I know many people here on the boards swear by colloidal silver but I would recommend being careful and doing your homework before deciding to add a controversial product (i.e. colloidal silver) to your preparation list. Just adding my two cents, I have no real intention of discrediting and/or debating proponents of colloidal silver for internal use just forwarding what I found in my research.
Let my start by saying I realize that there are many legitimate uses of silver products, typically external uses, such as wound dressings containing silver sulfadiazine or silver nano-materials embedded in water filters or sports fabrics such as sleeping bags and hiking socks. I simply believe that when we have other effective antimicrobials and antibiotics there is no need for the ingestion of colloidal silver preparations, because of their lack of scientifically proven effectiveness and because of the risk of adverse side effects.
I say this because I have read several studies of colloidal silver solutions marketed on the Internet for internal consumption that showed no such anti-bacterial effects. For example, “Over-the-counter Ag (I) health food supplements are probably not effective and are frequently mislabeled.” (US Federal Register, 15 Oct. 1996, 16 (200), 53685–53688; FDA Health Fraud Bulletin #19, Colloidal Silver, Oct. 7, 1994; “Colloidal silver as an antimicrobial agent: fact or fiction?” Journal of Wound Care. 2004 Apr; 13(4):154-5).
Also in August 1999, the FDA banned sellers of colloidal silver from claiming any therapeutic or preventive benefits, noting that it was being marketed for numerous diseases without evidence of safety or effectiveness. However, in general, I am referring to the marketing/description of colloidal silver as an alternative medicine/folk remedy/homeopathic cure-all, which amounts to little more than selling the proverbial snake oil.
Even some pro-silver sites like
www.silverfacts.org admit that silver's efficacy is a complicated area of science, “Therefore, there are a great many conflicting claims being made that have very little scientific data to back them up—whether in favor of one silver product over another, and whether touting or denigrating silver in general.”
Once again, you don’t have to agree with these sources or conclusions I am just suggesting you do your homework before deciding to use colloidal silver preparations especially internally. As with any homemade medication be careful with preparation and dosage as well as possible side effects. Below are a couple additional online sources I have referenced in the past, the top being the one I found most useful.
Here is an in depth article that discusses many of the pros and cons of the issue. FEMS Microbiology Reviews Volume 27, Issue 2-3, pages 341–353, June 2003.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1016/S0168-6445(03)00047-0/full
Here is some information from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in their integrative medicine section titled, “About Herbs, Botanicals & Other Products.”
www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/69189.cfm
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/silver
Anyway, have fun with the debate and Happy Prepping!