Why You Should Have Activated Charcoal on Hand
Most of us think of a charcoal grill when we see a picture of the black briquettes. Activated charcoal looks like the type used for grilling, but isn’t the same. This type of charcoal is a different form of the carbon substance with a variety of health benefits. Lately I have found myself mentioning activated charcoal a lot and I began to wonder if others know how incredible it is. It is helpful for so many things and inexpensive as well.
What is This Mysterious Powder?
by heating the impure form of carbon to an extremely high temperature in an oxygen free environment. Food-grade activated charcoal is frequently made by heating coconut shells to extremely high temperatures until they are carbonized. This is the black powder in the capsules at the health food stores that you may ingest. This form of charcoal is also very porous and lends to its many health and medical uses. It can also be made by super heating other carbon–rich materials such as wood or peat to make a non-edible form that may be utilized for other uses like skin care products. Due to its ability to draw impurities to the surface of the skin, it makes a great cleanser.
Need a Hangover cure?
If you’ve had a few cocktails and you feel like you may have a headache coming on, this highly absorbent powdered carbon is a great way to help prevent a hangover. You can take a couple of capsules at bedtime and it will bind to the congeners in alcohol. By the time you wake up, you should be feeling great! This is far healthier than taking an aspirin or acetaminophen as those can damage your liver when combined with alcohol. As an added bonus, it helps offset the disruption alcohol has on the gut by reducing inflammation and it helps improve kidney function.
Gastrointestinal Distress
Instead of reaching for , try activated charcoal. This amazing carbon product can be utilized for GI distress to calm the stomach when there is gas, bloating, and nausea. It relieves these symptoms by trapping the gas molecules, thus reducing the gas that causes bloating. While this wonder substance is not a proven treatment for a stomach virus, it may help relieve diarrhea by absorbing fluid from stools, making them more solid. Be sure to drink plenty of water as the activated charcoal may also cause mild dehydration depending on how many doses are taken.
Overdose and Poisoning
When is performed, it is typically accomplished with activated charcoal. This is the medical practice of removing an ingested toxin from the GI tract in order to reduce or eliminate the absorption of the potentially life-threatening effect of the toxic substance.
allowing hospitals to use this miraculous powder to treat overdose and other types of poisoning. You can use activated charcoal at home in an emergency when someone has ingested something poisonous until you can get to the ER for professional treatment. that ingesting 50–100 grams of activated charcoal within the first 5 minutes may reduce a person’s ability to absorb a drug by up to 74%.
In the past, parents were told to use ipecac syrup for a child in the case of poisoning, but that is no longer true. New information shows activated charcoal is significantly in reducing drug absorption. Despite its emetic action, ipecac is not very effective in preventing drug absorption compared to activated charcoal.
Activated Charcoal for Mold and Yeast
Activated charcoal can also be used in cases of because it can bind to molds, mycotoxins, and even heavy metals. Due to its binding ability, activated charcoal can also tame inflammation by keeping damaged cells, aka free radicals, out of the bloodstream where they damage other cells, proteins, and your DNA. This charcoal substance may also have antibacterial properties and is sometimes used to treat skin infections in some regions.
Yeasts are also a type of fungus, like mold. Candida is a type of yeast that normally lives on the mucous membranes of your mouth, throat, and intestines with no ill effects. In some cases, usually due to a lack of healthy bacteria in the body, this yeast can grow out of control and cause an infection known as candidiasis or . This incredible carbon powder can disrupt the bio-film that yeast use as a shield from the immune system, thus allowing the body to defeat the infection. This will be most successful if the beneficial gut bacteria have not been destroyed by antibiotics.
Additional Benefits of Activated Charcoal
Activated charcoal is in the filters for both water filtration and air filtration systems. The porous nature of activated carbon traps odors and volatile organic compounds in the air, like pollution and smoke. In water filtration it binds impurities to the surface of the charcoal in a process called adsorption to purify water.
The Final Verdict
It seems obvious that activated charcoal is an amazing product to have in your home for a variety of reasons. It is truly amazing, but a word of caution here. Because activated charcoal has the ability to bind to metals and certain chemicals, you should speak to your healthcare provider prior to using if you are taking certain medications. Now run out and get yourself a bottle at your local health food store!
Disclaimer: The purpose of this article is to simply provide information. It does not intend to replace the medical advice of a physician. Please speak with your doctor if you have questions or concerns.
