Silica

[Allen Yeh]

Anyone ever heard of this or used it?

I've done some brief research on the web and of course for every pro, you can find a con. Basically it was recommend over a message board for people that have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.

It doesn't seem super expensive and harmless to boot so worst comes to worse it' be 11.99 down the drain.

[Robert Allison]

As you said, there does seem to be a lack of consensus on the issue of silica supplementation. I tried a couple of different silica products for a while and I can't say that I really noticed anything significant. But, there wasn't anything I was trying to address, other than supporting general good health. If you eat healthy and take a decent multi, you will probably get all the silica you need.

A quick search on Ehlers Danlos showed that it is related to a collagen deficiency, so supplementing might help. The Internet is not always the most reliable source of information, but if people suffering from a condition recommend something, there might be something to it. A $12 experiment could be a good investment.

As for me, I found another excellent source of silica:

http://www.realbeer.com/news/articles/news-002229.php

...found that beer is a significant and well-absorbed source of dietary silicon.

[Allen Yeh]

I saw this today:

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16375082http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16375082

It's just the abstract, anyone know where I can find the full paper?

We therefore hypothesize that the symptoms associated with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome may be successfully alleviated using a specific (and potentially synergistic) combination of nutritional supplements, comprising calcium, carnitine, coenzyme Q10, glucosamine, magnesium, methyl sulphonyl methane, pycnogenol, silica, vitamin C, and vitamin K, at dosages which have previously been demonstrated to be effective against the above symptoms in other disorders.

[Garrett Smith]

You can purchase it online through here:
http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retri...877(04)00456-6

Or you can go to your closest collegiate medical school library and likely find and print it there, only for the cost of copies. If you're able, you could also download the PDF file from there onto a jump drive and take it home for free. That's what I would do.

[Allen Yeh]

Thanks for the link. I'm not sure what happened but it let me download the PDF for free? Thanks again.

[Garrett Smith]

Free = even better!

Most of the online journals definitely don't give free access, but some do...

Allen, if you need help finding quality supps like those listed, let me know via PM...

[Sam Brothers]

I couldn't tell a difference using silica. I have no major diseases that need it either.
There are a 1000 different weird supplements. I don't think taking them all is necessary. I'd much rather have $12, but if it was free I'd take it.

[Garrett Smith]

Allen,
I recently started using products from Xymogen, this is their silica product:
http://www.xymogen.com/2008/formula.asp?code=000218
PM me if you want further info or to get ahold of some. I like their products in general so far...

[Yael Grauer]

I don't have anything to try to sell you, but I've used both silica and horsetail and found horsetail to be more effective.

[Garrett Smith]

Some quick stuff off Pubmed, searching for "orthosilicic acid collagen":

Orthosilicic acid stimulates collagen type 1 synthesis and osteoblastic differentiation in human osteoblast-like cells in vitro.

Choline-stabilized orthosilicic acid supplementation as an adjunct to calcium/vitamin D3 stimulates markers of bone formation in osteopenic females: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Supplementation of calves with stabilized orthosilicic acid. Effect on the Si, Ca, Mg, and P concentrations in serum and the collagen concentration in skin and cartilage.

Nothing directly related to EDS for your wife Allen, but you might find the info useful.