Thought you’d heard the end all and be all on weird diets when Dr. Oz was called to account before a Special Congressional Committee on the marketing of weight loss products? Think again. No sooner had the kafuffle over Dr. Oz died down than we were looking at Vinegar Drinking…
Charcoal Supplements generally come in powder form, in gel capsules,
just like vitamins and other real medicinal ingredients.
Now… It’s Charcoal chewing! No. Really…
FLARE magazine’s latest issue looks at the ‘cleansing’ fad based on ingesting Charcoal powder. To be fair, this is not the first time I’ve been aware of health claims for Charcoal. But this is the first time it’s had such high-profile exposure!
‘Cleansing’, redux…
I imagine you’ve heard about all the various ‘cleansing’ diets and regimes that have passed through Western Society like a Metamucil Tsunami over the past decade or so. The principle behind them is to flush all the bad stuff out of your system so you can live longer, stronger, healthier and more vigorously. Some folks say they work. Others, including dietary and health professionals, seem to weigh in heavily in accord with the opposing view.
I personally believe (for what it’s worth) that any benefits you might get from cleansing come from temporarily not putting certain things into your body that you would normally consume. The so-called ‘cleansing agents’ and procedures associated with ‘detox’ regimes probably do nothing positive or constructive in themselves. In fact, medical authorities assert that at least some popular ‘cleansing’ regimes can actually be toxic themselves, potentially doing you more harm than good.
All that aside…
The Charcoal cleansing fad is supposedly based on the ability of Charcoal to capture and flush contaminants from fluids. We’re all familiar with the ubiquitous water filter jugs folks have in their fridges, to ensure a supply of fresh, clean drinking water for their families. Those systems use activated charcoal to mechanically filter fine particulates and certain colour and odour agents from tap water as it passes through the crystalline matrix.. But, according to doctors and chemists, that’s not the way your blood and intra-cellular fluids work. Charcoal can’t actually absorb bad things from your blood, especially those that are completely dissolved in your blood or other fluids.
The good news is, Charcoal itself doesn’t hurt you. It’s primarily plain old neutral carbon and will pass right through you with no effects – beneficial, ill or otherwise. (Although, there are those who will brandish disgusting photos of stuff that Charcoal supposedly scoured from their colons during cleansing rituals. But that’s another story.)
Anyway…
So… I say take Charcoal – and all other internal cleansing regimes – with the proverbial grain of salt.
~ Maggie J.