• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

Diatomaceous Earth

A zombie

Senior Member
Messages
197
i'm just starting it, how far apart from food and sups (meds) does DE need to be taken away from?any other tips?
I wake during middle of the night and take activated charcoal and can typically get bk to sleep. Can i take the DE at this time or will the charcoal absorb the DE?
 

Changexpert

Senior Member
Messages
112
I have used it in the past with horrible side effects like severe constipation, dysphagia, and heartburn. Most DE's on the market contains lead, which is never a good thing to have. DE also dehydrates your internal system. Another side effect includes scratching the surface of intestinal lining due to its sharp particles. I would strongly advise against using it, especially for longer than one week.
 

Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
I have used it in the past with horrible side effects like severe constipation, dysphagia, and heartburn. Most DE's on the market contains lead, which is never a good thing to have. DE also dehydrates your internal system. Another side effect includes scratching the surface of intestinal lining due to its sharp particles. I would strongly advise against using it, especially for longer than one week.
Lead is a naturally occurring trace mineral. In food grade DE, it's typically found around the 50 PPM level. For comparison, soils are allowed to have up to 1200 PPM and are still considered safe. The level of lead is virtually nil in this product. Oysters have lead levels up to 100 PPM - nearly twice what is typically found in DE.

If you're taking enough to dehydrate your internal system, you are taking too much.

There have never been any reports to my knowledge of any permanent damage done by scratching of the intestinal lining by DE. I've never even heard of any reports of temporary damage but I'm sure someone has claimed it. I'm not sure how you would know though without a scope. We're talking microscopic particles here.

Typically people find that DE relieves constipation. That has certainly been my experience with it.

Some people will find DE helpful and others will not, just like anything else. But spreading inaccuracies about the contents and the way it works to scare people away from doing their own research and making an informed decision is just not helpful.
 

Changexpert

Senior Member
Messages
112
Lead is a naturally occurring trace mineral. In food grade DE, it's typically found around the 50 PPM level. For comparison, soils are allowed to have up to 1200 PPM and are still considered safe. The level of lead is virtually nil in this product. Oysters have lead levels up to 100 PPM - nearly twice what is typically found in DE.
Do you mind where you got those numbers as well? According to what I found, the lead content in oysters are less than 1.5 PPM (1). Depending on where the oysters are caught, the lead content in oysters can be close to 0 ppm (2). Also, where did you find that DE contains 50 ppm for food grade and as much as 1200 ppm for non-food grade? I found a website that sells DE stating that their product contains 50 ppm of lead (3). The other website I found claims that food grade DE contains 5 ppm lead (4). I realize that making a food grade DE is an intricate process and there can be much variation in filtering out lead composition, but these numbers are still higher than the contents in the oysters. It would be helpful if you could cite your sources as well.

If you're taking enough to dehydrate your internal system, you are taking too much. There have never been any reports to my knowledge of any permanent damage done by scratching of the intestinal lining by DE. I've never even heard of any reports of temporary damage but I'm sure someone has claimed it. I'm not sure how you would know though without a scope. We're talking microscopic particles here.
I will admit that these two points do come from anecdotal sources (somewhere in Curezone and other websites that I do not remember) and can be inaccurate. I personally did not have much dehydration effect, even at taking 2 tbsp/day except for a slight increase in thirst. As far as the crystalline structure goes, I actually placed DE under the microscope I have and confirmed that it does have sharp edges. Would that be enough to cause damage in the internal system? I have no idea to be honest. For that, I am sorry for spreading fear mongering hypothesis.

Typically people find that DE relieves constipation. That has certainly been my experience with it.
For me, I actually found the opposite of what you found from other people. I've seen so many posts saying they had severe constipation from DE and that has been my experience as well (5, 6). I think this really boils down to what your current body state is. Some people claim that constipation is due to drying effect of DE. Others say it's because of die-off reaction. AFAIK, there has not been a single study that's done on human beings for treating parasites with DE (only studies on farm animals and plants), even though there was a human study back in 1998 for DE's potential benefit for decreasing the serum cholesterol. The idea of eating DE for parasites is relatively new and the safety has not been examined thoroughly yet, just like numerous supplements out in the market.

Some people will find DE helpful and others will not, just like anything else. But spreading inaccuracies about the contents and the way it works to scare people away from doing their own research and making an informed decision is just not helpful.

Thanks for pointing that out. I tend to overreact when I see people trying supplements that did not agree with me. I just do not want other people to go through the same hardships I went through in the past. DE was one of the worst nightmares I've had, but as you pointed out, it could work for some people since individual's body chemistry is different. Maybe I benefited from DE by "killing parasites" inside me as H. pylori test results went from slight positive to absolute negative in three months. At the same time, I was taking other supplements, so I cannot really tell what caused the H. pylori infection to completely disappear.

I will leave the decision up to OP. Do your research and if you decide to take it, keep monitoring how your body reacts. If you are interested, you can read interesting debate about DE on this website (7).
 
Last edited:

Ema

Senior Member
Messages
4,729
Location
Midwest USA
Do you mind where you got those numbers as well? According to what I found, the lead content in oysters are less than 1.5 PPM (1). Depending on where the oysters are caught, the lead content in oysters can be close to 0 ppm (2).

The numbers came from this article, which does not say the quantity. I have no idea if it is per oyster or per dozen unfortunately. I'm guessing it is some large quantity based on the numbers in your second cite.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2621.1954.tb17441.x/abstract

Also your first cite seems to be referring to oyster shells, not the meat that would routinely be eaten and subject to the filtering of the possibly contaminated waters.

But this is where my interest in the lead content of oysters ends...

Also, where did you find that DE contains 50 ppm for food grade and as much as 1200 ppm for non-food grade?

The 50 PPM came from a label of food grade DE.

The 1200 PPM number refers to the top lead levels acceptable for safety in soils, not DE. That came from the CDC website.

The EPA's standard for lead in bare soil in play areas is 400 ppm by weight and 1200 ppm for non-play areas.