August 2018 – Page 2 – Green Lifestyle Market

Cherries Improve Gut Health

Cherries for gout, cherries for gut health. While Montmorency tart cherries have a reputation as both a gout and sleep remedy – it turns out they can actually play a major role in improving gut health.

An international team of scientists has discovered that Montmorency tart cherries – the kind that makes exquisite cherry pies – have a positive impact on the gut microbiome. Microbiome refers to the trillions of bacteria and other microbes living in the intestines. The microbiome is the hottest research trend today because it is now believed that the gut acts as one of the strongest parts of our immune system and impacts our behavior since the microbes among us can act as a “second brain.” It is also offered that the microbiome determines much of heart health, blood sugar control, weight and brain health.

Tart cherries are top fruit for antioxidants – But in a first-of-its kind study, a human trial of nine adults was combined with a parallel laboratory study (Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry) to explore just how much cherries could be a gut-friendly food. The results of the study hold an interesting surprise.

Related: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Weber Shandwick Chicago reports:

While previous studies on Montmorency tart cherries have ranged from heart health and exercise recovery to sleep, this is the first study to explore the potential gut health benefits. The researchers speculate that it may be due to the polyphenols (anthocyanins and other flavonoids) in Montmorency tart cherries, the varietal of tart cherries grown in the U.S. Polyphenols in plant-based foods are broken down by microbes to stimulate growth of good bacteria.

“Montmorency tart cherries were a logical food to study due to their unique composition of polyphenols, including chlorogenic acids,” said principal investigator Franck Carbonero, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Food Science at the University of Arkansas. “Our results suggest that the unique polyphenol mixture in tart cherries may help positively shape the gut microbiome, which could potentially have far-reaching health implications.”

Want to know the amazing part? This study was done using tart cherry juice from concentrate!

The report cont.,

…In the human trial, nine healthy adults, 23-30 years old, drank 8 ounces of Montmorency tart cherry juice (from concentrate) daily for five days. These individuals were non-smokers and had not taken antibiotics (which can affect the microbiome) in the 12 weeks prior and during the study. Using stool samples, the participants’ microbiome was analyzed before and after the dietary intervention, and food frequency questionnaires were used to evaluate their overall diet.

The lab study, however, tried to mimic the human digestive process and tested how polyphenols would break down in three different regions of the intestines, such as the colon.

Related: Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)

The researchers tested U.S.-grown Montmorency tart cherries, European tart cherries, sweet cherries, apricots and isolated polyphenols in each simulated region of the digestive tract. They analyzed changes in the mix of bacteria and how these bacteria helped digest the polyphenols over time.

The results?

Just five days of drinking the juice significantly increased the good gut bacteria of participants in the trial.

Five days.

But before you waste your money on a supplement – read this!

Everyone’s microbiome is different so the cherry juice affected everyone’s gut health differently.

Those who had the healthiest diets (loaded with vegetables, fruit, complex carbohydrates) received the most benefit from tart cherry concentrate. They could process the polyphenols and their guts showed an increase in Bacteroides and Bifidobacterium, probably due to the specific combination of polysaccharides and polyphenols.

Related: Cherries – The Superfood You Should Know About

Those who had a SAD diet (typical Western foods – fried, sugary, low in fiber, etc.) had a lower ability to metabolize polyphenols and therefore, lower bioavailability of the good stuff. Strangely, “instead of Bifidobacterium, Collinsella were the beneficial polyphenol-degrading bacteria stimulated.”

Best Paleo Recipes for Beginners (Ad)

It sounds like someone would be much better off improving their diet before adding tart cherry concentrate to the mix. Some people like to add these concentrates to sparkling water. If you decide to try it, black cherry and grape taste better than tart cherry when added to carbonated water. Nothing beats eating the fruits themselves. Of course, there’s no harm to the occasional piece of homemade pie, given the power of fruit. There are even amazing paleo recipes you can follow!

Do any of you add cherries to your diet or supplement regimen? If so, what were the results? Sound-off below!

This article (Cherries Improve Gut Health) was created by and appeared first at Natural Blaze. It can be reshared with attribution but MUST include link to homepage, bio, intact links and this message. Image: Cherry Marketing Institute

Heather Callaghan is an Energy Healer, consultant, independent researcher/writer, speaker and food & health freedom advocate. She is the Editor and co-founder of NaturalBlaze as well as a certified Self-Referencing IITM Practitioner. She has written over 1,200 articles and wants readers to empower themselves to take back their health!

Lyme and Candida – Why Both Must Be Addressed To Heal

Why and How the Two Go Together

(Organic Lifestyle Magazine) The human body is colonized by an unfathomable number of different microbial species including bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Candida is a normal member of human gut flora. Virtually all of us have it. When beneficial bacteria is not present Candida can become virulent. Lyme patients often undergo long-term antibiotic therapy. Antibiotics destroy beneficial intestinal bacteria which then allows candida, other fungi, and other pathogens to flourish.

