Ultimate Guide to Activated Charcoal: Benefits and Uses

Charcoal Side Effects

3 User Reviews
(3) 
  100%

Posted by Jeanne (Atl, Georgia) on 06/25/2008

WARNING!

Please be careful if you try activated charcoal! I was getting stomach pain 20 minutes after every meal. I finally figured out that my stomach pain started after I took activated charcoal (heaping tablespoon for 2 days in a row - not a lot!). I located the pain in my stomach, found a little lump in the colon, and then used my fist to move the lump to the left. A day later my husband took over, found the lump,(which had moved slightly) and did acupressure for about 2 minutes on the spot-- ohhh yes, it hurt. But within minutes I had to run to the bathroom and the rest is history. No more stomach pain. So please be careful with the charcoal, especially if you have a sensitive stomach! I think that people's stomach aches can be often be an impacted colon. The same thing has happened to me before after eating bread and another time, after drinking psyllium without enough water!

If you press on your stomach and have a painful spot that moves slowly from one day to the next, you may have clogged your colon/intestines. Tons of water helps, but acupressure massage is best to move the obstruction to your bowels and out. One last note is that I was having normal bowel movements even while my colon was impacted, so don't rely on that (constipation or elimination) to judge, but more on the location of pain and whether or not a little lump exists.

Replied by Connie
(Manitowoc, Wisconsin)
08/13/2009

Maybe drinking more water with the charcoal would help?

Replied by Diamond
(Salisbury, Usa)
06/19/2011

Jeanne;I think the inscription might read take only 1/2 a teaspoon of Activated Charcoal, then work your way up gradually to one tsp. Most people will have negative results to anything, even food, but our bodies will let us know when enough is enough or that it's not good for one person but is for another.

True? good luck


Chemo Detoxing

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Cameron (Brisbane, Qld, Australia) on 10/24/2011
★★★★★

Charcoal works in the Colon just as effectively as it does in the stomach and for the same reason as an enema. It prevents any toxins in the gut from being reabsorbed by your body from your gut due to a slow or blocked bowel. There are no better alternatives for ERs than charcoal, medical research shows charcoal as the most effective primary treatment for poisoning or drug overdose and is effective until at least an hour after poisoning/overdose. Do not administer Charcoal to a person who is unconsious except in the most dire circumstances.

My daughter has Leukemia and we were forced by Authorities to submit her for Chemotherapy, she had a severe reaction to a Chemo drug during treatment and eneded up in ICU, then a regular ward for 3 weeks recovering. I use Charcoal to detox the Chemo drugs out of her now to avoid side effects. Recemntly though she had some Doxorubicin an extremely dangerous Chemo drug along with Pegaspargase, we did not get home to administer the charcoal until at least 4 hours after her dose, all of a sudden she was suffering from severe abdominal pain, nausea, joint, bone pain and vomiting. I gave her 1 tablespoon of charcoal in juice and she was in bed asleep less than 5 minutes later with no more syptoms. I am the biggest fan of Charcoal, I have a lot of experience applying it and have done extensive reading about the most amazing and under rated substance I have ever discovered. I never ever leave home without it now.

Charcoal is still the treatment of choice at virtually all ERs that I am aware of, current 2011. Charcoal is the most effective remedy for poisons and toxins of all sorts, it has no known side effects of any sort except to make your Poo go black. Charcoal is not known to ADsorb Nutrients from the body! Charcoal is effective for anything except Solvents, Acids, Highly Alkaline Products or other petroleum based products. Ruling out those few things, it leaves us with an effective remedy for bites and stings of all sorts including spiders and snakes, please seek urgent medical attention for snake or spider bites. To use Charcoal as First Aid for snake or spider bites, apply as a wet Poultice, covered in plastic wrap to stop it drying out. Change as often as possible until you recieve medical help. You can also use Charcoal in a bath, it relieves pain almost instantly.

Diahhrea, Stomach Pain, Nausea, Topical Ulcers and a host of other conditions all can be treated with Charcoal. Nausea can be stopped in as little as 1 minute, vomiting stops in less than 5 minutes, retake charcoal if the charcoal slurry is vomited until vomiting stops, usually less than 3 times. Diahhrea, take a tablespoon in water or juice after each runny stool, your next firm stool will be quite black but do not worry. For Topical Ulcers, make a Poultice with 3 tablespoons Charcoal and 3 tablespoons Starch or Ground Flax Seed (keeps moisture in) and apply this to the cleaned Ulcer site on the back of a clean dressing. Cover the dressing with Plastic to stop the poultice drying out, change every 4 hours to 6 hours.

