Activated Charcoal and Detoxification

Activated charcoal is derived from coconuts shells, woods, or peat. What makes it activated is the process it undergoes after charcoal is formed when it exposed to certain gases at very high temperature.

In the ER, activated charcoal has been used to treat oral poisoning. the pores on the surface of activated charcoal molecules make it easy to take up and bind to drugs or poisons that were accidentally ingested and still present in stomach.

The good thing about activated charcoal that it is not absorbed by the body. So in order for it to work in poison control, it should be taken short after the poison symptoms present.

There is no concrete evidence that activated charcoal lower cholesterol, or detoxification as some have been claimed by dietary supplements manufacturers. However, activated charcoal can bind to nutrients in the digestive system, prevent absorption of prescribed medicine, lead to constipation, and it is not advisable for consumption without instruction from a medical provider.