Silica for Healthy Bones and Heart

Silica is the most abundant mineral in the earth's crust and is also an essential nutrient for human health. As we grow older, levels of silica decline in the body and may contribute to many factors of aging including bone loss and heart disease. Therapeutically, silica has been used to heal fractures and increase bone mineralization in osteoporosis. In a 1993 French study, eight women (average age of 64) with osteoporosis were given 50 mg of silica twice weekly for four months. Researchers found that silica "significantly increased" the mineral density of their thigh bones. Evidence also indicates that silica may benefit certain types of heart disease. In one animal study, silica was given to rats with high blood pressure for six weeks while the control group received a saline solution. After one week, the blood pressure of the silica group was lower than the control group and remained lower until one week after treatment ended. In another study, silica was found to reduce atherosclerosis (fatty deposits on the arteries) in rats eating a high-cholesterol diet.

The common "heart-friendly" foods, such as dietary fiber (oats, barley, and rice) and wine, are also high in silica. One of the heart benefits of the so-called Mediterranean Diet could be due to eating greater quantities of these silica-rich foods. Other dietary sources of silica include alfalfa, avocados, strawberries, onions, cucumbers, and dark greens. The herb horsetail (Equisetum arvensa) is another common source of silica and can typically be found as a nutritional supplement.

Source: Edward A. Lemmo, Ph.D., Silica (New Canaan, CT: Keats Publishing, 1998). Elson M. Haas, M.D., Staying Healthy With Nutrition (Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts, 1992), 184-185. C. Leigh Broadhurst, Ph.D., "Silicon is for Good Bones." Health & Nutrition Breakthroughs(January 1998),30-32.