Does Colloidal Silver Kill Good And Bad Bacteria?

Many purveyors of commercial brands of colloidal silver claim that it does not kill the beneficial microorganisms that colonize the human intestinal tract and provide innumberable benefits to the body such as aiding in the digestion of foods, the extraction of nutrients from those foods, the assimilation of those nutrients throughout the body, and the processing of waste products from the body.

But the truth is, colloidal silver does indeed act as a broad spectrum natural antibiotic. As such, if enough mineral silver reaches the intestinal tract it most certainly can kill off the friendly (i.e., beneficial) bacteria that thrive there.

Colloidal silver simply has no way of knowing a beneficial microbe from an infectious microbe. If the microbe is sensitive to silver, then silver will kill it whether it is a beneficial microbe or an infectious one.

However, taking small daily doses of colloidal silver is not as problematic in this regard as you might think. That's because there are anywhere from three to seven pounds of beneficial microorganisms populating the entirety of the intestinal tract at any point in time. So if you are taking a small daily maintenance dose of colloidal silver – which most researchers put at about one tablespoon to one ounce a day of 5 ppm to 10 ppm in strength – you will not kill off very many of the friendly "gut bugs" that line the intestinal tract.

Why? For three reasons:

One, because such small amounts of colloidal silver get absorbed through the gut and into the bloodstream very rapidly, so much of it bypasses the intestinal tract anyway.

Two, because such a small amount of silver is no big threat in comparison to the sheer numbers of friendly microbes that colonize the intestinal tract.

And three, because the friendly microbes are so prolific at re-populating, any of the comparatively small numbers you do kill off while taking small amounts of colloidal silver on a daily basis will basically be replaced by the very next day by a growing new colony.

Small daily amounts of colloidal silver are taken by experienced users simply to keep a little mineral silver circulating throughout the body in order to prevent silver deficiency related issues, support the immune system, and help the body resist infection.

However, it is important to understand that once you exceed an ounce of colloidal silver a day, a fair amount of the mineral silver does indeed goes through the intestinal tract and can kill off larger numbers of the friendly microbes your body depends upon for a number of functions. So experienced colloidal silver users tell us that once they exceed an ounce a day – for example, when taking larger daily dosages to help fight off a cold, flu or other infection – they also supplement with lactobacillus acidophilus, or some other product containing friendly microbes.

Many experienced colloidal silver users suggest that the simplest way to replenish the body's beneficial micro-flora is to eat some yogurt containing high beneficial bacteria counts each day during the time of increased silver consumption, and for a few days after having consumed the larger amounts of silver.