Activated Charcoal

Bought at your local pharmacy, activated charcoal is commonly used in emergency treatment for specific kinds of poisonings and drug overdoses to keep the poison from being absorbed from the stomach into the body. Charcoal is also used to cure gas/flatulence and help an upset stomach. A natural deodorant and disinfectant, Activated Charcoal is one of the finest absorptive agents known. Orally administered, these fine black granules have an amazing ability to extract and neutralize many more times their own weight in gases, heavy metals, toxins, poisons and other chemicals. Activated Charcoal is made by heating coconut shells in the absence of air. The partly burned shells are then granulated to a size that provides for optimum absorption. This vegetable form of carbon (an element found in all living matter), is completely safe for human consumption. Long recognized as being particularly helpful in providing relief for trapped gas in the lower intestine, physicians and regulatory agencies also acknowledge charcoal's cleansing properties. Known universally, it is used in hospital emergency rooms to neutralize drugs and poisons.

Since 1813, when a chemist swallowed five grams of arsenic trioxide mixed with charcoal with no adverse effect, charcoal has been commonly used as a household remedy for accidental poisoning. Research has shown that one cubic inch of charcoal has the surface area equivalent to a 150,000-square-foot field! Thus a tiny amount of charcoal can hold adhere to a large number of molecules, ions, and atoms and absorb poison quickly.

How it works:
Activated charcoal keeps the poison from being absorbed from the stomach into the body.  Charcoal is most successful if used within the first hour of swallowing poison. In severe poisoning cases, several doses of charcoal might be required. Ordinarily, activated charcoal should not be used to treat the ingestion of corrosive poisons (lye, acids, fuel oil, alcohols, et cetera).

Charcoal can decrease your body's absorption of certain nutrients and also interfere with medications. Because of this, frequent use is not recommended.