Zeolite supplement benefit and side
effects, review, does it have benefits to the body?
September 15 2018 by
Ray Sahelian, M.D.
Natural zeolites are crystalline aluminosilicates with
unique adsorption, cation-exchange, and catalytic properties that have multiple
uses in industry and agriculture. Synthetic zeolites are the most important
catalysts in petrochemical refineries because of their high internal surface
areas and molecular-sieving properties.
Zeolite supplements benefit
Zeolite supplements are now being sold,
one particular one is liquid zeolite. Do they have any
practical clinical usefulness? We have not seen such human research as of 2013.
At this time it is difficult to make any statements regarding the benefits or
side effects of a zeolite supplement. Furthermore, even
if it is beneficial, it is difficult to know what the ideal dosage would be and how it would
interact with other supplements or medicines. There are countless other herbs
and supplements that have more research to support their use as
antioxidants,
anti cancer agents, or for the treatment of medical conditions. Since zeolite
supplements don't have much, if any, human research it is difficult to make
claims regarding their clinical usefulness or advantage over other herbs,
vitamin, nutrients, and minerals.
Antioxidant benefit
Rev Invest Clin. 2017. Activated and Micronized Zeolite in the Modulation of
Cellular Oxidative Stress in Mexican Smokers: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
Activated and micronized zeolites are used as detoxifying agents in humans.
Subjects were randomly divided into three groups: activated and micronized
zeolites; vitamin E, an accepted antioxidant; and maltodextrin as control. Each
group received the corresponding supplementation, dissolved in water, once a day
for 30 days as follows: activated and micronized zeolites, 5.4 g activated and
micronized zeolite; vitamin E, 400 mg D-alpha tocopheryl acetate; and
maltodextrin, 250 mg of maltodextrin. Catalase activity, plasma antioxidant
capacity, and hydrogen peroxide levels were measured. Subjects administered
activated and micronized zeolites had equivalent antioxidant activities as
subjects administered vitamin E.
Alzheimer's disease
Life Sci. 2013. Dietary zeolite supplementation reduces oxidative damage and
plaque generation in the brain of an Alzheimer's disease mouse model. Department
of Biomedical Sciences and Biotechnologies, University of Brescia, Brescia,
Italy. Our results suggest micronized zeolite as a novel potential adjuvant in
counteracting oxidative stress and plaque accumulation in the field of
neurodegenerative diseases.
Zeolite
and bone, mineral metabolism
Sodium Zeolite A Supplementation and Its Impact on the Skeleton of Dairy Calves.
Biol Trace Elem Res. 2007. Turner KK, Nielsen BD, O'Connor-Robison
CI, Rosenstein DS, Marks BP, Nielsen FH, Orth MW. Department of Animal Science,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, 48824, USA.
Twenty calves were placed on study at 3 days of age and were placed according to
birth order into one of two groups: SS, which received 0.05% BW sodium zeolite A
(SZA) added to their milk replacer, and CO, which received only milk replacer.
There were no differences in osteocalcin concentrations because of treatment,
and CO calves had lower deoxypyridinoline concentrations than SS calves. No
differences in bone architecture or mechanical properties were detected. SZA
supplementation increased cortical bone and articular cartilage aluminum
content. Glycosaminoglycan concentrations were not different in synovial fluid
or cartilage. Supplementation of SZA appeared to alter the rate of bone turnover
without altering bone strength. Aluminum concentrations in the bone and
cartilage increased, which may be a concern, although the long-term consequences
of such remain to be determined.
Effect of several doses of
zeolite A on feed intake, energy metabolism and on mineral metabolism in dairy
cows around calving.
J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr. 2009; Grabherr H, Spolders M, Fürll M,
Flachowsky G. Institute of Animal Nutrition, Friedrich Loeffler Institute,
Research Institute of Animal Health, Braunschweig, Germany.
