COLLOIDAL MINERALS
SILICON
Silicon (Si) is present in biologic material as a silanate, an ether (or
ester-like) derivative of silicic acid which may play a role in the structure
of glycosaminoglycans and their protein complexes. Connective tissues including
aorta, trachea, tendon, bone, and skin and its appendages contain much of the
silicon that is retained in the body.
Deficiencies: Most of the signs of silicon deficiency in chickens
and rats indicate aberrant metabolism of connective tissue and bone. Chicks
fed a semisynthetic, silicon-deficient diet exhibited skull structure abnormalities
associated with depressed collagen content in bone and long bone abnormalities
characterized by small, poorly formed joints and defective endochondral bone
growth.
Diet recommendations: As no appropriate human data are available,
extrapolation from limited animal data suggest that the human requirement for
silicon is quite small, in the range of 2 to 5 mg/day. However, silicon found
in most diets as aluminosilicate and silica is not absorbable or as available
as sodium metasilicate. Additionally, factors such as aging and low estrogen
status apparently decrease the ability to absorb silicon. Thus, the recommended
intake of silicon may be found to be between 5 and 10 mg/day.
Food sources: Dietary silicon intake of humans varies greatly with
the amount and proportions of foods of animal (silicon-low) and plant (silicon-high)
origin consumed and the amounts of refined and processed foods in the diet.
Normally, refining reduces the silicon content of foods. However, silicate additives
have been increasingly used in prepared foods and confections as anticaking
or antifoaming agents. Although this increases total dietary silicon, most of
it is not bioavailable. The silicon content of drinking water, and beverages
made thereof, shows geographical variation; silicon is high in hard water and
low in soft water areas. The richest sources of silicon are unrefined grains
of high fiber content and cereal products. The daily average intakes of silicon
apparently ranges from about 20 to 50 mg/day.
Toxicity: Most silicon compounds are essentially nontoxic when taken
orally. Magnesium trisilicate, an over-the-counter antacid, has been used by
humans for more than 40 years without obvious deleterious effects. Ruminants
consuming plants with a high silicon content may develop siliceous renal calculi;
renal calculi in humans may also contain silicates.
Recent research: In rats, bone hydroxyproline is decreased, plasma
amino acid and bone mineral composition is altered, and femur alkaline and acid
phosphatase are decreased by silicon deprivation. However, growth of rats is
not markedly affected by silicon deprivation.
For further information:
Seaborn, C.D. & Nielsen, F.H. (1993) Silicon: A nutritional beneficence for
bones, brains and blood vessels? Nutr. Today 28: 13-18
Nielsen, F.H. (1988) The ultratrace elements. In: Trace Minerals in Foods
(K.T. Smith, ed.), pp. 357-428. Marcel Dekker, New York, NY.
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