The Detoxifier Found in Every Emergency Room

I want to tell you about something that could one day save your life. I recommend you keep some in your medicine cabinet at all times.

Hospitals consider this so effective they carry it in emergency rooms to treat poison victims.

Taken orally it has the ability to extract and neutralize many more times its own weight in gases, heavy metals, toxins, poisons, and other chemicals.

Just a tiny amount the size of a postage stamp can absorb up to 4 tennis courts worth of toxins!

It saves thousands of lives every year. But it does so much more.

I’m talking about activated charcoal.

Activated charcoal keeps poisons and toxins from being absorbed into your body.

Taking activated charcoal can help wipe out decades of toxic heavy metals that may have been accumulating in your body. Harmful metals like arsenic, copper, mercury, and lead. And removing these toxins will help give you more energy.

Activated charcoal has the well-earned reputation of being a universal antidote. It absorbs harmful chemicals in your body and countless poisonous substances before they can cause harm.

Very few doctors care or realize just how powerful activated charcoal is a detoxifier. Mainstream medicine often depicts detox believers as wacko, left-wing tree huggers who don’t know what they’re doing. Some doctors believe detoxification does little or no good – and is possibly harmful.

But I believe it’s the single best supplement for enhancing detoxification. And it could one day save your life.

Don’t confuse activated charcoal with charcoal briquettes for barbecuing. Those contain toxic chemicals and carcinogens.

Activated charcoal is an all-natural, vegetable form of carbon that’s completely safe. It comes from burning natural substances – like coconuts or certain woods – without using chemicals in the process. Once burned, the shells and wood are ground up into powders (and sometimes made into tablets).

Because it’s in powdered form, you can take it just like you would your favorite protein drink. It’s also easy to find, relatively inexpensive, and easy to take.

How Activated Charcoal Works

Activated charcoal attracts toxins and poisons in your body through a process called adsorption.

Adsorption – not to be confused with absorption – is the electrical attraction of toxins to the surfaces of the charcoal particles. The charcoal itself is not absorbed by your body. So the toxins that are attached to the charcoal eventually exit your body via the bowels.

You could say the charcoal simply attracts these bad guys, then escorts them out without leaving any harmful parts behind.

Most poisons in your body are attracted to charcoal – even prescription drugs. Since your body reacts to most prescription drugs as toxins (that’s why there are so many side effects to meds), activated charcoal taken orally will often adsorb prescription medications and over-the-counter drugs, too.

This is a good thing in the case of overdose patients. The activated charcoal will fight the poisoning from a medication overdose. That’s why every emergency room carries it. It is also used in many different detox programs to help absorb the chronic accumulation of drugs in the body. And prescription drugs – which tend to be toxic – will be absorbed and removed by activated charcoal.1,2

The controversy about ingesting activated charcoal is based on the notion that it also robs the body of nutrients. There is some truth to that. Taking too much activated charcoal could lead to a mineral deficiency. So don’t overdo it. I’m going to give you my guidelines to make sure you don’t interfere with mineral absorption.

Two Ways You Can Use Activated Charcoal

1. Take it orally as part of a regular detox program. Charcoal is safe to regularly consume. Toxicology studies have proven that activated charcoal is basically harmless. Ingesting high dosages does not interfere with sleep, appetite, or cause any major problems.

I regularly use charcoal as part of my personal detoxification plan and recommend making it a major part of your plan, too. Its’ best to take a liquid preparation, because tablets take too long to dissolve and release the activated charcoal. As a result, they’re not as effective.

Take 20 grams a day of powdered activated charcoal mixed with water over a period of two or three months. Take two hours before eating a big meal. (Food can disrupt the detox activity of the charcoal.)

You can find activated charcoal at your local health food store. I recommend getting it in bulk sizes of one pound (454 grams) or more.

2. Apply as a poultice to heal cuts and skin wounds. Activated charcoal can be used externally for pulling toxins and impurities from skin wounds. One study showed that activated charcoal not only helps clean infected wounds, it absorbs the bacteria that may be present.3

You’ll first need to make a poultice. Mix a small amount of activated charcoal powder with water. This will soon turn into a fairly thick mixture. Scoop out some of the charcoal mix and place on a gauze or bandage. Wrap it up into a small pouch and tie it in place. Then place it on the cut or wound. Make sure there’s always a thin layer of material between the charcoal and the skin. Never apply it directly.

You can hold the poultice in place with a small ace bandage, or medical tape. Leave it on the wound for 3-6 hours. Then apply a fresh poultice – if needed – until all signs of infection are gone.

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1 Neuvonen PJ, Olkkola KT. Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Helsinki. “Oral Activated Charcoal in the Treatment of Intoxications. Role of Single and Repeated doses.” Med Toxicol Adverse Drug Exp. 1988 Jan-Dec;3(1):33-58.
2 Keränen T, Sorri A, Moilanen E, Ylitalo P., Department of Pharmacy, University of Eastern Finland. Effects of Charcoal on the Absorption and Elimination of the Antiepileptic Drugs Lamotrigine and Oxcarbazepine. Arzneimittelforschung. 2010;60(7):421-6.
3 Beckett, R. Coombs, T.J., Frost, M.R., McLeish, J. and Thompson, K. 1980. “Charcoal Cloth and Malodorous Wounds.” Lancet, September 13, pg 594.