You may also try Charcoal as a Poultice for Kidney or Liver problems as it will help detox these through the largest organ of your body(skin) quite easily and effectively, change every 4 to six hours, you will notice a urine smell, this means its working.


Detox

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Jennie (Copenhagen, Denmark) on 06/15/2008
★★★★★

I had been losing weight really quickly after starting an exercise program. I wanted to make sure that any old toxins that had been stored in my fat didn't start circulating in my body, so I took 1 tablet of activated charcoal, 3 times a day (remembering to wait 2 hours before/after eating), for a week. I didn't exactly feel a difference, but I SAW one. I looked five years younger (am only 30, so that's a lot for me)! I also highly recommend adding 1 teaspoon of activated charcoal powder to 1 tablespoon of facial mask. It is a mini-facelift!


Diarrhea

5 User Reviews
5 star (5) 
  100%

Posted by Vandu (Maryland, US) on 02/27/2015

Can activated charcoal be used for small child of 4 who is having diarrhea. He had it all day yesterday, twice during night, woke up from it today. So it seems it continues..

When I called the company for the activated charcoal we have, he said it's only for 12 and above. Didn't explain why. I thought it would be fine for 4 year old just smaller amount?

Replied by Mama To Many
(Tennessee)
02/27/2015
★★★★★

Hello!

I have used activated charcoal for children as young as 9 months. I give little ones one tablet to suck on or 1/4 tsp. of the powder in juice or applesauce. I repeat in 2 hours if needed.

I actually find turmeric to be even stronger (though still very safe.). I give little ones 1/4 teaspoon turmeric in applesauce and repeat in two hours If needed.

I am guessing the company doesn't want to worry about liability, so they say not to give it to little ones.

I hope your little guy feels better soon!!

~Mama to Many~

Replied by KS
(Glenview, IL)
07/01/2021

Nurses would feed patients cooked rice when I worked in a hospital in pediatrics for diarrhea and coca cola to drink. Rice is good for both diarrhea and constipation.


Diarrhea
Posted by Isabel (Edinburgh, Scotland) on 07/17/2012
★★★★★

Activated Charcoal Tablets worked like a miracle for me last night. Thank goodness I had them in the cabinet.

For the first time in ages, I landed up with such a painful, swollen, distended stomach, tender and painful to the touch all over so much pain and gurgling noises. Then diarrhea, then feeling sick and woozy. Don't know if it was too spicy a dinner, food poisoning, just an allergy/intolerance or what. But at midnight, what can you do?

These trusty, simple, old-fashioned charcoal tablets (made from coconut shells, I have read) sorted me out COMPLETELY in less than ten minutes. What a miracle cure, when used to treat the right ailment.


Diarrhea
Posted by Cameron (Brisbane, Qld, Australia) on 12/14/2011
★★★★★

Yes, works very fast. Mix some Activated Charcoal in some juice, about a Teaspoon, let it fall to the bottom before mixing and drinking because it floats and any vigorous mixing bfore it sinks will have it all over the place. Also works for stomach upsets, gas and vomiting. Vomiting may take up to 3 doses but it will work, be prepared as black Charcoal Vomit is awful if you miss the bag or toilet.


Diarrhea
Posted by Lisa (Kevil, Ky) on 11/28/2011
★★★★★

Those with negative effects probably took too much, didn't drink enough water, didn't counter with extra fiber from veggies, fruits or fiber supplements. I had a little constipation. Stools were a little dry and hard to pass. So I backed down from a teaspoon 2 or 3 times a day, to 1/2 a tsp. 2 or 3 times a day, and made sure to drink plenty of water and eat enough fiber from foods and I also followed the charcoal with slippery elm, about a tablespoon in a pint of water, which makes a thin mucilaginous drink that is soothing to the gi tract and moves things on through it. I have had great results. Totally stopped the bout of gas and diarrhea that I had hit me, I guess from a bug or food poisoning.


Diarrhea
Posted by Odilon (Palm Coast, FL) on 01/16/2006
★★★★★

Raw Activated Charcoal, works like a dream for diarrhea, in hours not days.