The object of the present study was to determine the influence of different
zeolite A doses on dry matter intake (DMI) and mineral metabolism, and to
evaluate an optimum dosage for preventing hypocalcaemia. Eighty pregnant dry
cows were assigned to four groups. They were fed a total mixed ration
ad libitum. Groups II, III and IV received an average daily dose of 12, 23 and
43 g zeolite A/kg DM for the last 2 weeks prepartum. Individually DMI was
recorded daily. Serum was analysed for Ca, Mg, P(i), K, non-esterified fatty
acids and beta-hydroxybutyrate. During zeolite A supplementation, mean DMI
of Group IV was significantly lower compared to Groups I-III. The reduced feed
intake of Group IV resulted in significantly increased BHB as well as decreased
NABE after calving. Zeolite A supplementation in higher doses (III and IV) had a
stabilizing effect on Calcium metabolism around calving for older cows, whereas
cows in Groups I and II showed a subclinical hypocalcaemia. The mean serum Mg
concentration decreased significantly in older cows in Group IV at calving. The
mean P(i) concentration in cows of Group IV decreased into ranges of
hypophosphataemia already 1 week after beginning of zeolite A feeding. The mean
DMI postpartum as well as the milk yield was not affected by zeolite A
supplementation. Feeding of 23 g zeolite A/kg DM TMR prepartum proved to be an
adequate dosage for reducing subclinical hypocalcaemia frequency without
significant effects on feed intake and P(i) concentration in serum.
Zeolite supplement as immune modifier
Dietary supplementation with the tribomechanically activated zeolite
clinoptilolite in immunodeficiency: effects on the immune system.
Adv Ther. 2004. Megamin GmbH, Berlin, Germany
TMAZ, a natural zeolite clinoptilolite with enhanced physicochemical
properties, is the basis of the dietary supplements Megamin and Lycopenomin,
which have demonstrated antioxidant activity in humans. The aim of this
prospective, open, and controlled parallel-group study was to investigate the
effects of supplementation with TMAZ on the cellular immune system in patients
undergoing treatment for immunodeficiency disorder. A total of 61 patients were
administered daily TMAZ doses of 1.2 g (Lycopenomin) and 3.6 g (Megamin) for 6
to 8 weeks, during which the patients' primary medical therapy was continued
unchanged. Blood and lymphocyte counts were performed at baseline and at the end
of the study. Blood count parameters were not relevantly affected in either of
the two treatment groups. Megamin administration resulted in significantly
increased CD4+, CD19+, and HLA-DR+ lymphocyte counts and a significantly
decreased CD56+ cell count. Lycopenomin was associated with an increased CD3+
cell count and a decreased CD56+ lymphocyte count. No adverse reactions to the
treatments were observed.
Zeolite and cancer studies
Nonfibrous Japanese Zeolite, and synthetic Zeolites are not classified as to
their carcinogenicity to humans. These ingredients are not significantly toxic
in oral acute or short-term oral or parenteral toxicity studies in animals.
Inhalation toxicity, however, is readily demonstrated in animals, and appears to
be a factor in mesothelioma in humans. Particle size, fibrogenicity,
concentration, and mineral composition have the greatest effect on toxicity.
Anticancer and antioxidative effects of micronized
zeolite clinoptilolite.
Anticancer Res. 2003 Mar-Apr;23(2B):1589-95. Ruder Boskovic Institute,
Division of Molecular Medicine, Bijenicka 54, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Treatment of cancer-bearing mice and dogs with micronized zeolite clinoptilolite
(MZ) led to improvement of the overall health status, prolongation of life span
and decrease of tumor size in some cases. It also reduced lipid peroxidation in
the liver of mice. The experiments were performed on various tumor cell cultures
and tumor-bearing animals. Immunohistochemistry was used to analyze if
micronized zeolite clinoptilolite could interfere with Doxorubicin-induced lipid
peroxidation and consequential production of 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE). MZ reduced
the metabolic rate of cancer cells and increased binding of HNE to albumin in
vitro. It selectively reduced generation of HNE in vivo in tumor stroma after
Doxorubicin treatment leaving onset of lipid peroxidation intact in malignant
cells. Combined treatment with Doxorubicin and MZ resulted in strong reduction
of the pulmonary metastasis count increasing anticancer effects of Doxorubicin.
