I have that book on my list again, after my husband gave our copy away :(
I heard about another one today too that I'd like to get,
"Cracking the Metabolic Code". The show I was watching is an Alternative Dr, and he was talking about toxins/metals. I like to watch his show every morning..until he gets on his supplementing Vitamin D stuff, then I shut it off.
"The Magnesium Miracle" would be a good one to have too.
This is what I found in a quick search for aluminum and silica:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE52361D20090304
>>The results of some studies suggest that silica reduces the oral absorption of aluminum or increases the excretion of this metal>>
http://www.houseofnutrition.com/silica.html
Research:
>>Additionally scientists and researchers have long hypothesized that Alzheimer’s disease is linked to a build up of aluminum in the brain, and links between aluminum in drinking water supplies and Alzheimer’s have now been ascertained. A factor that is overlooked is that silica reduces the accumulation of aluminum. When researchers added silica to aluminum-laced water supplies, it inhibited the aluminum from being absorbed. It also caused a proliferation in the excretion of aluminum in urine and lowered aluminum concentrations in the brain, liver, bone, spleen and kidneys>>
and:
Silica is made up of silicon a mineral needed in your body for the building of collagen for your bones and connective tissue. It is also required for good healthy skin, fingernails, and hair.
Silica is needed for calcium absorption in the beginning phase of bone formation. Silica also benefits your cardiovascular system and is required to keep your arteries flexible.
The mineral silica also reduces the effects of aluminum on your body, thus helps in prevention of Alzheimer's disease and osteoporosis.
Silicon also serves to stimulate and boost your immune system. It also inhibits the aging process in body tissues. Silicon levels decrease as people get older. Thus elderly people benefit from taking supplements with the mineral silicon.
Silicon is used by your body better when you are also getting the minerals boron , calcium , manganese, and potassium in the multi-vitamin or other health supplement.
As we get older, the source of silica in our bodies becomes exhausted, resulting in wrinkles, dry skin, dull lifeless hair, and brittle nails and bones. Maintaining collagen underneath the skin augments elasticity and beauty. Collagen owes that attribute to Silica, which provides a beautiful complexion that is more than skin deep. Silica has been regarded as nature’s building block and is our answer to healthier, younger looking, more radiant skin, hair and nails.
It is a universal element in the human body that can be found free and soluble in water or combined with proteins and lipids, and has an exact relationship to mineral absorption. Its most important purpose is of immune nature, because the Silica partakes in the manufacturing process of antibodies/antigens and it encourages the conversion of LB (Lymphocyte B) into LT (Lymphocyte T).
The typical human body holds roughly seven grams of silica, a quantity far exceeding the numbers for other key minerals such as iron. Both iron and silica are body essential, meaning they are necessary for carrying our ongoing metabolic processes that are vital to life. Both elements must be continuously supplied. With Silica, strength and life, which often vanish as the years accumulate, can be naturally sustained or even restored to your skin.
Silica Supplementation for Healthy Bones:
Osteoporosis is an indicator of the aging process. As the calcium in our body structure leeches, our bones become brittle and weak. Using only a calcium supplement cannot remedy or stop this threatening and crippling disease because the body cannot absorb and make use of the calcium without the presence of Silica.
Data suggests that, instead of affecting healing, supplemental mineral calcium, in contrast, speeds up the leeching away of bone calcium and thus accelerates the degenerative process of osteoporosis and similar diseases that affect the connective tissues in the human body.
In the case of osteoporosis, Silica can alleviate the pain and may restore the body’s self repair process. Osteoporosis indicators attack women primarily after menopause, but the deterioration process starts much earlier in their younger days. Countless women are dying of fractures caused by osteoporosis compared with cancer of the breast, cervix and uterus combined.
It is important to know that in osteoporosis, thinning of the bones takes place due to the insufficient manufacturing of the surrounding protein medium in which calcium salts first deposit. An insufficient amount of calcium in the bone matrix causes an enlargement of canals and spaces in the bones, giving the bones a porous, thinned look. The weakened bone develops into a fragile state and can be broken by a minor injury.
The bones may even fracture from ordinary pressure or stress. For objectives of re-mineralization in damaged bones, it is advised that a sufficient Silica supplement be taken daily. Bones are composed of mainly phosphorus, magnesium and calcium, but they also include Silica. Silica deposits minerals into the bones, especially calcium.
It hastens the healing of fractures and also diminishes scarring at the location of a fracture. A good deal of research evidence indicates that through a transmutation process, Silica is turned into calcium when it is needed. It is for that reason that some scientists mention Silica as a precursor to calcium. Even when calcium is insufficient, the body can turn Silica into calcium that the bones need.
Silica is one of the most abundant minerals on the planet, but there are very few foods that contain an adequate amount to supply the quantity your body needs. Silica is easily absorbed via the intestinal wall and is also rapidly excreted, so consistent daily supplementation is important. Because it is water soluble, it does not accumulate in the body. Studies have not found any negative side effects from too much Silica.>>
(more info in that article about hair/nails etc)