Silica as a Nutritional Trace Element

In the 1970s the element silicon was established as a necessary dietary mineral in the human body and the body of animals (Hopps 1975, Neilson 1988). Experiments in animals showed that the highest concentrations of silica were found in the skin, cartilage tissue, bone and connective tissue. Chickens raised without silica in their diets had severe deformities in skull, bone, joint, and cartilage formation (Neilson 1988, Carlisle 1980, 1976). Carlisle also observed that chickens fed a silicon" supplemented diet had significantly greater amounts of cartilage and water as compared with the silicon deficient group. The greater water content in bones of the chicks supplemented with silicon coincided with a larger cartilage content of glycosaminoglycans, long polysaccharides that form fluid substances of joints, cartilage, tendon and eye (Carlisle, 1976). As a necessary trace mineral, nutritionists have speculated that a silica mineral deficiency is involved in the causation of several human disorders including atherosclerosis, osteoarthritis, and hypertension, as well as the aging process (Neilson, 1988).

Silica compounds have been used medically as over-the-counter antacids for over 40 years and pharmaceutically for certain types of heart condition (Neilson, 1988). Silica solutions have been used to help preserve and keep organs viable for transplant in animals (Toledo-Pereyra, et al 1977, 1974). Silica solutions tend to have a strong buffering capacity (stabilize pH) in many biological systems.