Ultimate Guide to Activated Charcoal: Benefits and Uses

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

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.

I take a heaping tablespoon of activated charcoal in 2 cups of water and have lots of fiber-foods(vegetable!)during the day as well as lots of water. I don't have a problem with constipation as long as I drink sufficiently and eat fiber-foods.

Had severe tooth pain. Had charcoal on hand and tried a paste with water and 4 broken capsules. The pain when I applied the guaze definitely lessened. I still plan on seeing a dentist, but it is a Sunday and at least it is temporary relief.

Hi Rita, activated charcoal would probably reduce the absorption of your medicine if taken around the same time (to be safe, I'd leave at least 4-5 hours between the charcoal and meds).

Will the activated charcoal tabs take away the effectiveness of my medicine?

I have been considering using activated charcoal for multiple conditions, but i'm not sure if it causes constipation, that's the last thing I need right now. any advise and experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

John!! God bless you!! You are so correct. How fortunate we are that all the darkness in the universe cannot extinguish the light of a single flame. Capitalism may have temporarily quashed the benefits of Bird's Eye pepper for the majority of mankind, but God offered us a way, through you, to healing. Amazing. In our search for the Truth, in our attempts at achieving a perfect relationship with Jesus, it is soooo important to acknowledge our own weakness, to admit our own faults and our own inability to save ourselves. When the perfect man, Jesus, was crucified, it was proven that the old system of laws failed, else a perfect man could not have been condemned to death. When we truly put Him first, we naturally seek for the good of ALL mankind, and when that happens we will not be troubled by the fear of appearing foolish or making mistakes. Remember, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God."

Also, in my search for the truth, I notice there is some debate online as to whether African Bird's Eye peppers actually exist. Have you considered growing them for your own use, or to give away/sell in health food stores?

Maybe drinking more water with the charcoal would help?

I had two mosquito bites that swelled to little eggs on my arm. I mixed a little charcoal with water and dabbed that on. The itch stopped immediately and I kept putting it on several times. The swelling went down as well.

My husband cut some tree branches and got three spider bites on the back of his knee. Two of them had already started seeping by the time he showed it to me and one especially looked pretty scary. We put some charcoal on mixed with water and then covered everything with bandaids. We changed this several times and after about three days one bite is gone and the other two look like they are healing nicely.

I just had my gallbaldder removed and I have been so sick and can't sleep.....miserable....I got some charcoal tablets and now feel alot better and can sleep......I recommend this for upset stomachs instead of baking soda and other remedies at the pharmacy....charcoal works! Helen D.

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!!

Did you ever find a source for ceyanne pepper (Bird's Eye Pepper)? I would like to purchase as well, but don't know where to find it. As you mentioned, by the time you find a source, the product is reduced to useless powder not yeilding any health benefits or so expensive you need to finance. You may email me direct if you like. Sincerely, RR

Irritable Bowel Syndrome: I am 33 years old female with a sensitive stomach..Almost everything I consume always result in heavy gas and bloating. A friend recommended to take Charcoal pills..I have tried almost every prescription medications there is and was excited that charcoal is an old asian alternative medications. I take 1-2 capsule 1-2hours prior to eating..I make sure to have water intake at least 8 glasses a day. Within 1wk I felt immediate results, less bloating, irrability and back to having a regular bowel movement.

Happy stomach.

A huge thank you to Elizabeth from Woodbury, TN, for posting the charcoal remedy for spider bites. I was sweeping webs off my house & must have been bitten, but didn't notice the bite until the next morning. It itched like a mosquito bite, but felt hot & was beginning to swell. Long story short, I went away on business and could not treat it until 36 hours later. It had swollen up terribly and had been weeping off and on -- it was also very hot. When I got home,I treated it with activated charcoal mixed with colloidal silver as a paste applied to my arm, changing every 30 minutes or so. At bedtime, I covered it with a thick paste & then with a bandage. The next morning, the heat & the swelling were almost completely gone. I continued to apply fresh paste to the bite throughout the day & bandaged it again at night. The recovery from this bite was just short of miraculous -- I wish I had taken photos. Also, I did take several activated charcoal capsules each day along with the application of the paste. I never found out what bit me, although I suspect a hobo spider or brown recluse. Activated charcoal is my new favorite remedy! Thank you earthclinic for providing this information.

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).

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.

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!

I had the same problem as Sharon from Santa Fe. I'm 42 now and for the last couple of years, I've had problems with everything I eat making me bloated and uncomfortable. I've tried everything I can think of, including elimination diets, with no luck. But activated charcoal really worked for me. I take 2 tabs in the morning and then 2 at night, each time about an hour after eating to give my body time to digest the meal's nutrients. I don't usually take it at lunch time because I only have soup or tea and that doesn't seem to upset me too much. I didn't have the diahorrea. My stools were solid and did change to a very dark brown/black and I felt very cleaned out. They passed more easily as well. I'll keep taking the tabs twice a day until I feel like I don't need them. My thanks to Sharon from Santa Fe for recommending this product. Girl, you rock!

I am very allergic to bee stings. I had gotten stung a few times during my childhood and teens, each time with more severe swelling. The last time I had gotten stung (stepped on a bee going barefoot), my leg swelled up like an elephant leg all the way to the thigh (the time before that it was just above the knee). So I knew it would be worse the next time, so I carried an Epi-pen around for a while until it expired. Then I carried nothing with me, but I knew if I got stung again esp. above the waist it would probably cut off my airway circulation. Well, lo and behold, about 20 years later I got stung again, right on my throat, so I yelled for my husband to call 911, thinking I was done for. Then a few seconds later I said, "Never mind! Hang up and help me mix up this charcoal!" So we took some powdered activated charcoal, mixed it with water, and applied it to the sting site. When the paramedics showed up a few minutes later (they had traced the call), we told them we were fine, since there was no swelling at all. I changed the charcoal poultice quite often during that first day, I don't remember exactly how often. Maybe every hour for a few hours. We also ground up some flax seed and mixed it with the charcoal and water. This makes it gelatinous and less runny. I kept the poultice on for about 3 days. Two days later I felt it itch and begin to swell, and then I realized the poultice had slipped off the sting site. So I knew I was still very allergic, and the charcoal had probably saved my life.