Daily Use Of Activated Charcoal — Who Else?

[ecstatichamster]

@Tarmander I believe told me he uses activated charcoal every day.

Who else uses it every day? How long have you done so, how much do you take, and what effect does it have?

I’m starting to believe that activated charcoal may have the best effect of all of any of the supplements I’ve been taking.

 

[Lee Simeon]

Holly cannoli, everyday? I use it like once a week. Works like a charm though

 

[Peata]

I've thought about it, but still wonder when the timing is best. Before bed? Also, don't want it to adsorb other things I take or vitamins from food. Are you taking it in capsule or bulk form?

 

[ecstatichamster]

I'm using a few teaspoons to a tablespoon of Health Natura's granular AC. Last time I just put the granules in my mouth and drank water and they fell down my throat pretty easily.

I am not convinced this is a good idea every day. But I seem to do a LOT better on it than anything else, such as mushrooms or carrot salad.

(We've been feeding our dog AC with her meals and she's been remarkably robust despite severe health problems. Doesn't prove anything but it's good to know. We also now give her bentonite clay and that seems to help a lot too.)

 

[Greg says]

'It does destroy some vitamins by oxidation, that's why he [V.V. Frolkis] used it only intermittently.' - Ray Peat [email exchange]

'....it's great but it adsorbs compounds with positive charge, like the electrolyte minerals, as one small example. I became nearly unable to walk from charcoal induced potassium deficiency. So the more you take the more you need to supplement with vitamins minerals etc.'

From a comment on website about V.V. Frolkis

 

[jitsmonkey]

there is no need to be concerned about it absorbing nutrients if you're using it weekly
I'd avoid taking supplements near it but the absorption of food from one meal say dinner
and snack if you take it right before bed is nothing to worry about if its just once a week.
Avoiding taking it all together would cause more harm than taking it periodically

Daily use is a different animal I don't know anyone who takes it that often nor recommends that.

 

[cyclops]

I took 4 tablespoons last night. Is that too much?

 

[Lurker]

I took 4 tablespoons last night. Is that too much?

That’s about how much I take, two heaping soup spoons which would equal about 4 level tablespoons. The stuff is messy so the fewer spoonfuls the better.

 

[brainfog]

What is the reasoning to take it every other day? Ive seen i few ppl saying they take it every other day, but wouldent every day be better? Instead of taking 2 grams every 2 days then take 1 gram every day etc.

 

[ecstatichamster]

the idea is to give your body a complete break so that minerals and nutrients are not being sucked out into the charcoal every day, resulting in a long term deficiency in something...

 

[japanesedude]

How long does it works?(half life)

 

[Obi-wan]

I brush my teeth with it along with toothpaste. Supposed to whiten them...I take the charcoal out of the capsule and put it in a dish. Carful, messy

 

[Braveheart]

once a week usually, on the off day for supplements...before bed...unless there is some gut trouble, then.....

 

[danishispsychic]

I make charcoal lemonade sometimes.... :)

 

[ecstatichamster]

Since I've been doing extremely low starch, I haven't been bothering with the charcoal. Interestingly I don't think I need it.

 

[danishispsychic]

super interesting @ecstatichamster- i am dialing down my starches too so reading your post confirms my mission. when i read yesterday in one of Dr. Peats articles that yeast is estrogenic... i totally had an ah ha moment on why gluten free breads dont even work for me anymore

 

[Captain_Coconut]

