Silicon is the second most common element in the Earth’s crust behind oxygen.¹ This mineral is naturally present in foods as silicon dioxide and silicates, while most silicon in water is present as free orthosilicic acid.¹ The health benefits of silicon have been widely reported. It was proven to provide beneficial properties to the structural integrity of nail, hair, and skin, and involve in bone mineralization.²
Hair strands with higher content of silicon tend to have lower falling rate and higher brightness. A randomised study demonstrated an improvement in morphology and mechanical properties of hair in the group treated with 10mg of silicon daily, for a period of 9 months, as compared to the placebo group.³ Hair strands were more resistant to breaking and the area of the strand front section increased significantly after 9 months of silicon supplementation.³
Clinical studies showed that intake of dietary silicon improves bone mineral density at the hip sites of men, pre-menopausal women, and postmenopausal women with Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), but not in post-menopausal women without HRT. This suggested a possible interaction between silicon and estrogen status.⁴ This finding is further supported by another study conducted by Helen M Macdonald and colleagues. Estrogen status was proven to be crucial in silicon metabolism in bone health.⁵ However, further study is needed to elucidate the mechanism.
Silicon is present in human body in small traces and its level decreases with aging. Supplementation with silicon was shown to promote collagen and elastin synthesis and thus, preventing premature skin aging. A clinical trial showed that silicon promotes improvement in wrinkles in women aged 40 to 65 years old with signs of facial photoaging.⁶
Silicon involves in glycosaminoglycans synthesis. This also acts as a cross linking agent resulting in strengthening of the keratin structure and the nails. A study conducted to investigate the effect of silicon on hair, skin, and nails. After administration of silicon for 5 months, nail parameters of the participants showed improvement. Nail roughness and yellowing of the nails were significantly reduced. However, the sample size was small and further study is required.⁷
There are no known side effects of oral supplementation of silicon.⁸
Adult: 5-20mg/day, maximum 50mg/day; up to 700mg taken without apparent harm.¹⁰
Pediatric: Safety and efficacy not established.¹⁰
There are no known side effects of oral supplementation of silicon.⁸
Adult: 5-20mg/day, maximum 50mg/day; up to 700mg taken without apparent harm.¹⁰
Pediatric: Safety and efficacy not established.¹⁰
The material is prepared for informational purposes only and should not be construed as a piece of personal medical advice. Owing to each person’s varying health needs, a physician should be consulted before acting on any information provided in this material. Although every effort is made to ensure that this material is accurate, it is compiled for internal use only and should not be considered definitive. Neither VitaHealth nor its employees, or information providers shall be responsible or liable for any errors, inaccuracies, or other defects in the information contained in this publication.
L-theanine is a unique water-soluble non-protein amino acid with structure resembles that of L-glutamate acid. It is predominantly present naturally in tea, Camellia sinensis or
