Introduction to my second book Silica Water the Secret of Healthy Longevity in the Aluminum Age

           

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This book is about silica water containing an overlooked miracle molecule that protects our life and maintains our health. It is in our bodies even before birth but during our life it ebbs and flows and needs supplementation to be steadily maintained.  This superstar of a molecule is called orthosilicic acid (OSA). For most organisms, including humans, it is essential for life. In fact, it is said that OSA is the most important molecule for life on earth. OSA is a miracle molecule because it protects plants, animals, and even humans from toxic forms of aluminum.

We are fortunate on earth to have oxygen and silicon as the two most abundant elements in the earth’s crust. Over millions of years silicon has become oxidized by oxygen to a variety of silicon oxides that have in turn formed into a variety of silicon containing minerals as described in Chapter 1. One of these silicon oxides is OSA a water soluble oxide of silicon. As life evolved on earth so did unique ways to use OSA for protection from aluminum, the third most common element in the earth’s crust. The mechanisms by which plants and animals, including humans, use OSA as protection from aluminum toxicity are described in Chapter 2.

Aluminum has become more bioavailable since the dawn of the Aluminum Age in the 1880’s when a process to purify aluminum from bauxite was developed. This has opened a Pandora’s Box of aluminum compounds and products that have exponentially increased over the last 120 years and are now in our drinking water, food, kitchen-ware, drugs, vaccines, and even the air we inhale. These products, listed in Appendix II, increase both our aluminum ingestion and aluminum accumulation in our bodies. It is chronic aluminum accumulation that is involved in the etiology of a variety of diseases that shorten our lives including: Alzheimer’s disease, atherosclerosis (i.e. heart disease), autism, cancer, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, seizures, and osteoporosis as will be discussed in Chapter 5 of this book.

Writing this book has been a journey, as along the way I have met people who have change the course of my thinking and writing. For instance at my local library’s author’s day I met the author, Martha R.A. Fields, who is originally from Okinawa, Japan. Martha told me that on Okinawa Island there is a high density of centenarians. In addition, demographers have studied Okinawans and found lower than normal rates of Alzheimer’s, atherosclerosis, and cancer. They have also found that Okinawans have a higher probability than normal of living to 90 and beyond. These facts changed my thinking as Okinawans provide a longitudinal study of what factors are important for avoiding terminal diseases and living a long life.

Drug companies are currently spending billions of dollars on multi-year studies looking for preventatives and cures for Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and cancer.  What if there are already published studies on populations of 90 to 100 year olds whose longevity is due to abnormally low rates of Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and cancer? If these studies exist they would be equivalent to having century long longitudinal studies just waiting for people to find what they have in common that prevented and possibly cured these diseases. 

Amazingly, in addition to Okinawa there are four other small geographic zones on the earth that have been identified as having populations with higher survival rates of reaching 90+ years of age than surrounding areas².  These zones are called “Blue Zones”.  The environment and lifestyle of these zones can potentially teach valuable lessons that may allow us to achieve healthy longevity by preventing and possibly curing terminal diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, cancer, seizures, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease.

Could it be that all five blue zones have in common substrata rich in silicate minerals? If so underground fresh water in contact with this substrata could bubble to the surface as OSA rich drinking water.  Chapter 3 of this book discloses the secret of health Blue Zone longevity - how and why drinking silica rich water results in healthy longevity. 

By just having silica water (e.g. Fiji water) delivered to their door and eliminating common sources of aluminum from their diet, my parents made their home in Iowa a micro-Blue Zone. Due to their resiliency adapting to changing lifestyles, my mother has regained her short term memory and stopped the progression of her Alzheimer’s disease.  At 95 and 92 years of age my father and mother exemplify what others could do to improve their individual longevity. 

