NutriStart - Products

BAMBOO SILICA

WHAT IS SILICA
Silicon is the second most abundant element in the earth’s crust, with oxygen being the first. There, as in the stalks of grains and grasses, it is found in the form known as “Silica.”

Silica stimulates cell formation and metabolism, helping to inhibit the aging process. It is used in the body to maintain and repair bones, eyes, hair, nails, skin, teeth and cell walls. Weak, spitting or peeling nails are often one of the first signs of silica deficiency.

WHAT DOES SILICA DO?
The pancreas, thymus gland, thyroid and coronary arteries all utilize silica, as well. When the silica content of the aortic tissues declines so does the elasticity of the aortic vessel walls. Atherosclerotic arteries usually contain dramatically less silica than healthy arteries, thus silica helps to prevent hardening of the arteries.

Silica is vital to bone growth and density and works, with calcium and magnesium, to give bones both hardness and flexibility. It increases bone calcium absorption, even in those with osteoporosis due to aging. Calcium alone can make bones harder, but it offers no flexibility to them, which is important to prevent breakage when the bones are exposed to a shock (as in a fall).

SILICA AND ARTHRITIS
Mucopolysaccharides are natural substances produced by the body that work with collagen as a tissue connector. All connective and elastic tissues, including collagen, elastin and mucopolysaccharides are rich in silica, when in their healthy state. But levels of silica decline with age and these tissues degenerate correspondingly. Dr. A. Charnot has researched the relationship between silica and degenerative tissue and joint diseases. He discovered that such conditions are often accompanied by a deficiency of silica in the body.

Silica’s ability to enhance connective tissues has made it effective in the treatment of muscle-skeletal disorders including arthritis and rheumatism. Further to this, silica also stimulates chondroblasts to deposit chondroitin sulfate and hyaluronic acid into the cartilage matrix, and will improve the effectiveness of glucosamine sulfate.

HEALTHY SKIN AND HAIR
Silica supplements are often touted as “the secret of the stars” due to its ability to prevent wrinkling of the skin, in part by supporting collagen production. When we add strong, healthy hair, nails and teeth (silica helps to build tooth enamel) to the anti-wrinkle properties of silica, it definitely looks like a beauty aid, for both genders.

Herbalists often recommend silica-containing herbs to treat B.P.H. (benign prostatic hyperplasia), an inflammation of the prostate that causes one to get up at night to urinate. Because silica offers elasticity to tissues it is helpful also for issues of incontinence. Therefore, Bamboo Silica would be a useful product to stack onto either our ProstChoice product or our Incontincence product.

Considering that there is a link between B.P.H. and hair loss in men (hormonally related: see newsletter on Prostate Health for more information), there is a good reason for those fighting hair loss to consider using silica as a supplement. And women, as well as men, can gain benefit from silica’s ability to strengthen the hair shaft making it thicker as well as stronger and less likely to break.

DAILY REQUIREMENT AND DIET
The average daily requirement for silica is between 10mg and 20mg, but the therapeutic dose would be two to three times that amount. A capsule of NutriStart Bamboo Silica contains 70mg of silica.

Most of the foods that we eat are deficient in silica, due to a combination of things. Many of our foods are over-processed, which removes minerals, and have also been grown in soil that is de-mineralized, due to erosion of topsoil and use of incomplete chemical fertilizers.

The foods highest in silica include rice and oats and the herb, nettle. Followed, in no particular order, by lettuce, asparagus, onion, cucumber, strawberry, leek, cabbage, sunflower seeds, swiss chard, celery, cauliflower and rhubarb. These foods will only be rich in silica if they are organic, since it must first be in the soil before the plant can obtain and store it.