bagotage
Member
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2020
- Messages
- 102
I'm making Dennis Crouse's Silicade and wanted to post a long, complicated question here that I hope folks might be able to shed some light on—
There's some discussion of this issue here, but briefly, at one point in the recipe, Dennis says to run the whole batch of Silicade through a Brita filter to remove aluminum and other "impurities" in the "ingredients" (see his FAQ). However, after doing some research, I noticed that some people have reported that Brita filters actually add aluminum:
View: https://reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/n6i57v/brita_filters_increasing_aluminum
Questionable sources, maybe, but not enough for me to dismiss the possibility outright. Obviously Britas are pretty crap, and being manufactured by a large corporation, I certainly wouldn't put it past them.
So, I purchased a Zerowater filter instead, and now I'm trying to figure out if it is removing all the orthosilicic acid (OSA), etc., that I'm specifically trying to add to the water. Despite what Dennis has said, I don't think it does—but I'm not sure, because I don't know enough about organic chemistry, and how water filtering technologies work. Here's where I'm at:
As far as I can understand, Zerowater uses "ion exchange" technology to remove aluminum and other mineral impurities. Many or most silica/silicon formulations are negatively charged (e.g., orthosilicate), but I believe OSA is neutral (see "formal charge" value here), and thus would not be affected by ion exchange filtering. That doesn't rule out the possibility that Zerowater might be able to filter OSA by some other means, but it seems less likely. Zerowater filters consist of five stages: activated carbon, ion exchange, and three that remove bacteria, as far as I can tell.
Zerowater also provides a "total dissolved solids" (TDS) meter with their filters—the instant-zero reading it provides is one of their markers of quality. However, there are two main methods of TDS measurement—according to Wikipedia, at least:
The Zerowater TDS meter reads instantly, suggesting it's making an electric/conductive measurement, not gravimetric. Therefore, again, a zero reading would not indicate an absence of OSA, which has a neutral charge.
So, I'm not sure what to think. I don't want to use a Brita filter. I can just keep drinking the water as I've been making it, and seeing if I notice any effects, but I'd hate to think I'm just drinking regular water, without OSA. Or perhaps I should stop doing the filtering altogether, as @Dave Clark suggests here, since my (Pür-filtered) tap water is fairly free of aluminum, and the ingredients I'm using in the Silicade are pretty high-purity:
After all, what are these "impurities" alluded to in the Silicade FAQ? More information would be helpful, if anyone has thoughts!
There's some discussion of this issue here, but briefly, at one point in the recipe, Dennis says to run the whole batch of Silicade through a Brita filter to remove aluminum and other "impurities" in the "ingredients" (see his FAQ). However, after doing some research, I noticed that some people have reported that Brita filters actually add aluminum:
View: https://reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/n6i57v/brita_filters_increasing_aluminum
Questionable sources, maybe, but not enough for me to dismiss the possibility outright. Obviously Britas are pretty crap, and being manufactured by a large corporation, I certainly wouldn't put it past them.
So, I purchased a Zerowater filter instead, and now I'm trying to figure out if it is removing all the orthosilicic acid (OSA), etc., that I'm specifically trying to add to the water. Despite what Dennis has said, I don't think it does—but I'm not sure, because I don't know enough about organic chemistry, and how water filtering technologies work. Here's where I'm at:
As far as I can understand, Zerowater uses "ion exchange" technology to remove aluminum and other mineral impurities. Many or most silica/silicon formulations are negatively charged (e.g., orthosilicate), but I believe OSA is neutral (see "formal charge" value here), and thus would not be affected by ion exchange filtering. That doesn't rule out the possibility that Zerowater might be able to filter OSA by some other means, but it seems less likely. Zerowater filters consist of five stages: activated carbon, ion exchange, and three that remove bacteria, as far as I can tell.
Zerowater also provides a "total dissolved solids" (TDS) meter with their filters—the instant-zero reading it provides is one of their markers of quality. However, there are two main methods of TDS measurement—according to Wikipedia, at least:
The two principal methods of measuring total dissolved solids are gravimetric analysis and conductivity. Gravimetric methods are the most accurate and involve evaporating the liquid solvent and measuring the mass of residues left. This method is generally the best, although it is time-consuming. If inorganic salts comprise the great majority of TDS, conductivity-based methods are appropriate.
Electrical, or specific, conductivity of water is directly related to the concentration of dissolved ionized solids in the water. Ions from the dissolved solids in water create the ability for that water to conduct an electric current, which can be measured using a conventional conductivity meter or TDS meter. When correlated with laboratory TDS measurements, conductivity provides an approximate value for the TDS concentration, usually to within ten-percent accuracy.
The Zerowater TDS meter reads instantly, suggesting it's making an electric/conductive measurement, not gravimetric. Therefore, again, a zero reading would not indicate an absence of OSA, which has a neutral charge.
So, I'm not sure what to think. I don't want to use a Brita filter. I can just keep drinking the water as I've been making it, and seeing if I notice any effects, but I'd hate to think I'm just drinking regular water, without OSA. Or perhaps I should stop doing the filtering altogether, as @Dave Clark suggests here, since my (Pür-filtered) tap water is fairly free of aluminum, and the ingredients I'm using in the Silicade are pretty high-purity:
Silica, present in most supplements/food, activates the endotoxin receptor (TLR4)
Thanks, I have diatomaceous earth but have not used it internally. My concern that even the dissolved product may not be fully dissolved. I will look into it again. Here is a link to Rays thoughts on powder spirulina powder charcoal diatomaceous earth. He focuses on contamination. View...
raypeatforum.com
After all, what are these "impurities" alluded to in the Silicade FAQ? More information would be helpful, if anyone has thoughts!
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