Fifteen years of asking uncomfortable questions, a fresh look at the research, and the two zeolite products I personally recommend. 

The wellness business has become remarkably efficient at manufacturing experts. A ring light, a dramatic before-and-after, a few borrowed talking points, and a person who discovered the subject on Tuesday is explaining your biology by Thursday.

I have spent more than two decades doing this work: investigating environmental exposures, asking questions about health, and building a publication where those questions have somewhere to live. I intend to keep my name attached to it.

When I directed Vanishing of the Bees, I followed a hard-to-explain warning: the bees were encountering an environment increasingly shaped by human decisions. Understanding what was happening required looking beyond the hive.

My own experience with pesticide exposure in the Dominican Republic brought those questions painfully close to home. I developed multiple chemical sensitivities. I have written about becoming an environmental indicator myself. Once an exposure rearranges your life, the subject takes on a different weight.

That history is part of why I keep returning to zeolite.

It also explains why I am particular about what I recommend. Plenty of zeolite products are on the market. My own recommendations remain Pure Body Extra from Touchstone Essentials and Candice Nicole’s HUMINERAL zeolite. They are different formulations, and I want readers to understand the distinction.

HoneyColony may earn a commission or receive revenue from purchases through the links in this article. Those purchases help support my independent reporting.

A mineral with an interesting interior

“Zeolite” describes a family of minerals. The one at the center of much of the oral-supplement research is clinoptilolite.

Its appeal lies in its architecture: a microscopic framework of channels and cavities that lets it bind certain substances and exchange ions. Researchers are interested in what those properties might accomplish in the digestive tract.

The word certain matters. Binding depends on the material, the substance it encounters, and the surrounding conditions. A mineral doesn’t gain unlimited power because someone puts “detox” on the bottle.

For me, the interesting question is what happens when that chemistry meets an actual human being. We have more to discuss now than when I first covered the subject.

The human research has moved forward

One useful starting point is a 2021 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in Scientific Reports.

Forty-two healthy adults received a purified clinoptilolite preparation called G-PUR or a placebo alongside a tiny dose of a stable lead tracer. The researchers reported approximately 86 to 90 percent less absorption of the newly ingested tracer in the groups receiving G-PUR.

That is a striking result within the experiment’s boundaries. It measured reduced uptake of lead being swallowed at the same time. It did not show that a spray emptied years of stored metals from someone’s organs.

A randomized clinical trial published in 2025 took the question into a different setting: eighty patients with mild to moderate lead poisoning.

Patients receiving oral zeolite tablets alongside standard treatment had lower measured lead levels after two weeks than those receiving standard treatment alone. The authors described zeolite as a promising adjunct.

This deserves attention. It is also a short study in patients receiving medical care, using tablets rather than either liquid product I recommend here. It does not establish what those products would do in a healthy person taking them indefinitely. Suspected lead poisoning requires testing, identifying the exposure, and appropriate treatment.

The digestive research has expanded, too.

A 2024 observational study recruited 204 people with irritable bowel syndrome and followed their experience with a particular PMA-zeolite preparation over eight weeks. Participants who completed the questionnaires reported improvements in abdominal pain, bloating, and several quality-of-life measures. Stool improvements were especially apparent in those with diarrhea.

Because the study lacked a randomized comparison group, it cannot tell us how much of the improvement came from the zeolite itself. The paper also disclosed manufacturer involvement.

A 2025 report in La Clinica Terapeutica involved 100 patients with persistent or recurrent diarrhea. Researchers reported improvements in bowel symptoms and daily life with a specific clinoptilolite powder. The authors called their evidence anecdotal; patients had varied underlying conditions, and they used other treatments and dietary measures. For the record, I am a fan of empirical data.

Taken together, these findings give researchers useful questions to pursue about intestinal binding and digestive symptoms. They give readers something more substantial than a succession of enthusiastic testimonials.

What is new in 2026?