Digestive Problems

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Norman (Edmonton, Canada) on 06/21/2007
★★★★★

Our family has used activated charcoal tablets as a quick remedy for digestive problems for years. In Asia one can buy them for pennies, and with the spicy foods there and possible diaheria at times they are a life saver. Recently I moved back to Canada and feel like I am in a 3rd world country. Anything connected with health and well being is either unavailable or overpriced. How sad that we can not even buy a harmless product that can save ones life when an accidental poisoing occurs. You will only realize how much Canada has peddled backwards in the past 10 years when you visit other countries.


Food Poisoning

7 User Reviews
5 star (7) 
  100%

Posted by Ngok Ti (Busan, South Korea) on 05/22/2011
★★★★★

Last may 10, I accidentally drank tea from a restaurant which might not have prepared it clean. Within 30 mins from when I finished drinking, my stomach started churning painfully and I had severe diarrhea for 3 days. Since I was already alarmed that the condition didn't get better even after taking loperamide, I turned for help from the Chinese drugstore which advised me to take 3 activated carbon capsules before bedtime 3 hours after dinner. As soon as I took the first dose that evening, the diarrhea stopped. My stomach was still a bit painful so I took another dose the following evening. That worked great.


Food Poisoning
Posted by Leah (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) on 04/11/2011
★★★★★

Oh yes, charcoal is an incredibly effective solution for food poisoning!


Food Poisoning
Posted by Yoda (Dubai, Uae) on 08/18/2010
★★★★★

Charcoal is very effective against food poisoning and diarrhea. It stops the vomiting and trips to the toilet in a matter of hours. Several years ago I had food poisoning and diarrhea after having salad. The cream in the salad had gone bad in the summer heat. Soon after having the salad I started vomiting and after an hour diarrhea. I visted a doctor who prescribed me medicine for the food poisoning. However, I was in the same condition the next day and had become severely dehydrated and weak from the diarrhea. I remembered an article I had read in Readers Digest about a certain Canadian doctor Ben Wheeler. He had saved countless lives in a Japanese POW camp by giving the prisoners charcoal made by burning bamboo sticks and water from boiled rice. I found a piece of wood lying in the shed and burnt it on the kitchen stove to make charcoal (much to my mothers dismay). After having a teaspoon of the wood charcoal, my diarrhea stopped in less then an hour. Then I boiled some starchy rice and and drank a glass of water from boiled rice with some salt. In the evening I repeated the treatment and totally recovered in less than 12 hours. In food poisoning and diarrhea, the intestines become inflamed and cannot absorb any nutrition. The rice water contains simple starches which the body easily absorbs and gets nutrition. It is therefore able to fight the illness and recover much more quickly. The salt in the rice water helps in replacing a part of the electrolytes.


Food Poisoning
Posted by Mitsue (Wishart, Queensland Australia) on 11/06/2008
★★★★★

One late afternoon I bought Sushi with raw salmon in it, it must have been sitting there all day, after eating it I had very bad case of vomiting and diarrhea for almost 3 weeks. I remembered that charcoal helps with the poison, and I had charcoal my mother sent me for purifying water. I just was so desperate I just cracked a small piece and ate it. Surprising as it is, my vomiting and diarrhea stopped almost immediately. I should have taken it sooner.. So I have medicated charcoal tablet in my medicine cupboard now and when I had vomiting the other I took one straight away and I was fine!!


Food Poisoning
Posted by Al (Opelousas, USA) on 06/30/2008
★★★★★

I had food poisoning so bad that I was sent to the emergency room, during which time, I was given 2 liters of Sodium Chloride(??). Of course the hospital wants you to pass (diahrrea) the poison, so nothing was administered. I sent a relative to the drug store for Activate Charcoal capsules and followed the recommended dosage; 1gm/hour...within 6-7 hours I could eat small amounts and not experience nauseau or diahrrea(sp?)You should keep a bottle in the refrigerator (safely).


Food Poisoning
Posted by GT (Vero Beach, Florida) on 08/22/2007
★★★★★

Charcoal pills were used for severe food poisoning. Eating chicken that has been left out in the heat of the blazing sun from 4am to dinner time, no refrigeration. Many around me got sick with severe bowel problems. I took charcoal pills, the loose bowels stoped within 10 min.



NEXT 
1 2 3 4