activated charcoal

[kingdong]

This is one of those things that we'd all like to be skeptible about, but it has been shown to at least detoxify the body of hangover toxins, so I have two questions:


1. What the heck does it do?


2. Does it have a place in health for people who arnt drinking a lot? Like maby removing flu toxins or something?

 

[Bionic]

It absorbs toxins. They give it to people who overdose. I've used it to alleviate gassiness and it works AMAZINGLY! It just absorbs it and you're good. I don't think I'd ever use it regularly, though.

 

[ItsHectic]

A while back I accidentally took one of my mums diabetes tablets instead of paracetamol and thankfully I was okay, didnt black out or anything but I spent the night in hospital for monitoring and was given 2 cups of this stuff, almost half a litre, its horrible. Its exactly how you would imagine it chalky and gritty with a charcoal taste, think of a BBQ before the food goes on.

Without getting too graphic, I was fine for the 1st few hours but woke up in the middle of the night with a sudden urge to get this stuff out of me at both ends, which I did explosively.

The body doesn't digest this stuff nor does it want it, this stuff just leeches everything out of your digestive tract and releases it. If you are gonna take it I recommend the caps.

 

[kingdong]

So would it be absorbing nutrition that I didn't whant to lose? Even in little caps? I mean, to cups sounds like it would be unhealthy for anyone who wasn't having an emergency. Why not take it long term Bionic?

 

[GregW]

This sounds like something I might BBQ with? Perhaps I can go easier on the lighter fluid with this.

 

[ItsHectic]

Its only purpose in consuming it is to block absorption of chemicals/medicine to prevent poisoning.
I am really not sure if it could be used for any benefits other than that, but this thread has made me wonder if it could be used to help with hangovers.

I dont think it would be a good idea to take as a supplement though, who knows if it has any unknown effects like raw egg whites do with blocking vitamin H, or anything else like killing good bacteria in the stomach or causing ulcers, I am sure if it had any other benefits such as dieting, detox etc it would be known by now.

 

[kingdong]

At first that all seems fair, but under the "it would be known by now" theory, it would also be known if people who were taking it for gassiness were having long term problems, so there's a lot that I guess we really don't know.

 

[Bionic]

Why not take it long term Bionic?

Well, I can't think of a good reason to have a constant supply of charcoal in me. For my purposes, as needed/sparingly is the only use I have for this.

As for hangovers, I don't think it would help. I believe that the nastiness is caused by dehydration and inflammation. However, if you took it beforehand, it may prevent you from absorbing all the alcohol. Instead of taking charcoal for that, though, you would probably be better off just not drinking as much to achieve the same effect.