Is activated charcoal useful for weight loss?

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Activated charcoal for weight loss?

Activated carbon is an effective and relatively non-specific adsorbent of organic compounds. It is true that each type of activated carbon shows preference for some of these compounds over others; it traps first those for which it has greater affinity, but ends up trapping most of them. It is therefore important to know its function before taking it for weight loss.

This is why activated charcoal is the most universal antidote against acute (severe) intoxications by organic compounds, such as those caused by medicines ingested in excessive amounts, drugs of abuse, ornamental plants, fungi, pesticides, rat poison, hydrocarbons, among others.

Treatment with activated charcoal consists of administering it orally to the intoxicated person, as a very fine powder in aqueous suspension. The recommended dose is 0.25 g of charcoal per kilogram of body weight every hour. For example, if the patient weighs 70 kg, an adequate dose of charcoal is 35 g every hour. This weight of charcoal corresponds to a volume of about 70 ml, which is not little, if we consider that a sufficient amount of water must be added to form an ingestible dispersion.

What happens in your body if you consume activated charcoal?

As it passes through the gastrointestinal tract, activated charcoal retains the organic compounds it encounters. It also causes an intestinal dialysis with which it performs a blood purification: the organic compounds contained in the blood, whether they are toxic or not, pass through the cell walls of the intestine and reach the carbon that circulates there.

In addition, activated charcoal also prevents the reabsorption of the active metabolites that reach the duodenum via the bile coming from the liver. All compounds trapped by activated charcoal are excreted with it.

Is activated charcoal recommended for weight loss?

After treating an intoxicated person with activated charcoal, their blood tests show a decrease in levels of urea, creatinine, triglycerides, cholesterol and other organic compounds. This has led many to wonder if activated charcoal could be used as a method for weight loss.

Fats, proteins and carbohydrates are organic compounds, activated charcoal traps them. However, charcoal does not distinguish between those compounds that are and those that are not toxic; between those that are ingested in excess and those that are not; between those that will lead to weight gain and those that will not. Therefore, after some time, activated charcoal would cause weight loss, and it would also cause malnutrition, which is serious.

Therefore, it is NOT recommended to ingest charcoal to lose weight.

In addition to the problem of malnutrition, the amount of activated charcoal that would have to be ingested to lose weight in a noticeable way is very high: one gram of charcoal traps on average half a gram of organic compounds. So, for every 50 g of food eaten in excess, 100 g of activated charcoal would have to be ingested. Amounts like this cause constipation and intestinal irritation, so they need to be supplemented with a saline cathartic (laxative) which, to top it off, also causes dehydration.

Another undesirable effect of ingesting activated charcoal is that it washes away part of the intestinal microbiota (or flora).

So why is activated charcoal used for ingestion in people with severe poisoning?

All these negative effects of administering activated charcoal to a person are not a major problem when it is an acute intoxication, which is truly accidental and sporadic. But they would become a real problem if he/she ingested charcoal frequently in sufficient quantities to lose weight.

Do charcoal capsules help to lose weight?

Pharmacies and health food stores offer capsules or tablets of 400 mg of activated charcoal. Two to three capsules or tablets are indicated for cases of indigestion or flatulence and work well. In this case, the amount of charcoal is small and does not cause the negative effects of higher doses. However, in these quantities, activated charcoal does not have a significant effect on weight loss.

From all this, although activated charcoal is a magnificent remedy against acute intoxication, flatulence and indigestion, it is by no means a recommended method for weight loss.

More information:

What to know about that activated charcoal trend

Should I use activated charcoal?

Would you like to know more about activated carbon?

We invite you to visit the following article where you will find.

What is Activated Carbon and what is it used for?

https://www.carbotecnia.info/aprendizaje/carbon-activado/que-es-carbon-activado/