The Health Benefits of Gold

The benefits of eating gold

We’re talking gold leaf and dust here – not gold bars or coins! One thing we need to make sure about from the start is that we are talking about the edibility of gold flakes, dust and salts here. Gold bars and gold coins are 100% inedible!

Some facts about edible gold

Edible gold is chemically inert and will not react inside the human body (e.g. to stomach acids). Gold will simply pass through the digestion system and will not absorb. In theory, people can eat as much gold flakes, dust or salts as they like without getting ill, it’s like any food though, stomach aches are likely to be the result of excess eating.

Edible gold has an E Number, which is E175 and is widely recognised as a food additive. Edible gold is also gluten-free and there is no need for any form of testing on animals.

As 24-karat gold is often considered too fragile and soft most edible gold also has small amounts of silver added too.

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What are the health benefits of consuming gold?

Now we have established that it’s safe to consume gold, we can now detail some of the health benefits of eating gold, these are listed below:

• Anti-inflammatory – gold salts are well-known for their use in rheumatoid arthritis treatment and in similar applications
• Cancer treatment – gold isotope 198 is used in some forms of cancer treatment
• Dentistry – gold alloys are widely used in restorative dental surgery in applications such as bridges and crowns
• Mental health – Treats mental health and nervous disorders such as depression, epilepsy and migraine headaches as well as increasing concentration and awareness
• Psychological – There is a psychological aspect to many consumers who believe something this valuable and rare must also be of benefit to health!
• Surgery – gold is used in surgery to repair blood vessels, bones, membranes and nerves

Accreditations of gold for consumption

The following agencies are just some of the agencies which recognise that gold is safe for consumption by humans:

• Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry – does not recognise gold as a toxic substance
• European Food Standards Authority – recognises gold as a food additive with E Number 175
• Federation of Synagogues – recognise gold as a kosher food additive and suitable for consumption by Jewish people
• LGA – provides similar accreditation to USFDA for gold use as an additive in food and drinks
• US Food and Drug Administration – The USFDA recognise gold as a gourmet food and drinks product

Food and drink recipes for gold

Here are some suggestions as to how to add gold flakes into food and drink recipes. The primary reason to add gold in food and drink is ostentatiousness as gold has no taste or nutritional value, but does have health benefits previously described:

• Chocolates and sweets – dust gold onto chocolates and sweets to add a WOW factor. Sweets with gold leaf are popular in Asia, with sweets like Vark being in popular use
• Decoration – gold is used as a decorative additive to desserts and champagne flutes, etc.
• Drinks – gold dust/flakes can be added to drinks such as Champagne and other expensive treats such as cocktails. In Poland, Goldwasser (translated Gold Water) is a traditional herbal liqueur
• Fruits – Add gold dust to fruits such as dates, figs, grapes, oranges and pomegranates, etc.

Learn about “Understanding the gold price per oz” in this Physical Gold video.

Contacting Physical Gold

The above reveals just how precious a metal gold really is. Obviously as a business, Physical Gold is here to buy gold primarily for investments, but we thought this was an interesting and fun topic you’d want to hear about! If you want to buy or sell gold coins or gold bars call us now on 020 7060 9992, or email us through our contact page.

Image Credits: Blanche Fleur and Wikipedia