Silicon

paymanz

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here is an interesting article about silicon

http://www.anthromed.org/Article.aspx?artpk=311

i didnt understand all concept in it but here is a diagram shows that as silicon levels decrease in body calcium levels increase and that silicon levels are at highest in early years of life and gradually decrease as we age.
rudolf steiner also have some writing about silicon and in this article his name have been mentioned.
i read also that silica levels in fetus is about 20 time higher than adult animal.
 

artemis

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Interesting read, thanks.

Hmm...does this mean I should consider taking some horsetail extract, or maybe diatomaceous earth, to balance out all this calcium I'm getting?
 
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paymanz

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mmm i dont know, maybe
personally my experience with silicon after few years is better bones quality and a bit better skin.
organic silicon(potassium methylsiliconate) , DE , azomite
i used horsetail tea 4-5 time but stopped after read that may contain some bad natural chemicals.
silicon is cofactor for copper , increases ceuroplasmin and copper usage, also is a zinc cofactor.
animal connective tissue is also a source but im not sure how much it has.im interest to know if filters they use in gelatine industry also removes silicon or not?!
 

nikolabeacon

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Ray Peat Email Advice Depository he said first to you that its not valuable

And then

Ray Peat Email Advice Depository ???


I also found that somehow silicon and calcium are competing and when there is too much Ca silicon cant be used. And it is not yet established what are effects and mechanism of silicon in the body. I seen it in some similar texts as this below.

These results, suggest that, either calcium and silica compete for the same absorption pathway, or that calcium forms insoluble, luminal calcium silicate that reduces silica bioavailability. Magnesium could similarly reduce the bioavailability of silica by forming insoluble silicates, since magnesium orthosilicate is considered the predominant form of silica in urine and possibly in plasma (71). Charnot and Pérès (72), suggested that silica controls the metabolism of calcium and magnesium.

Charnot and Pérès (72) suggested that Si metabolism is controlled by steroid and thyroid hormones and that inadequate or reduced hormone or thyroid activity, as occurs with ageing, decreases silica absorption.

SILICON AND BONE HEALTH are some explanations why supplemental Silicon or Silicon which is not from food is not bioavailable and potentialy toxic. And dietary sources are listed .
 
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paymanz

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Yes its two emails.he is not interest in silicon, just when i sent him second email ,citing some studies reporting silicon biological functions he just clarified that the type of diet he reccommends contains some silicon anyway, and he just warns about some type of silicon they add to supplements and foods.
 

nikolabeacon

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Yes its two emails.he is not interest in silicon, just when i sent him second email ,citing some studies reporting silicon biological functions he just clarified that the type of diet he reccommends contains some silicon anyway, and he just warns about some type of silicon they add to supplements and foods.
Whats your opinion or experience on this?
 
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paymanz

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Whats your opinion or experience on this?
Its not part of any enzymatic reaction in body,apparently! But it incorporates into extracellular matrix components and makes them less soluble, more resistants to degrading enzymes like hyaluronidase,it is my understanding.

A Bound Form Of Silicon In Glycosaminoglycans And Polyuronides

Im not sure it making them more resistant is good or bad , but for now I look at it as a good thing and still experiment.

Few years ago I started supplementing it to improve my connective tissues, but it didn't effect me that much,maybe it made my calves a bit stronger.

However my diet was not good at that time ,at all;before i know about peat, my metabolism was really bad!

I think it was manganese that I needed more,silicon is not part of creating these tissues,it is manganese.
 
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paymanz

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Extreme high temps like 900 degree Celsius may turn amorphous silicon into quartz,maybe that is what makes food additives dangerous.
 

nikolabeacon

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Its not part of any enzymatic reaction in body,apparently! But it incorporates into extracellular matrix components and makes them less soluble, more resistants to degrading enzymes like hyaluronidase,it is my understanding.

A Bound Form Of Silicon In Glycosaminoglycans And Polyuronides

Im not sure it making them more resistant is good or bad , but for now I look at it as a good thing and still experiment.

Few years ago I started supplementing it to improve my connective tissues, but it didn't effect me that much,maybe it made my calves a bit stronger.

However my diet was not good at that time ,at all;before i know about peat, my metabolism was really bad!

I think it was manganese that I needed more,silicon is not part of creating these tissues,it is manganese.
Ok . Link i posted was bad now is corrected. From there...There has also been interest in other bone minerals (magnesium, potassium and fluoride) and nutritional trace elements (zinc, copper, boron and manganese) in the diet; their intake is positively associated with bone mass, while deficiency has been correlated either with reduced bone mass or slow healing of fractures (6, 7, 12-14). Zinc, copper and manganese are essential cofactors for enzymes involved in the synthesis of the constituents of bone matrix (6,7). ...

Thanks.
 

Amazoniac

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- Calculating the Silicon in Horsetail (Equisetum arvense L.) during the Vegetation Season

"Researchers [7,8] believe that the medicinal property of horsetail is due to its high silica content[,] as it can amount to 25% of the dry weight of the plant [4]."

"Silicon from horsetail promotes the growth and stability of the skeletal structure. An invention describing a pharmaceutical composition based on Equisetum arvense for the treatment of bone diseases, particularly osteoporosis [5]. A few European clinical studies have determined that fractured bones heal much more quickly when horsetail is taken. The incidence of osteoporosis is, likewise, more greatly reduced when some horsetail is added to the diet. Horsetail extract is also added in a composition used against psoriasis [6]."

