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Charcoal. Activated…charcoal. To be perfectly real with you, nothing about that sounds appetizing. So, why in the world are people eating it? What is so ground-breaking about it that not only makes people want to eat it, but also wash their faces and brush their teeth with it too?
I had to do some major research so I could understand the science behind how activated charcoal benefits the human body inside and out. According to an article called Dr. Axe: Food is Medicine, “Activated charcoal is a potent natural treatment used to trap toxins and chemicals in the body, allowing them to be flushed out so the body doesn’t reabsorb them. It’s made from a variety of sources, but when used in natural healing, it’s important to select activated charcoal made from coconut shells or other natural sources.” In layman’s terms, it prevents the nasty stuff of the outside world from infiltrating our bodies. If that’s the case, sign me up! No really, I probably should have had this fabulous toxin blocker like…yesterday.
You can use it to brighten your teeth if you’re like me and drink a ton of coffee and tea, or have generally stained teeth from drinking wine or eating color potent berries. It also alleviates gas and bloating. Activated charcoal also can be made into ice cream, so, if you’re feeling bloated, dig into a pint of charcoal and go on witcha’ bad self! I also learned that activated charcoal can help treat alcohol poisoning and prevent hangovers. The charcoal doesn’t necessarily absorb the alcohol, but it does play a superhero role in removing other enemy toxins from the body that play a hand in alcohol poisoning. However, if activated charcoal is ingested at the same time as alcohol, as told by some studies, it can reduce blood alcohol levels.
You can practically mix activated charcoal with anything. Don’t believe me? Be my guest and check out Pinterest and see just how creative people can be with it. There’s activated charcoal lemonade, activated charcoal waffles, activated charcoal protein bars, charcoal lattes; I even saw an activated charcoal bundt cake and y’all, when I tell you that your girl was sold and shook, I mean that! The possibilities are literally endless when it comes to what you could make with activated charcoal! The only question left to be asked is, are you brave enough to try it?