What Supplement Makers Don't Tell You About Zeolites for Health

Assuming that you can find a zeolite that is guaranteed to be lead-free, does that automatically mean it's safe and beneficial? There are legitimate applications for zeolites, but they're not really a cure-all. Both benefits and problems with zeolites tend to be exaggerated. Here are some facts about zeolites that supplement manufacturers and critics of supplement manufacturers don't usually share with the public.

• The most exciting potential application of zeolites is in reducing the severity of "leaky gut" and celiac disease. "Leaks" in the small intestine are associated with a protein called zonulin. Certain zeolites bind to zonulin so that it is eliminated with feces, with the result that the lining of the intestine has greater stability. The product used in clinical trials was a combination of a natural zeolite, dolomite, maca, and fiber, taken in a dosage of 307.5 mg of zeolite six times per day for about 2,000 mg of natural zeolite per day.

• Soaking vegetables and fruit in a solution of zeolites mixed in water is of questionable benefit. The problem is, even if the zeolite absorbs harmful materials from the surface of the produce, most of the zeolite stays in the solution. Additionally, you need to rinse the zeolite off the fruit or vegetable for the process to do any good. Because zeolites are electrically charged, they tend to stick to the produce they are used to wash. However, if you soak a clean washcloth in the zeolite solution, put the washcloth around the fruit or vegetable for 15 or 20 minutes, and then rinse and dry the produce, you will get better results. Rinse the cloth in hot water and allow it to dry out before you use it again for this process.
• A research team at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst has developed a way of using zeolites to absorb colloidal silver and then immobilizing them in a cloth for wrapping fruits and vegetables so that the cloth releases a steady stream of silver to kill bacteria. The product is still under development for commercial use.
• In a study of athletes who were given zeolites six times a day for twelve weeks, zeolites did not change redox markers, which would be a surrogate measure for "acidity." However, healthy people usually do not have a problem with maintaining normal body pH.
• Zeolites are well understood in their role as additives to animal feed. Zeolites help animals absorb minerals from their feed. They protect against anemia caused by exposure to heavy metals. They protect against the toxic effects of aflatoxin. Whether zeolites also offer these benefits in human nutrition, however, is not known.
• The zeolite erionite (which is not used in health supplements) is a cause of lung disease, but only in miners who are exposed to the dust every day.

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• There are FDA-approved uses of zeolites, in dressings used to control bleeding.
• Zeolites contain aluminum, and aluminum is associated with Alzheimer's. Paradoxically, in a study with mice in the laboratory, zeolites actually reduced the formation of placques associated with Alzheimer's in brain tissue. No one really knows whether long-term daily consumption of zeolites has a beneficial, detrimental, or neutral effect on brain health.
• There really is a treatment for cancer that uses zeolites, but it is for squamous cell cancer, not every kind of cancer, and it has to be injected directly into the tumor by a physician. You wouldn't want to try this on your own, because you would need a highly refined zeolite, and you would need to make sure you did not spread the cancer in the process of injecting the zeolite.

Zeolites can be safe and quite effective when used in the right amounts for the right application for a limited time. They are not a cure-all, but they can be unquestionably effective when they are processed and chosen with care.