Aluminum as a causal factor of Alzheimer's

Aerobic Exercise

Safety of Ingesting Zeolites

 To learn more about the neurotoxic effects of Aluminum on your body and how drinking Silica Rich Mineral Water is effective at removing aluminum from your body you can read my books.

https://www.amazon.com/Dennis-N.-Crouse-Ph.D./e/B01LFW4782

To learn more about targeted detox ( using things that are either essential to or made by the body to remove metals and toxins) my 3rd book, Increasing IQ, Cognition and Covid-19 Cure Rate with Essential Nutrients: Targeted Detox......    Some of the information from this book can be found at this blog ( removal of mercury, lead, arsenic) https://www.amazon.com/Increasing-Cognition-COVID-19-Essential-Nutrients/dp/B08TZ7HLNX/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2Y6RWA2BC7JLG&keywords=increasing+IQ%2C+Cognition&qid=1692973686&s=books&sprefix=increasing+iq%2C+cognition%2Cstripbooks%2C91&sr=1-1

Dennis N Crouse has a PhD in chemistry from Harvard University.   

Safety of Clinoptilolite Zeolite Nanoparticles 

Drinking OSA rich silica water has been shown in scientific studies to facilitate the elimination of aluminum from the body and brain^1-3.  Oral administration of nanoparticles of clinoptilolite zeolite has not been shown to facilitate elimination of aluminum in fact it has been shown that there is a net release of dissolved aluminum in simulated human gastric fluid⁴.

Simulated ingestion of larger particles of clinoptilolite zeolite has been shown to result in a net release of dissolved aluminum⁴ in spite of the proven ability of clinoptilolite zeolite to absorb aluminum⁵.  Dissolved aluminum causes the accumulation of aluminum in the brain⁶. This results in damage to neurons, since aluminum is neurotoxic and has been found to be a causal factor in autism, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease ⁷.  A higher than normal level of aluminum has been found in the brains of people with all of these conditions and diseases^8-13.

It is known that zeolites in acid, such as hydrochloric that is found in the stomach, slowly dissolve releasing aluminum ions into solution¹⁴.  It is also known that in the presence of dicarboxylic acids (i.e. oxalic) or tricarboxylic acids (i.e. citric) that can be found in the stomach and upper GI tract, aluminum dissolution from zeolites is enhanced¹⁴.  In addition, the smaller the size of the zeolite particle (i.e. nanoparticles) the faster aluminum is dissolved from the zeolite¹⁴.  This is due to the very high surface area to weight ratio of nanoparticles and the short diffusion path within nanoparticles. Finally any free aluminum dissolved from zeolite can be absorbed in the upper GI tract and go into the blood and accumulate in the body and brain.

Large particles (45-75 micometer) of clinoptilolite zeolite were subjected to simulated gastric fluid made from 0.1M hydrochloric acid and 3.2 mg per milliliter of pepsin with pH adjustment with 0.1N sodium hydroxide to pH 2.0.  The concentration of zeolite was 3 grams per 100 milliliters. Controls were untreated clinoptilolite zeolite.  After 1 hour at 37^oC the zeolite in each “gastric digested sample” and control was collected by centrifugation and freeze-dried.  Elemental analysis of the control and gastric digested zeolites revealed on average a 3.8% decrease in aluminum and a 1.3% decrease in silicon per gram of zeolite.  The researchers pointed out that this loss of material during gastric digestion “might be related to the possible dissolution process of aluminosilicates at the surface layer …”⁴. This is disturbing because a 1 nanometer sized particle has over 10,000 times more surface area than the large particles used in this study. Therefore it can be predicted that even more aluminum will be dissolved in the stomach after ingestion of nanoparticles.  In addition, even though clinoptilolite zeolites do remove some aluminum ions from solution⁵ there was a net release of dissolved aluminum during gastric digestion⁴.

Studies like this have recently convinced the FDA that clinoptilolite zeolites should not be generally regarded as safe (GRAS) when ingested in animal feed.  In a May 4^th 2018 letter from Dr. David Edwards, the Director of the Division of Animal Feeds for the FDA, to a producer of animal feed containing clinoptilolite zeolites, Dr. Edwards said their animal feeds are not GRAS because the use of clinoptilolite zeolites in animal feed “… could cause potential excess levels of aluminum … in some species”¹⁵.  