For around 3 months I was on 2 tablespoons activated charcoal daily. I then switched to 1 tbsp bentonite + 1 tbsp activated charcoal, daily, and did that for around 3 months. I eventually ran out of charcoal, and had a lot of bentonite and would still take maybe a few times a week for around a year. Looking back I think I liked the combination of the 2 the best. And I think taking daily was more effective than just once or twice a week, I would say 4 days a week would be ideal. If I had to pick one, it would be charcoal, but honestly both are not that different... clay acts a little more like insoluble fiber... charcoal has the benefit of possibly being more sterile, though I'm not sure it really matters much... I would usually take these before bed, a couple hours after food / supplements. The healing effects were most profound in the first couple of months. Mainly reduced bloating, reduced pain and inflammation, healthy bowel movements. After years of living a low iron lifestyle, and taking a lot of iron chelators, doing intense physical work, and living with a nasal staph infection, towards the end of 2017 I basically pushed myself in to iron deficiency anemia - at the start of this year I tried clay and charcoal again - in hopes it might help me feel more energetic (which it had helped me with a couple years before) - but instead I felt like total crap after. I tried 4 different times, each a week apart, and each time I was left feeling extremely low energy the following day, I now believe that charcoal / and or bentonite are strong chelators of iron, and likely other minerals as well. My opinion is they are best to pulse, e.g. 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off, more than that could be risking mineral depletion / malabsorption. Despite RP's anti-iron stance, my experience has shown me that iron has a sweet spot, too much feeds bad bacteria and speeds up aging, too little and I was left in a state of extreme physical weakness, lethargy, and low dopamine .... it was hell, also I was no longer able to keep a tan, fortunately I perked back up after a couple months on ferrous sulfate. I am still a little wary of taking any clay right now, though I miss the benefits, I am afraid it will wipe me out again like it did earlier this year - it was really uncomfortable, I had dilligently been taking iron and was starting to feel alive again - and just 2 tablespoons of charcoal+clay wiped out several weeks worth of progress I had made on iron. Not only did I feel the change overnight, the redness of my inner eyelids (which slowly had returned after taking daily iron) went all the way back to anemic pale.

 

[Lurker]

For around 3 months I was on 2 tablespoons activated charcoal daily. I then switched to 1 tbsp bentonite + 1 tbsp activated charcoal, daily, and did that for around 3 months. I eventually ran out of charcoal, and had a lot of bentonite and would still take maybe a few times a week for around a year. Looking back I think I liked the combination of the 2 the best. And I think taking daily was more effective than just once or twice a week, I would say 4 days a week would be ideal. If I had to pick one, it would be charcoal, but honestly both are not that different... clay acts a little more like insoluble fiber... charcoal has the benefit of possibly being more sterile, though I'm not sure it really matters much... I would usually take these before bed, a couple hours after food / supplements. The healing effects were most profound in the first couple of months. Mainly reduced bloating, reduced pain and inflammation, healthy bowel movements. After years of living a low iron lifestyle, and taking a lot of iron chelators, doing intense physical work, and living with a nasal staph infection. I basically pushed myself in to iron deficiency anemia - around that time I tried clay and charcoal again - in hopes it might help me feel more energetic (which it had helped me with a couple years before) - but instead I felt like total crap after. I tried 4 different times, each a week apart, and each time I was left feeling extremely low energy the following day, I now believe that charcoal / and or bentonite are strong chelators of iron, and likely other minerals as well. My opinion is they are best to pulse, e.g. 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off, more than that could be risking mineral depletion / malabsorption. Despite RP's anti-iron stance, my experience has shown me that iron has a sweet spot, too much feeds bad bacteria and speeds up aging, too little and I was left in a state of extreme physical weakness, lethargy, and low dopamine .... it was hell, fortunately I perked back up after a couple months on ferrous sulfate.

Ray has mentioned that the aluminum in bentonite can react in stomach acid and could be absorbed in the body.

 

[Captain_Coconut]

Ray has mentioned that the aluminum in bentonite can react in stomach acid and could be absorbed in the body.

I have read that it would take a much stronger acid than stomach acid to free any aluminum from clay.

According to this study, it chelates lead, so if it can chelate a heavy metal, seems to me it would have no trouble holding on to a lighter metal...
Effect of montmorillonite superfine composite on growth performance and tissue lead level in pigs. - PubMed - NCBI

 

[jet9]

What is best time to take charcoal?