Charcoal for Digestive Disorders

While most people are familiar with charcoal as a fuel for grilling, it also has medicinal uses. Charcoal is a useful substance and can filter out impurities in water, too. Using charcoal for medicinal purposes is an ancient practice. Depending on your particular ailment, including digestive troubles, you might find relief by using charcoal.

General

• The practice of using charcoal medicinally dates back at least as far as ancient Egypt. The key to charcoal's medicinal powers is its ability to absorb things. Most charcoal used medicinally in the modern world is activated charcoal. It's a special kind of charcoal made from plant materials. After converting the matter into charcoal via heat, that charcoal is activated. The activation process includes heating it to over 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit and treating the charcoal with water vapor or carbon dioxide.

Poison

• One of the first (and most important) uses of charcoal is in poison treatment. If taken within an hour of ingestion of poison (or drug overdose), activated charcoal can counteract the effects of the poison. It achieves this through the absorption of the poison. Many emergency rooms will administer the charcoal in the course of treating a poisoning or drug overdose. You should consult a poison control center or emergency room for assistance with any poisoning or suspected poisoning.

Gas

• Charcoal also may help with gas in the digestive system. Many foods (or combination of foods) we eat can cause gas, which can result in pain, bloating and flatulence. Many people report good results taking activated charcoal with, or just before, the foods that cause digestive problems. The theory is that the charcoal absorbs the foods that haven't properly digested, eliminating some, or all, of the gas.

Other Digestive Problems

• Charcoal has proven effective for other digestive problems, including indigestion and heartburn. Heartburn is caused, in part, by the stomach becoming too acidic. The charcoal can absorb some of the acids. Indigestion (or upset stomach) is often caused by foods that are not quite right and the charcoal, again, absorbs them, keeping them isolated from your digestive tract.

Precautions

• Activated charcoal is considered quite safe. It is used in emergency rooms and available in drug stores. However, remember that charcoal absorbs things, keeping your body from being affected by them. That applies not only to toxins, but also to nutrients. So using it all the time could lead to malnutrition. Certain foods, like chocolate syrup, ice cream and sherbet decrease the effectiveness of charcoal for treating digestive problems.