Silica

[emsahib]

How much Silica is it safe to take? I have some in my Holland and Barret Hair Skin and Nails Tablets it has 7% and I take one a day. I was wondering if taking more would be a good idea or a bad one.

[CurlAhead]

I don't think you should take more than recommended...

[emsahib]

I'm not sure what's recommended though

[emsahib]

Oh and I don't mean taking more than one of the hair tablets I mean taking extra Silica. Sorry that was a bit unclear

[emsahib]

I mean the hair tablets have lots of things in them. Here are the ingredients and the recommended daily allowance

Calcium 200mg 25%
Magnesium 150mg 50%
Zinc 15mg 100%
Betain Hydrochloride 50mg No RDA established
Boron 1.6mg No RDA established
Horsetail 500mg 7% Silica No RDA established

[dropinthebucket]

You could also check the DE thread here at LHC - diatomaceous earth (DE) is essentially pure silica, from fossilized shellfish.

[christine1989]

I hear that too much silica can damage your liver so I wouldn't exceed the reccomended dose. Most multi vitamins give you all you need or you could just eat more cucumber- they have a very high (but safe) silica content.

[McFearless]

I wouldn't bother buying silica supplements if I were you. The amount in your hair&nails vitamin seems like enough. I don't think it does much for hair anyway

[Igor]

I used to swear by my silica supplement. I bought a local (and very cheap) one that worked wonders for my skin, hair and especially nails. Seriously, before I started taking it my nails would break, bend and peel so badly I never saw any white in my nails!
It contained 300 mg horsetail (Equisetum) and some brewers’ yeast and seaweed flour.
In about a year my nails went from the most miserable thing ever, to healthy, strong and shiny
Unfortunately they changed the recipe and it stopped working wonders :sad:
My observation on the pills is that they were a lot less refined than any other I have ever found on the market

Anyways. My point is that there is a huge difference between brands and pills. Don’t just go for the maximum allowed dose or the most expensive brand. It might not work for you

Your 500 mg dose of horsetail is higher than anything I’ve ever taken and I tried just about any (hair) supplement I could get my hands on

I would try with a daily cup of horsetail tea instead of piling more pills on :flower: (Tastes like hay. Not unpleasant but not exactly an exiting flavour)

[emsahib]

thanks for all your advice :) Maybe I'll stick with the amount I'm taking for now. The pills are working really well anyway. Took a few months for me to notice anything but my nails are definatly getting harder than they've ever been and I think my hairs stronger too. I'm probably getting enough Silica but you always think maybe I could do a little bit more for my hair.