Among the newer papers I reviewed is a study published July 30, 2026, in Frontiers in Immunology. Researchers investigated how clinoptilolite interacted with lipopolysaccharide, or LPS, a component of certain bacteria that can provoke inflammatory responses. In lab experiments, exposure to clinoptilolite reduced LPS activity and some resulting inflammatory signals.

The work used cell models, with a separate safety assessment in rats. It studied a feed-grade material. It was not a human supplement trial, and feed-grade zeolite is not a shopping recommendation. Are humans seemingly only experimented on with unsafe substances? 

What interests me is the direction of the inquiry: whether binding material within the gut could change the signals that follow. That is a concrete biological question worth investigating further.

Why the bottle matters

A shared mineral name does not make every product interchangeable. The source material, processing, particle size, concentration, and additional ingredients all deserve attention. So does testing of the finished product. A laboratory report on purity answers a different question than a clinical study on health outcomes.

I want to see what was tested, when it was tested, and whether the report corresponds to the product being sold. “Natural” is a starting description. It is not the entire investigation.

That is the approach I bring to these two products.

Candice Nicole’s HUMINERAL: a different formulation

One recommendation is HUMINERAL Raw Liquid ZEOLITE with Humic Mineral.

Candice Nicole is HUMINERAL’s founder and president. HoneyColony profiled her work back in 2014. Our interest in her products dates back.

HUMINERAL’s zeolite product combines zeolite with humic mineral material, often described as humates. It is a liquid dropper formulation, distinct from Pure Body Extra’s zeolite-and-water spray.  To get to know the person behind the company, read Candice’s profile and explore Candice’s Corner. Her work gives context to a brand I have covered for years.

Explore HUMINERAL’s zeolite formula through HoneyColony here.

These are the two options I personally recommend. Choosing between formulations deserves some attention to their ingredients and your own circumstances. I am not suggesting that everyone needs both.

The work behind the recommendation

I discussed zeolite with Dr. Sheri Tenpenny in our June 14, 2024 interview. You can watch that conversation here.

Pure Body Extra: the spray

Pure Body Extra, made by Touchstone Essentials, comes in a 60 mL oral spray. Its listed ingredients are hydrated clinoptilolite zeolite and pure water.

I like the simplicity of the format. When I first wrote about it, I described keeping the bottle beside my toothbrush. A product that fits into an ordinary day has a practical advantage over an elaborate routine that never gets repeated.

Touchstone provides a label and laboratory analysis on its product information page. Review the current label for directions.

The company markets the preparation as nanosized. Particle-size measurements and purity testing are useful information; they do not, on their own, establish every claim about where a product travels inside the body or what it removes.

HoneyColony readers: Save $50 on Pure Body Extra through this introductory subscription offer.

Available to eligible new customers. This is a subscription offer. Review the current first-order total, recurring price, shipping, taxes, and cancellation terms before ordering.

In It For the Laung Haul

After fifteen years, I am still interested in the questions that brought me here. What are we encountering in our environment? What can we change? Which products deserve a closer look, and what can we honestly say about them?

I have built a body of work around those questions. Through upheaval and setbacks, I have kept writing, interviewing, and following the sources. I plan to keep going.

If you value this work, share this article and introduce me to someone who has not found me yet. I have spent years bringing worthwhile people and products to your attention. Help bring a little attention to the woman doing the reporting, too. This firecracker still has plenty of fire left. 

Maryam Henein is an independent journalist, founder of HoneyColony, and director of the award-winning documentary Vanishing of the Bees.

Disclaimer: This article shares my research and personal perspective, not an individualized treatment plan. Zeolite products differ, and results from one formulationdon’t apply to another. Supplements are not a substitute for medical evaluation or treatment. Check with a qualified health professional about suitability and possible interactions, particularly if you take medication, are pregnant or nursing, have kidney disease, or are considering use for a child. Follow the current product label.  

Featured photograph: Henk Smeets / tomeikminerals.com, CC BY 4.0.