CONCLUSION: Interference of micronized zeolite clinoptilolite with lipid
peroxidation might explain some of the beneficial effects of this particular
zeolite in combined cancer therapy.
Natural zeolite clinoptilolite: new adjuvant in
anticancer therapy.
J Mol Med. 2001. Ruder Boskovic Institute, Division of
Molecular Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia.
Natural silicate materials, including zeolite clinoptilolite, have been shown
to exhibit diverse biological activities and have been used successfully as a
vaccine adjuvant and for the treatment of diarrhea. We report a novel use of
finely ground clinoptilolite as a potential adjuvant in anticancer therapy.
Clinoptilolite treatment of mice and dogs suffering from a variety of tumor
types led to improvement in the overall health status, prolongation of
life-span, and decrease in tumors size. Local application of clinoptilolite to
skin cancers of dogs effectively reduced tumor formation and growth. In
addition, toxicology studies on mice and rats demonstrated that the treatment
does not have negative effects. In vitro tissue culture studies showed that
finely ground clinoptilolite inhibits protein kinase B (c-Akt), induces
expression of p21WAF1/CIP1 and p27KIP1 tumor suppressor proteins, and blocks
cell growth in several cancer cell lines. These data indicate that
clinoptilolite treatment might affect cancer growth by attenuating survival
signals and inducing tumor suppressor genes in treated cells.
Prospective study of mesothelioma mortality in Turkish
villages with exposure to fibrous zeolite.
J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006. Guven Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Mesothelioma incidence is high in certain villages on the Anatolian plateau
in Turkey, where environmental exposure includes erionite, a form of zeolite
fibers, from the local volcanic tuff. A prospective study of residents of two
exposed and one nearby control village was initiated in 1979 and continued
through December 31, 2003. A total of 891 men and women, aged 20 years or older,
were included, 230 of them residing in the village without known exposure to
erionite. During the 23-year follow-up, 372 deaths occurred; 119 of these were
from mesothelioma, which was the cause of 44% of all deaths in the exposed
villages. Seventeen patients had peritoneal mesothelioma; the rest had pleural
mesothelioma. Only two cases of mesothelioma, one of each type, occurred in the
control village-both in women born elsewhere. Our results emphasize the severity
of the mesothelioma endemic in erionite -exposed areas of Turkey and call for
intensified prevention of mesothelioma by limiting environmental exposures to
these zeolite fibers.
Zeolite review
I came across an excellent review that readers should be aware of.
What a physician should know about zeolites
Lijec Vjesn. 2000. Boranic M. Institut Ruder
Boskovic, Zavod za molekularnu medicinu, Bijenicka cesta, Zagreb.
Zeolites are natural and synthetic hydrated crystalline aluminosilicates endowed
with absorptive and ion exchange properties. They have found numerous and
multifarous applications--in industry as catalysts and absorbents, in water
sanitation for the removal of ammonia and heavy metals, in agriculture as
fertilizers, and in animal husbandry as the absorbents of excreted material and
as food additives. Medical applications have included the use in filtration
systems for anesthesia or dialysis and as the contrast materials in NMR imaging.
