Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am somewhat of a "health nut", at least my friends seem to think so. During nutrition school (I'm a health coach), I learned about the benefits of taking food grade silica. I had been having some issues with my skin, hair and nail health, so I thought I'd give this a try. It is most commonly used for maintaining the health of livestock. I have read extensively that farmers use this to give their animals shiny coats and good digestive health. If it works for the animals, it should work for humans too I thought. I started using D.E. and followed the directions, starting slow. I went from a teaspoon to a tablespoon within about 6 weeks. Once I got up to higher doses, which I just drank in water, I did really notice a difference in the health of my skin. It became so much softer and less dry. I have always had really dry skin and eczema, and this really did help. D.E. in layman's terms are essentially microscopic one celled plants. Magnified, they are all spiky looking, and basically act like "pipe cleaners" when they pass through our intestines. They help slough off stuff we don't want in there, and that is how they benefit our digestive health from the inside out. D.E. is also commonly used by gardeners as a natural way to eliminate bugs. When bugs come across DE, the spiky little things tear up their exoskeletons and kill them without any poison. Sorry to be graphic, but that's how it works. We humans being just a little bigger then a bug, are not affected adversely. Anyway, the product itself has no flavor of its own, but it is chalky. It doesn't dissolve in liquids, but if you shake it up enough, it makes it better. What worked for me was having a water thermos and I'd put a tablespoon in there and drink it throughout my day, shaking it up as I drank it. Most people probably wouldn't continue drinking something like this, but I'm a bit extreme, and so stuck with it for a good year. I've since gotten out of my work routine, moved and have been traveling a lot, so I haven't taken D.E. now for about 3 months, and can really see a difference in my skin again, it's much drier and just not as smooth anymore. If you do the nail test, and run your finger nail quickly on your arm or leg and get that white line, well you know your skin is dry. When I was taking D.E. regularly, that didn't happen at all. So, time to get back into my routine! Remember though, if you're going to take silica, it HAS TO BE FOOD GRADE... the stuff used to clean pools is obviously not what you want.