MarcR wrote:
Given the focus in your postings on the bioavailability of silica from OSA, I am surprised to hear that MMST, which is an even more bioavailable source of silica, will not work. Generally, do you or Dennis have a chemistry-oriented explanation for why we might expect that the silica absorbed from MMST would interact differently with aluminum than the silica absorbed from OSA?
Marc,
Thank you for you question. Here is my husband's (Dennis N Crouse) response.
Organic Stabilized Orthosilicic Acid (OSA)
There are 3 organic complexes of stabilized OSA that I am aware of at the present time:
· Choline Stabilized OSA – Biosil - 10mg Silicon/10 drops/day max. – 3% (0.3mg Silicon) released as free OSA (1mg) at pH 2.91.
· Maltodextrin Stabilized OSA:
o ORGONO Organic Living Silica Powder –– 15.5mg Silicon/gram/day2 – Free OSA?
o SiliciuMax Capsules – 5mg of silicon/12hours3 – Free OSA?
· Arginine and Inositol Stabilized OSA -Doctor’s Best with Nitrosigine –– 141mg Silicon/tablet/day - 53% (75mg of Silicon) released as free OSA (270mg) at pH 5.51.
Stabilized OSA is unreactive toward the aluminum hydroxide dimer and therefore will not facilitate the elimination of aluminum from the body. Only non-stabilized free OSA has sufficient energy to react with aluminum hydroxide dimer to form the lower energy non-toxic hydoxyaluminosilicate that is eliminated from the body. To eliminate a significant amount of aluminum from the body, drinking every day 30-35mg of silicon as free OSA (equivalent to 108-126mg of free OSA) is recommended5. Both choline and maltodextrin stabilized OSA do not provide sufficient free OSA to eliminate aluminum. Proof of this was a study that after 5 months of taking maltodextrin stabilized OSA capsules twice a day only a 7% decline in aluminum in human hair was detected with a 3.5% variation in the controls over 5 months considered not statistically significant3.
Only half a tablet of arginine and inositol stabilized OSA provides this level of OSA. However, daily arginine dietary augmentation can’t be recommended as it boosts nitric oxide (a.k.a. NO) levels in the body. Nitric oxide is a mutagen that damages DNA and RNA causing mutations in viruses and human cells6.
There is also on the market a synthetic chemical not found in the body and not proven to be a source of OSA:
Organic silicon – monomethylsilanetriol (MMST) in water – 115mg of silicon/liter4
Quotes from a scientific opinion by the EFSA panel on food additives and nutrient sources added to food dated April 5th 20164: “With respect to the bioavailability of silicon following oral administration of MMST … MMST should undergo conversion to OSA.” But this was not proven as “The conversion of MMST to orthosilicic acid (OSA), the form under which silicon is typically present in food, could not be directly measured …”. The conversion of MMST to OSA would require breaking a methyl to silicon bond. It is well known that tetramethylsilicon (TMS) is stable in water at any pH. Therefore, it is extremely unlikely that MMST can be converted to OSA in the body. In addition, there is no evidence that MMST facilitates the elimination of aluminum from the body. In fact, taking MMST for 5 months only a 3.9% decline in aluminum in human hair was detected with 3.5% variation in controls over 5 months considered not statistically significant3.
References
1. Crouse, D.N.; Unpublished results (2020) Both choline stabilized and arginine and inositol stabilized OSA was tested with Coradin’s Blue procedure and compared with 80ppm OSA (dissolved silica) standard from Hach Chemical.
2. ORGONO Organic Silica label on the 120gram bottle – Amazon
3. Ferreira, A.O., et al.; Anti-aging effects of monomethylsilanetriol and maltodextrin-stabilized orthosilicic acid on nails, skin, and hair; Cosmetics; 5(41):1-15 (2018)
4. EFSA Scientific Opinion; Safety of organic silicon (monomethylsilane triol, MMST) as a novel food ingredient for use as a source of silicon in food supplements and bioavailability of orthosilicic acid from the source; Apr. (2016)
5. Crouse, D.N.; Silica water the secret of healthy blue zone longevity in the aluminum age; Etiological Publishing (2018)
6. Nitric oxide as an endogenous mutagen for Sendai Virus without antiviral activity; J. Virology; Aug.; 78:8709-19 (2004)