What are "Ice" and "Snow" when applied to MSM?
Bulk MSM
Frequently Asked Questions
Dear Karl,
I've seen the words "ice" and "snow" used on various web sites, describing MSM.
What are the meanings of those words, and are they registered trademarks?
Bill
Dear Bill,
Truly pure MSM, with no additives, has a rather bad taste. Some people may like it, but most don't. One sensation you are likely to experience when you take a spoonful of bulk MSM into your mouth is, at the very first instant, a slightly sweet taste. But, almost immediately it becomes a "puckering" experience.
Your mouth feels like you have eaten some lemon. Sharp, acid, a little bitter, but certainly your mouth "puckers." The taste sensation remains with you for some time -- several minutes.
If you immediately drink water that will reduce the "after taste." And, when you take MSM in a tablet or capsule, there is no taste. You can also put MSM into various liquids -- depending on the quantity of MSM and the quantity of liquid, you may or may not experience any taste.
Generally the "strong" juices, like tomato juice, will hide the flavor easily.
Now, all of that to let you know that there is a taste, and that different people perceive it differently.
The data that "good tasting" MSM may be of poor quality is covered elsewhere. Click here for that information.
When MSM was first "discovered" for its health and nutritional benefits, it was used in the animal industry -- particularly for horses. There is much more to say about this subject. Click here for that data.
Horses, and other animals, have generally seemed to like the taste of bulk MSM.
The next thing to look at is the final form in which MSM is produced in a factory. It is in sheets or hunks of material which have to be ground to small size. The material IS in crystal form, and each crystal is relatively independent. But, some crystals are large, some small, and some crystals have been created in such a way that several "stick" together.
As these crystals are ground up into uniformly-sized particles you get into the economics of grinding. The smaller you grind it, the longer it takes and the more the grinding costs.
So, when MSM was first introduced for consumption, for animals, the size of the particles was rather large -- reflecting a convenient size for a horse to eat, or for a breeder to mix with animal feed. There was no need to grind the MSM down to very small sized particles.
When MSM started to be used for human consumption, it was bought by eager consumers from veterinarians, and from animal feed stores. And, of course, people got the large-sized crystals, and they knew the stuff tasted terrible.
I'm going to find out who did this, but it appears that adding something to make it taste better was a marketing idea, not an improvement in the benefits to those who take it.
Likewise, changing the particle size from large to small allowed marketing claims that the smaller size particle was "different" from the larger sized particle -- that the large particles were for animals, and the "more highly refined 'powder' was for human consumption"
Hogwash!
MSM is MSM!
But, the MSM industry has had to adapt to some powerful marketing forces.
Those who like to talk about these issues will refer to the large sized crystals as "crystal ice." And, when you grind that particle down to a smaller size, you can call it "crystal snow."
There is no difference in how quickly it is absorbed or dissolved.
There is no difference in the substance.
Unless! Of course! If someone puts some additive into the MSM, they could change the flavor.
There is, however, one other matter related to the size of the particle.
When you put some glue on a piece of paper and stick it to the wall, you are sticking together three different materials: wall, glue and paper.
You can say that the glue is the "adhesive" in this mix!
Two things which are stuck together are said to "adhere." They are joined together, but there are two or more different materials.
When you have a quantity of all the same thing -- like a quantity of bulk MSM, you would not say that one particle of MSM "adheres" to another particle of MSM, because these two particles are the same -- not different.
Nonetheless, MSM particles can appear to "stick" together. But, the proper word now is "cohere." In other words, there is no a process of "cohesion," and that is where two or more particles of the exact same substance stick together.
There are not "glued" together. They cohere.
Different materials have different characteristics of "cohesion."
MSM happens to have a slight tendency for the particles to "cohere" to one another.
Cohesion is a function of the size of particles.
Obviously if you have two large balls of the same material, and they touch, the amount of area touching will be very tiny compared to the mass of the balls -- there will be no cohesion.
But, if the two "balls" are the size of molecules, then the area where the two particles touch will be very large compared to the total mass of those molecules. In this case you might get quite a bit of cohesion.
When MSM is ground down to relatively large sized particles, "Crystal Ice," there is less tendency for it to cohere -- there is less "lumping" of the material.
When MSM is ground down to very small sizes, like "Crystal Snow," the particles are more likely to cohere to one another.
Thus, you get more lumping in Crystal Snow than you do in Crystal Ice.
If you want to mix MSM with other materials, the size of the particle might be important to you -- but that would be a factor of the size of the other particles and how well "big" pieces of stuff "flow" through the machinery relative to "small" pieces of stuff.
There is more to be known in this area, but the consumer should know that whether the crystals are large or small, they have the same benefits in the body.
If the MSM has been changed to make it taste better, those additives might be harmless, or they might be a problem. Most additives are harmless, but they do take up space and weight -- so that you don't have pure MSM.
When you see "MSM Crystal Ice" being promoted, you can now understand it.
When you see "MSM Crystal Snow," or "MSM Snow" being promoted, you will now know about it.
Bill, thanks for asking that question.
Karl Loren
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