Activated Charcoal is Not Recommended
© Copyright Bee Wilder
It is recommended that you do not take activated charcoal except in an emergency when someone has ingested a poisonous substance or has taken a high dose of drugs. The reasons it should not be taken for detoxification or other reasons is explained below.
What is Activated Carbon/Charcoal?
Source: Activated Charcoal
"Activated carbon does not bind well to certain chemicals, including lithium, alcohols, glycols, ammonia, strong acids and bases, metals and most inorganic minerals, such as sodium, iron, lead, arsenic, fluorine, and boric acid. Activated carbon does adsorb iodine very well and in fact the iodine number, mg/g, (ASTM D28 Standard Method test) is used as an indication of total surface area."
What About Activated Charcoal Water Filters?
Source: What is activated charcoal and why is it used in filters?
"Activated charcoal is good at trapping other carbon-based impurities (“organic” chemicals), as well as things like chlorine. Many other chemicals are not attracted to carbon at all, i.e. sodium, nitrates, etc. This means that an activated charcoal filter will remove certain impurities while ignoring others."
"The two main reasons that chemicals absorb onto activated charcoal are a "dislike" of the water, and attraction to the activated charcoal. Many organic compounds, such as chlorinated and non- chlorinated solvents, gasoline, pesticides and tri-halo-methane can be adsorbed by activated charcoal.
Activated charcoal is effective in removing chlorine and moderately effective in removing some heavy metals. Activated charcoal will also remove metals that are bound to organic molecules. It is important to note that charcoal is not necessarily the same as activated charcoal. Activated charcoal removes vastly more contaminants from water than does ordinary charcoal."
Activated Charcoal Absorbs Iodine
Notice in the statements above that activated charcoal will absorb iodine, which is a very important trace mineral for proper thyroid function.
Activated charcoal products are made by burning wood, peat, coconut shells, etc. at extremely high temperatures.
Safer Detoxifying Methods
There are many safer detoxifying methods listed in How to Detoxify Effectively.