Silver Ions Kill Harmful Bacteria!
Around four or five years ago is the first time I heard about "colloidal silver." The idea intrigued me enough to entertain the idea and buy some off ETSY to try. I never got serious about the substance since the information seemed to be all over the place. Some call it ignorance and others call it planned opposition. I won't get into that here but instead what I learned over these last five years or so.
Most recently I ran into a blogger that goes by the pen name "creatr", a follower and surfer. As I reached the end of the first post I read by him I noticed him promoting an "ionic silver" generator for home use. This interaction was after a year of giving up my research due to lack of consistency, but I wanted to hear his point of view. After a nice long chat with him on Discord, I now know what the scientific studies say and what is just empty claims.
What Is Ionic Silver?
Ionic silver is a molecule or atom of silver that is missing an electron. The silver loses this electron in a process called ionization. This process is done for us with electronic devices like the one promoted by creatr. When the electricity flows off the one rod silver molecules get kicked off the .999 pure silver rod. It is during this process that the particles lose electrons and become a colloid.
A colloid is nothing more than particles suspended in a liquid. Milk is a colloid and so is ionic silver water.
When silver comes in contact with fluids, it tends to ionize which increases the nanoparticles bactericidal activity. Infogalactic Citation 47
Research Fatigue...
A big reason why I dropped my research was due to the debate over "ionic silver" and "true colloidal silver." For whatever reason, I was unable to find any clear answer as to why one is better than another. The TCS promotors said we need to add this and that to the water after using the ionic generator. The ionic silver promoters claimed this was unnecessary and creates the risk of turning blue from argyrosis.
Argyria or argyrosis is a condition caused by inappropriate exposure to chemical compounds of the element silver, or to silver dust. The most dramatic symptom of argyria is that the skin turns blue or bluish-grey. - Infogalactic
Both sides of the silver debate made sure to note that this can only happen from ingesting silver solutions created with non-distilled water or by adding stuff, like salt, to the solution. My issue was how much was too much? There was no science telling me what the ration of this to that was needed. Just a bunch of random people on the internet and I had no desire to turn blue from their misjudgments.
Ions, Not Particles, Kill Bacteria!
It is all thanks to creatr that I came across so many scientific studies testing silver particles and silver ions. The research he shared was one out of Rice University in Texas, USA. There they checked silver particles of various sizes as well as silver ions against bacteria. The results go against what all the TCS promoters are saying and started me off on my ionic silver study.
“We found the particles, even up to a concentration of 195 parts per million, were still not toxic to bacteria, but for the ionic silver, a concentration of about 15 parts per billion would kill all the bacteria present. - Zong-ming Xiu
Sounds pretty clear to me that we want silver ions and not silver particles if our goal is to kill bacteria. This information got me all fired up again about creating my silver ions in a safe and controlled way. I am not saying that TCS does not work but it does only because it contains some silver ions. Since this is the case, we might as well skip the extra steps and stick to making ionic silver.
Silver Engines
So I got the link to the device that creatr promoted on his blog and started to dig around. Their product claims to create ionic silver when appropriately used and even has a built-in parts per million (PPM) detector. So I bought a device with STEEM and waited for it to arrive at my home in Pennsylvania.
It was one of those packages that could not get here fast enough. I was very excited to start using the homemade ionic silver. The package arrived in just three days from the evening I sent creatr the STEEM, and I made my first batch right then and there.
The Silver Engine's device is well made, light, and easy to store. Many of the ionic silver generators out there are too large and bulky making them a hassle to travel with. The Silver Engine's device is super low power as well. It can run off our home electricity, batteries, or ever a low power solar panel. In fact, the power usage is so small that the USB power brick that came with the device cannot ever charge my Bluetooth speaker!
I am thoroughly impressed by the quality of this machine, and it's easy to use. All we need to do is set the device on top of a mason jar full of distilled water and plug it in. After the Silver Engines Proton checks the water, it will flash blue until the desired PPM of silver ions is achieved.
I have battled athletes foot and toenail fungus for years. I heard people have used ionic silver as a safe alternative to traditional medical treatments, so I am giving it a shot. It may take a few months, but I am seeing positive signs that the ionic silver is doing something.
I'll make an update post at the end with some photos to show the difference long term. My regimen is two-fold, the first is to soak cotton balls in the ionic silver water, put them in a finger cot, then place them on the infected toes overnight. This has proven difficult to keep them in the right position as I sleep but it's still better than nothing.
The second fold is to ingest a small amount of the ionic silver daily to help fight the fungal infection from the inside. There is a safe range that I see touted online based on the weight of an individual. For me, at 165lbs (74.8kg) it is 3 teaspoons per day. This comes from SilverSafety.org, and their daily calculation is:
12 * [weight in lbs] / [ionic silver PPM] = # of drops per day