HEALTHY BENEFITS OF ACTIVATED CHARCOAL

HEALTHY BENEFITS OF ACTIVATED CHARCOAL

People have been using activated charcoal for thousands of years. In World War I, activated charcoal was used in gas masks to prevent soldiers from being poisoned by chemical exposure, and it has been used to treat water (making it tasteless and odorless) since 1930. Activated charcoal and regular charcoal are almost identical – the only difference is that activated charcoal has been created solely for medicinal use. To create activated charcoal, regular charcoal is heated with a gas that causes the charcoal to expand, creating a porous surface that traps toxins. 

Activated charcoal works because it chemically binds other substances to its surface and can absorb thousands of times its own weight. It also has an incredibly large surface area due to all of its pores – one cubic inch of charcoal has the surface area equivalent to a 150,000 square-foot field. This is why just a bit of charcoal can absorb so many toxins, atoms, and ions. Activated charcoal is available for purchase in capsule form (clear capsules containing powdered charcoal), or can be bought loosely in bulk.

However, if you really need first aid, charcoal is something you need to have on you all the time. You might not know this but it is one of the most medicinal products you can have at home due to its poison extraction ability. In case you never gave it much attention, this is the time to do so. While accidental poisoning is very rare, they are many other uses for activated charcoal that you can take advantage of. Wondering what some of these uses are? Read on to find out more!

1. Preventing Odour

If your shoe smell bad, just get some charcoal and put it in them. If you have any bad smell in your room, drop some charcoal where you suspect the smell could be coming from. If your fridge or freezer smell, put a piece of charcoal in it. If you have strong body odour, just make a powder out of charcoal and use. Charcoal is very good at getting rid of bad smell. Ever wondered why your parents always scooped out the ash from the coal pot to pour in the hen coop or toilet before sweeping? That was to get rid of the odour.

2. Keeping Food Fresh

If you want your vegetables to be fresh all the time, just make a solution out of charcoal and leave your vegetables in them.

3. Removing Toxins From Food

These days, people complain about the use of fertilizers on plants and vegetables, making them unwholesome and poisonous. If you have charcoal, you don’t need to worry about this. All you need to do is leave the vegetables in a charcoal solution overnight and it’ll take care of the toxins. If you suspect any food contains too many chemicals, just drop them in a charcoal solution for some hours and you’re good to go.

4. For Teeth Whitening

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If you want to whiten your teeth, pay no attention to all these adverts on whitening chemicals and technology. Just get yourself some charcoal and grab hold of a plantain stalk. Make a powder out of the charcoal, mash the tip of the plantain stalk, dip it into the charcoal powder and brush your teeth with it for a week.

5. Restoring Soup That Went Bad

If your groundnut soup or palm nut soup go bad, no need to worry about pouring it all away. Just put it back on fire and drop a piece of charcoal in it. This will extract all the bad taste and smell. It will restore the soup to its fresh state.

6. Detoxifying

If you have a hangover out of a drink out with friends the previous night, just have some charcoal with you and chew on it. To make it more effective, make a nice solution out of it and drink. You’re good to go.

7. Neutralizing Alcohol

If you mistakenly did some wild mixing and you are feeling it can knock you out, just add some charcoal to the mixture and your problem is solved. Or if you took in too much alcohol, just drink some charcoal solution and you’re good to go.

8. Healing Wounds

If you have a situation where someone’s wound has become so infected to the state that doctors are saying they have to cut the affected area. Don’t stress over it, get a large amount of charcoal powder & pour it on the wound. This will extract all the poison from the wound and also help it heal faster. If you have a cut and you want to treat it fast, just get some powdered charcoal and pour on it.

9. Water Filtration

If you feel your water is contaminated, you don’t need all these products on the market. Charcoal can do better, just drop some amount of it in it. Don’t worry about the colour, it is safe, you can even chew on charcoal. It is far safer than eating chicken from KFC.

10. Skin Cleansing

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If you have pimples, acne or any skin disease you really want to get rid of or do you want a very smooth face or skin. All you need is charcoal. Make a thick solution out of it and smear it on your body and leave it on for some hours before taking your bath. It will leave your skin smooth & fresh.

11. Stain Removal

If you have some stubborn stain in your kitchen, washroom or on your tiles, You actually need charcoal to get rid of it. I know you’re imagining how this black stainy product can actually remove stains right? Just try it, it works like magic.

12. Getting rid of a Bloated Stomach

If you ate or drank something and you are feeling bloated, charcoal is the best solution to get rid of the bloating.

13. Gets Rid of bad Cholesterol

Making a solution out of charcoal and drinking it helps eliminate all the bad cholesterol you have stored in you.

14. Ulcer Treatment

Charcoal can treat all ulcers. Just make it a habit to always chew some.

15. Slows Down Ageing

While activated charcoal is not a miracle drug and will not prevent aging altogether what it can do is preserve the health of critical organs such as the kidneys and liver, as well as your adrenal glands whose health is indicative of your overall well-being and cellular age. The more stress these organs are exposed to on a daily basis, the faster may be the end-result of cellular ageing and accelerated manifestations on the body. Given the number of toxins you are exposed to on a daily basis, anything that would help to buffer the effect of them on the body is a welcome addition to a healthy living plan.

16. Emergency Antidote

Activated charcoal can be a lifesaver in cases of accidental medicine overdose, such as those of over-the-counter painkillers. Activated charcoal binds and inactivates much of the medication and their metabolites, and help safeguard the liver and kidneys from possible damage. It should be found in everyone’s emergency first aid kit.

Conclusion

The utility of activated charcoal is unquestionable, and given that reports of adverse effects from its use are extremely rare, it is a good idea to always keep some on hand. Having young kids, you never know when accidents may happen; and you know the mantra- “better safe than sorry!”