"Horsetail has been used as a folklore medicine for treatment of various conditions such as tuberculosis, as a catarrh in the kidney and bladder regions, as a hematostatic for profuse menstruation, nasal, pulmonary and gastric hemorrhages, for brittle fingernails and loss of hair, for rheumatic diseases, gout, poorly healing wounds and ulcers, swelling and fractures and for frostbite [9]."

"Samples of horsetail were collect'd by the destructive methods in the years 2009, 2010 and 2011, each year from May to September (June—first collection, July—second collection, August—third collection, September—fourth collection). The plant material reduced to its biomass after drying to a constant weight (minimum 24 hours) in 85°C - 105°C in a dryer with ventilation."

"When we chosed the locality for collecting the plant samples we encountered regular dispersion of horsetail in Laborecka vrchovina (Slovakia). The three localities are at different altitudes, different distances from rivers and are orientated depending on sun radiation and slope of the terrain. Locality 1 (L1) is on level ground and 30 m from the river, 196.4 m altitude, 49°03'44.47"N, 21°57'45.22"E. Locality 2 (L2) has high groundwater and is oriented to the south, 225.5 m altitude, 49°03'57.71"N, 21°58'00.89"E. Locality 3 (L3) is shaded and oriented to the north, 205.5 m altitude, 49°03'43.20"N, 21°58'40.42"E."

upload_2019-5-8_18-16-23.png


"Silicon is taken up by the roots in the form of silicic acid [Si(OH)4], an uncharged monomeric molecule, when the solution pH is below 9 [2]. Silicic acid is a soluble form of silicon and one of the basic form, which is absorbed and used by plants. Polymerized silicates belong to the group of the hardest materials in plant tissues. Silicon helps to raise the plant health by the creating of strongest and more resistant structures. Plants which are attacked by the herbivores tend to accumulate more oxides [3]."

"Horsetail is characterized by the high amount of silicic acid. Bey [15] made some experiments for the silicon content at horsetails teas. The silicon was extracted by the using some solutions as hexane, dichloromethane, ethanol, methanol, water and hydroxide. The average amount of silicon was about 5 which is 50 g·kg−1 of dry matter.

Our results for the silicon concentration in horsetail reached from 2.64% to 4.80% of the dry matter. The lowest amount of silicon was in the range between 1.52% and 2.51%. The plant growth was not influenced by the highest levels of silicon. These results suggested that high silicon concentration in the soil did not cause higher concentrations in the plants tissues."

"The differences in plants’ growth stages are the differentiating factor for the rate of silicon uptake into the plant populations. Older plants have higher concentrations of silicon in their tissues. If the silicon is localized in the plant organ it is not distributed throughout the different parts of the plants [16]."

"We found that the highest amount of silicon was accumulated in the fourth collection. September is the optimal time for collecting horsetail biomass. The collection in this month is the best time for using this plant as a food supplement."

[15] Horsetail (Equisetum spp,) as a Source of Silicon Supplement in Human Nutrition—A Myth?

"Horsetail is usually consumed as tea, especially in Nordic countries. If the horsetail-tea is consumed to provide extra silicon to the body, the amount of silicon relative to the total silicon in the plant extracted from the plant into the tea and supplied to the body is questionable. Furthermore, a question arises as to the significance of silicon supplied in horsetail tea relative to the amount of silicon consumed in ordinary food. Current studies on silicon in horsetail have usually focused on the structure of the silicon compounds in the plant tissue (4,8)."

"The analysis of silicon levels in the Equisetum tissue samples used in this study indicated that only a small fraction of the silicon present in the plant samples was extractable with water (Table 1)."

upload_2019-5-8_18-16-58.png


"The maximum concentration silicon in the current study was approximately 5%, and this silicon level was from E. sylvaticum collected late in September. The younger plants all contained between 1.2% and 2.3% silicon on a dry-weight basis."

"The silicon content in bread was determined to be 0.09% ± 0.02%, indicating that one slice of bread, which weighs about 33 g, would supply about 0.03 g of silicon. Preparing a cup of tea from the Equisetum spp. using 1 g plant material per cup, the content of extractable silicon is approximately 0.002 g (7% of the silicon measured in a slice of bread). Such differences in levels of silicon in the Equisetum and bread bring into question the concept of supplementing dietary silicon intake in Norway and other areas with Equisetum tea."

"The United States Food and Drug Administration has calculated that an average person is getting 20 to 50 mg silicon per day through the normal diet, and a Belgian investigation indicates that the intake of silicon by an adult varied between 9.2 and 42.8 mg per day, with an average of 18.6 ± 8.5 mg per day (9). Based on the results obtained in the current study, the additional amount of silicon consumed by drinking horsetail tea is negligible."

"[..]the silicon in the plant consists of insoluble compounds." "Our experimental data clearly support the concept that the amount of extractable silicon in horsetail is so low, as compared with silicon from other sources in our diet, that consumption of horsetail tea has essentially no effect as a dietary source for silicon needed to meet body needs."

"The silicon content in Equisetum spp. cannot be responsible for the bioactivity claimed for the use of these plants. Other compounds could have an interesting bioactivity but, to our knowledge, no studies have yet been done that link chemical constituents in Equisetum spp. to any bioactivity."​

Pulverizing first and consuming it cook'd?

@Dan Wich @Jennifer
 

Jennifer

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@Amazoniac — Sure...or making a tincture out of it using a solvent. I take it via a concentrated infusion and glycerites — mainly Dr. Morse's formulas. For the infusion (1 days worth), I add roughly 89 grams of dried horsetail and 89 grams of stinging nettles to a jar and add just enough simmered water (distilled) to cover the herbs completely and let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours. I then use a 2 ton hydraulic press to extract as much juice as possible. I end up with about 6 fl oz total.
 

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