Is silica harmful?

Silica and silicon

Perhaps you have heard of the term silica in connection with brittle hair and fingernails or weak ones connective tissue encountered. But what is this actually about and how is silica used?

• The term silica is defined somewhat vaguely. It is a kind of umbrella term for minerals or sediments that contain a particularly large amount of silicon. The real silica is obtained from fossil diatoms.
• The high silicon content has long been considered to strengthen the connective tissue. Real silica should not only be used for connective tissue, but also hairStrengthen nails, bones and cartilage. However, the benefit has not been proven and is therefore also called into question from several sides.

When the silicon compounds can become harmful

Silica can now - albeit with unproven success - at

Hair loss and brittle hair and nails. But is there too much of a good thing that the preparations can be harmful?

• First of all, there are no official intake recommendations for silicon. Incidentally, this is not only contained in silica, but also in oats, millet, barley, potatoes and other foods in significant quantities. In addition, no silicon deficiency has yet been found in a person.


Use silica correctly - this is how it works

Silica is available from many different manufacturers. Also in terms of price ...

• If silicon is inhaled over a long period of time, a lung disease called silicosis can develop. But you don't inhale silica, you eat it. If consumed in too large quantities, silica is suspected to cause kidney stones through deposited silicon crystals.
• In the Öko Test, the products also do very poorly - mainly because they would not work. In addition, an investigation found that many preparations loaded with lead be.

So if you want to resort to silica supplements, be aware that the benefits have not been confirmed and that the supplement can be harmful in higher doses.