What is Colloid?

The term colloid was coined in 1861, by the father of colloidal chemistry, Thomas Graham, a Scottish chemist. Graham discovered that substances like gelatin, glue and starch pass through a membrane slower than others such as, inorganic salts, like sodium chloride, (commom salt). Graham further distinguished the two groups naming the slow substances colloids and the others crystalloids. Graham's discovery has lead to colloidal science involving mixing small particles of one substance suspended in another.

According to Colloidforlife.com, "colloid is a fancy scientific word for "tiny" or "minuscule." American-longevity.com, defines a colloid as, "a particle substance that retains its identity and remains in liquid suspension." There are a variety of colloids some occur naturally and some are man-made. Examples are: insecticide spray, whipped cream and butter that are man made, some naturally occurring ones are fog, clouds and milk.

Colloid Science health benefits were brought to awareness in 1919 when Alfred Searle, wrote the medical volume, "The Use of Colloids in Health and Disease. Today colloidal silver (a mineral colloid supplement) is taken to help build soft tissue and other elements in the body. According to Healingways.com, "silver based water filtration systems are used in NASA spaceflights to help prevent bacterial contamination of the astronaut's drinking water during their long journeys into space."

It's been thousand of years that silver was known for its bacterial qualities. The Romans legion placed silver coins in the water containers to prevent bacterial contamination of the drinking water during war. Silver coins were also put in the containers of milk to maintain its freshness. According to Clspress.com, in the early 1900's silver foil dressings were used extensively after World War ll and were listed in the Physician's Desk Reference until 1955.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have not approved the use of colloidal silver. However colloidal silver is used as an alternative treatment to help to regulate the heart beat, the transport of oxygen through the blood and the blood clotting mechanism. According to Raysahelian.com, "the use of silver, in the form of silver nitrate solution, is still required by law in most states to be used in newborns as a topical eye drop to prevent eye infections."

Argyria (blue-gray hyper-pigmentation of the skin) can develop as a side effect as a result of taking colloidal silver.