Edith Muriel Carlisle

Edith Muriel Carlisle (* 1922 ; † between 1987 and 1997) was an American nutritionist .

Prof. Carlisle worked for a long time as a visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles . In 1972 she was able to prove that the trace element silicon (Si) or silica is essential for humans, plants and animals, i.e. vital. It fulfills important tasks in the organism and is indispensable for structure formation and metabolic function. In humans and animals, silicon is involved in the formation of collagen and elastin in the connective tissue . She also discovered that silicon acts as a "dragger" when calcium is incorporated into the bones ( carrier function ). Since the body cannot produce silicon itself, it has to be absorbed from the outside. Sources with a high silicon content are horsetail, and thus cereal products. As a dietary supplement, silicon is available in the form of silica or silica gel.

Fonts

• A Relationship between Silicon and Calcium in Bone Formation . In Fed. Proc. , Issue 29, page 265, 1970
• Silicon: A Possible Factor in Bone Calcification . In Science , Issue 167, pages 179-180, 1970 ( summary on sciencemag.org (English))
• Silicon as an essential element for the chick . In Science , Issue 178, 1972
• Silicon as an Essential Trace Element in Animal Nutrition . In: Silicon Biochemistry , CIBA Foundation Symposium 121, New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1986
• Silicon , Chapter 21, pp. 603–618 in: Handbook of nutritionally essential mineral elements , by Boyd L. O'Dell, Roger Allan Sunde, 1997, excerpt from books.google.com (English)