Charcoal: A New Look at the Old Remedy of Charcoal

Charcoal has been used as a folk remedy as far back as recorded history. North American Indians used charcoal for the treatment of gas pains long before our forefathers came to this continent. Homeopathic physicians have used charcoal throughout the world for more than 200 years. Carbo animalis (animal charcoal) and carbo vegetabilis (wood charcoal) have been carried in the homeopathic pharmacopoeia of the United States with the description that these substances have "marked adsorptive power of gases." Charcoal is rated in Category I (safe and effective) status by the FDA for acute toxic poisoning. Allergies to charcoal have not been reported.

Properties Of Charcoal
Certain electrostatic properties develop in activated charcoal during production, which favor the binding of most poisons. When the gases, resins, proteins, fats, etc., in wood are burned out, the heat generated and the change in chemistry causes the development of a charge on the charcoal granule which attracts most poisonous substances. The skeletal structure remaining in true charcoal is inert.

Activated charcoal is produced from the controlled burning of wood , which is then subjected to the action of an oxidizing gas such as steam or air at elevated temperatures. This process enhances the adsorptive power of charcoal by developing an extensive network of fine pores in the material.

Following activation of charcoal with pressurized steam , the surface area of one cubic centimeter is 1000 square meters! This expanded surface is due to the fact that charcoal particles have thousands of crevices, pits, grooves, and holes which, when opened out, make quite a...