Recently, zeolite powders for external use have found application as deodorants,
antimycotic agents and wound dressings. Peroral use of encapsulated zeolite
powders enriched with vitamins, oligoelements or other ingredients has been
claimed to exert beneficial medical effects. Ingestion of zeolites may be
considered analogous to the clay eating (geophagia), considered in traditional
medicine as a remedy for various illnesses. Being amphoteric, zeolites are
partly soluble in acid or alkaline media, but within the physiological pH range
the solubility is generally low. Minimal amounts of free aluminium or silicium
from the ingested zeolites are resorbed from the gut. The bulk of ingested
zeolite probably remains undissolved in the gut. In view of the ion exchange
properties, zeolites may be expected to change the ionic content, pH and
buffering capacity of the gastrointestinal secretions and to affect the
transport through the intestinal epithelium. In addition, zeolites could affect
the bacterial flora and the resorption of bacterial products, vitamins and
oligoelements. The contact of zeolite particles with gastrointestinal mucosa may
elicit the secretion of cytokines with local and systemic actions. Reactive
silicium ions might react with biomolecules of the intestinal epithelium, and if
resorbed, do so in other cells. Mutagenic and carcinogenic effects of zeolite
particles have been described, resembling such effects of asbestos fibers. Thus,
local and systemic effects of zeolites may be complex and interrelated, and an
objective assessment requires appropriate experimental models.
Met Ions Life Sci. 2013. Silicon: the health benefits of a metalloid. Silicon has been suggested to exhibit roles in the structural integrity of nails, hair, and skin, overall collagen synthesis, bone mineralization, and bone health and reduced metal accumulation in Alzheimer's disease, immune system health, and reduction of the risk for atherosclerosis. Although emerging research is promising, much additional, corroborative research is needed particularly regarding speciation of health-promoting forms of silicon and its relative bioavailability. Orthosilicic acid is the major form of bioavailable silicon. It has been proposed that relatively insoluble forms of silica can also release small but meaningful quantities of silicon into biological compartments. For example, colloidal silicic acid, silica gel, and zeolites, although relatively insoluble in water, can increase concentrations of water-soluble silica and are thought to rely on specific structural physicochemical characteristics. Collectively, the food supply contributes enough silicon in the forms aforementioned that could be absorbed and significantly improve overall human health despite the negative perception of silica as a health hazard. This review discusses the possible biological potential of the metalloid silicon as bioavailable orthosilicic acid and the potential beneficial effects on human health.
Zeolite for burns
Use of zeolite -containing biologically active food supplement in patients with
burn trauma.
Vopr Pitan. 2004.
The content of cationic protein in blood neutrophils, the serum activity of
lysosomal enzymes, the intensity of peroxide lipid oxidation, the antioxidant
serum activity and the blood concentration of trace elements were assessed in
patients with burn injury. Some patients as addition to the main therapy got
zeolyt-containing biological active addition to food (BAAF) "Lytovit" with its
ability for sorption and selective ion exchange. Before the beginning of the
treatment in all patients high value of the cationic protein degranulation,
decrease of neutrophils biocidity, and increase of lipid peroxidation against a
background of antioxidant activity were found. In patients, who had got zeolyt
containing BAAF, the normalization of trace elements blood concentration and
indices of neutrophils functional activity began earlier, then in patients
without zeolyte containing biological active addition treatment. "Lytovit"
promoted the more early regress of the clinic manifestations: the body
temperature normalization, wounds self-cleaning from purulent discharge,
diminishing of frequency and area of the grafts lysis.
Use in agriculture
Inactivation of mercury in contaminated soils using natural zeolites.
Sci Total Environ. 1997. Agricultural University of
Athens, Laboratory of Soils and Agricultural Chemistry, Greece.
The application of zeoliferous rocks, from Metaxades region (Thrace, Greece) to
soils contaminated with mercury significantly reduced the concentrations of
mercury in the shoots and roots of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and ryegrass (Lolium
perenne). Use of natural zeolites at application rates of 1%, 2% and 5% by soil
weight caused reductions in mercury concentrations of up to 86% in shoots and
58% in roots, compared with controls with no added zeolites. The reductions
are more pronounced in above-ground plant material than in roots of the two
plant species. The use of natural zeolites, as soil additives, to reduce the
uptake of mercury by plants and the restriction of the entry of mercury into the
food chain, is noted.
Zeolite marketers get FDA letter
2007 The FDA has ordered Zeo Health Ltd to stop illegal claims
for three zeolite mineral products that have zeolite. These include Destroxin
(for cancer prevention and treatment), Esdifan (for diarrhea) and Zeo (for
hangover preventive).