Before anyone can say that zeolites are safe for human ingestion they must test the zeolite for release of dissolved aluminum at the pH of the stomach and upper GI tract for a time period that reflects the zeolite’s residence time in these regions of the body.  This work should include added acidification with di and tri carboxylic acids occasionally found in the stomach and upper GI tract. Until this work is peer reviewed and published in a scientific journal, use of zeolites, such as clinoptilolite zeolite nanoparticles, should not be recommended.  

Accumulation of zeolites in the body during long term use is a health risk as dissolution of slowly accumulating zeolites will increase aluminum exposure to organs of the body, such as the brain. This has been observed in three groups of people: one taking no zeolites, one taking 6-10micron clinoptilolite zeolite particles orally for 1 to 3 years and one taking these same zeolites for 6 to 13 years. Aluminum in their urine was measured and compared. The conclusion is that zeolites accumulate in the body and result in a constant dissolution of aluminum from the zeolite into the urine with the amount of aluminum in urine being proportional to the number of years ingesting zeolites¹⁶:

 

References

1.      Belles, M., et al.; Silicon reduces aluminum accumulation in rats: Relevance to the aluminum hypothesis of Alzheimer’s disease; Alzheimer Disease Associated Disorders; 12(2):83-87 (1998)

2.      Davenward, S., et al.; Silicon-rich mineral water as a non-invasive test of the ‘aluminum hypothesis’ in Alzheimer’s disease; J. Alzheimer’s Dis.; 33(2):423-30 (2013)

3.      Minshal, C., et al.; Aluminum in human sweat; J. Trace elem. Med. Biol.; 28:87-88 (2014)

4.      Kavak, D.D., et al.; Investigation of structural properties of clinoptilolite rich zeolites in simulated digestive conditions and their cytotoxicity against Caco-2 cells in vitro; J. Porous Materials; April, 1-8 (2012)

5.      Sirotiak, M., et al.; Sorption kinetics of selected heavy metals adsorption to natural and Fe(III) modified zeolite tuff containing clinoptilolite mineral; Research Paper – Slovak University of Technology; Bratislava; 23(36):41-7 (2015)

6.      Domingo, L., et al.; Age related effects of aluminum ingestion on brain aluminum accumulation and behavior in rats; Life Sci.; 58(17):1387-95 (1996)

7.      Crouse, D.N.; Silica water the secret of healthy blue zone longevity in the aluminum age; Etiological Pub.; (2018)

8.      Mold, M., et al.; Aluminum in brain tissue in autism; J. Trace Elements in Med. Biol.; March; 46:76-82 (2018)

9.      Mirza, A., et al.; Aluminum in brain tissue in familial Alzheimer’s disease; J. Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology; Mar.; 40:30-36 (2017)

10.  Andrasi, E., et al.; Brain Al, Mg, and P contents of control and Alzheimer-diseased patients; J. Alzheimer’s Dis.; 7:273-84 (2005)

11.  Mold, M., et al.; Aluminium in brain tissue in multiple sclerosis; Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health; 15(8):1777 (2018) Including supplementary material p1-6 (2018)

12.  Hirsch, E.C., et al.; Iron and aluminum increase in the substantia nigra of patients with Parkinson’s disease: an X-ray microanalysis; J. Neurochem.; Feb.; 56(2):446-51 (1991)

13.  Good, P.F., et al.; Neuromelanin-containing neurons of the substantia nigra accumulate iron and aluminum in Parkinson’s disease: a LAMMA study; Oct.; 593(2):343-6 (1992)

14.  Van Donk, S., et al.; Generation, characterization, and impact of mesopores in zeolite catalysts; Catalysis Rev.; Mesopores in Zeolite Catalysts; Marcel Dekker; New York, NY; Jan.; 297-319 (2003)

15.   Edwards, D.; FDA U.S. Food & Drug Admin.; Re: GRAS Notice No. AGRN 25; Letter to Thomas Bergen, V.P.; G-Sciences; May 4 (2018) 

16. FROXIMUN F&E; Safety and efficiency evidence of the MANC; Test report on the examination of the long-term application of natural zeolite; Preliminary Version; Table 2 and Table 3; Feb.; (2016)