The fact that silicon is found in hair, nails and skin does not mean that we have to consume this trace element. Theoretically, it would be conceivable that the substance has a task. But it is more logical that we collect silicon without purpose in the body because we absorb it with food: silicon dissolves easily in the water and is abundantly contained in our staple foods. Incidentally, even if it had a biological function, we would not need supplementation, but would just have to drink plenty of water and eat bread.

No valid studies

So far, there are very few clinical studies on the effect of silicon on the bones, and they leave no room for wondering whether silicon affects bone density, hair structure or fingernails at all. Two randomized studies should show if silica improves bone density in older women. The scientists examined 184 postmenopausal women with low bone density. Three out of four took preparations containing choline-stabilized silica for one year, and every fourth received a pseudopreparation. The result: There was no difference in bone density between experimental and comparison groups.
The second study included only 17 participants who drank mineral water with little or no silica for three months. The study was too short and included too few subjects to make a statement about the change in bone density. You could have left her, too. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)