Questions and comments
Q. I was searching information on chlorella, and i
stumbled across a product called liquid Zeolite. how do these products compare?
A. We are not familiar with liquid Zeolite, but we found a web site
that claims: "Liquid zeolite is a 100% natural liquid detoxifier formulated from
purified, activated zeolite. One of the few negatively charged minerals in
nature, zeolite is formed from the fusion of volcanic lava and ocean water.
Activated liquid zeolite is a food supplement used primarily to remove heavy
metals and other toxins efficiently and safely from the body, and to increase
general immunity and well-being. Liquid zeolite is extremely safe." They add,
"Liquid zeolite removes pesticides, herbicides, and dioxins, reduces viral load,
reduces absorption of nitrosamines, helps buffer the body to a healthy
alkalinity, helps reduce cancer risk, reduces symptoms of allergies, helps
prevent premature aging, etc." Whenever we see these kinds of statements, we immediately become
suspicious.
Q. I am interested in getting rid of mercury from the body. Chlorella is always
mentioned and suggested, but recently a site came up which recommends “ liquid
zeolite ”. As far as I know, not much zeolite human research has been
documented. What are your thoughts? By the way, chlorella seems very expensive
and takes a very long time to do the job. This is why I have continued to search
for an alternative.
A. We don't have much experience with zeolite since it is a very
new supplement.
Q. I have a question about what other medicines you can
take at the same time you take zeolite. can you take graviola
herb and Zeolite
together? Do you have to stop taking it when you take chemo?
A. Since human research is not available regarding graviola
supplement use, we can't say. There are dozens of chemotherapy drugs, each has
its own interactions with supplements.
Q. I noticed that you discuss Zeolite on your
website. I also noticed that you do not sell a Zeolite product on your website.
We would like to discuss some possible business. We are the manufacturers in the
USA of Zeolite
supplements. We have been in business for over 8 years and way before any of
these crazy liquid companies or MLMs popped up with this product that they are
calling Zeolite.
A. I would be interested when a couple more actual studies are
published on Medline regarding zeolite supplement use in humans.
Q. Do you have any experience or knowledge of zeolite.
I would be using it to treat my beloved yellow lab who has multiple myeloma.
There seems to be quite a controversy over which is best, powder or liquid?
A. I have no idea what the effect of zeolite would be on multiple
myeloma.
Q. My Rottweiler has osteosarcoma of the shoulder, and
I have been giving her 15 drops of zeolite enhanced twice or three times daily.
She is doing very well on this. However, recently I was advised about Artimex (Artimisenin)
- known as the "cancer bomb" - which attacks the iron within the cancer cells,
to destroy them. I am wondering if you have had any experience with this and
whether or not you think there may be a conflict between the zeolite (which
eliminates excess iron from the body) and the Artimex (which requires iron in
the cancer cell in order to work). I am continuing to administer both the
zeolites and Artimex to my dog, and there have been no visible negative effects.
I am simply wondering if the zeolites negate the Artimex.
A. Sorry but I don't have any experience with this combination or
the use of zeolite for osteosarcoma.
My son has been on chelation therapy (the second round
of drugs) for having levels of arsenic in his body nine times the safe level. He
has been living in China for 3 years and returned to the U.S. once a U.S.
neurologist made the diagnosis. He continues to have some tremors and numbness,
however, after 6 weeks of chelation there are small signs of improvement. My
question: Zeolite talks about removing toxins from the body, which include heavy
metals, and I want to know if Zeolite will replenish the minerals which have
been removed from the blood, bones and brain by chelation? He has 3 more weeks
of chelation therapy and I would like to find something to rebuild his body.
I am not aware of any studies that have looked at the role of
this supplement as a treatment for post chelation therapy.
I was reading on Zeolite and came across your info on it.
I found info on Memorial Sloane Kettering's Integrative Medicine page and it
seems to be a good article.