Most pathogens, including candida and Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme bacteria), need carbohydrates to survive. How they get their carbohydrates differs, but a diet high in sugars and starches literally feed Candida and Lyme as well as other living pathogens both directly and indirectly.

Since virtually all of us have Candida, those with Lyme are especially susceptible. Even without antibiotic treatments, a weak immune system allows Candida to flourish, grow hyphae, and colonize all around the body.

Some people are not susceptible to Lyme disease. Scientists think that genes and overall health determine susceptibility, but the presence of virulent Candida is probably one of the best measures of the health of a person. As mentioned, we all (or nearly all) have candida, but healthy bodies do not have virulent candida. Candida overgrowth is what happens in a compromised immune system. In other words, even if someone has not been treated with antibiotics, it stands to reason that virulent candida, and many other pathogens are present in the body of someone who is susceptible to Lyme.

Why Lyme Is Becoming More Prevalent

Ticks can’t survive in very cold climates. Warmer climates help ticks reproduce and survive longer, proliferate earlier, and live farther north. And yes, our climate is warming. We can argue that this is caused by man-made pollution or the reversal of our polarity, or the ebb and flow of the planet’s ecosystem, or even intentional geoengineering, but the climate is, without a doubt, getting warmer. Even a minor adjustment in average temperatures can have massive effects on the ecosystem. Warmer winters are also expanding the geographic range of animals associated with Lyme, helping to explain the spread of the disease in northern climates like Canada.

In addition, we have more deer. Deer were nearly extinct at the turn of the 20th century. Hunters decimated deer populations and Lyme disease is believed to be most often contracted by deer ticks. Over the last century, deer have obviously made a comeback.

It’s not just the deer, forty to 90 percent of white-footed mice carry Borrelia burgdorferi, and these mice are also proliferating and expanding their territories lately. There are other creatures that carry the ticks, and other parasites that carry the disease as well.

Some researchers estimate that global warming has doubled tick populations in the US, and increased populations by up to five fold in Canada.

Why Candida Is So Common

Our modern world’s continued fervor for irradicating germs, mostly bacteria, live us to deal with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and fungi. Our sugar and starch consumption is also increasing while our diet diversity is decreasing, and consequently, our gut’s ecosystem diversity is also decreasing. Fungal infections are becoming increasingly prevalent in the human population. Candida albicans incredibly opportunistic and is the most common fungal pathogen found in humans worldwide.

Even the fruit we consume has far more sugar than what our ancestors were accustomed too. Check out the difference between our modern hybridized bananas and the wild ones:

Try looking into other fruit as well and you’ll see that we used to have to work a lot harder for that sugar.

Why You Have To Address Address Both Lyme and Candida

Candida overgrowth opens up the gut. There little tiny holes that are only supposed to allow digested, completely broken down foods. When Candida becomes virulent it makes the gut much too permeable, consequently, pathogens including parasites, undigested proteins, and sugars get into the bloodstream radically overwhelming the immune system. The body is not capable of handling Lyme under such stress. The immune system already has its work cut out for itself under healthy conditions. And, in case you haven’t heard yet, your immune system is only as good as your gut health.

Have you ever heard the phrase “feed a cold, starve a fever?” There is some truth to it, but its incomplete. The phrase should be, “feed a virus, starve bacteria and fungal infections.” But Lyme and Candida take a long time to get rid of, and fasting for months is not a good idea. But we can still starve them by restricting sugars and starches, and we can speed up their demise with supplements.

For more information on Candida, along with a protocol including recommended supplements and diet, check out my article Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections.

I also wrote, Best Supplements To Kill Lyme and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Lyme Disease, but I recommend starting with Candida.

Sources:

The world of plastics, in numbers

(The Conversation) From its early beginnings during and after World War II, the commercial industry for polymers – long chain synthetic molecules of which “plastics” are a common misnomer – has grown rapidly. In 2015, over 320 million tons of polymers, excluding fibers, were manufactured across the globe.

Until the last five years, polymer product designers have typically not considered what will happen after the end of their product’s initial lifetime. This is beginning to change, and this issue will require increasing focus in the years ahead.

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

The plastics industry

“Plastic” has become a somewhat misguided way to describe polymers. Typically derived from petroleum or natural gas, these are long chain molecules with hundreds to thousands of links in each chain. Long chains convey important physical properties, such as strength and toughness, that short molecules simply cannot match.

“Plastic” is actually a shortened form of “thermoplastic,” a term that describes polymeric materials that can be shaped and reshaped using heat.

The modern polymer industry was effectively created by Wallace Carothers at DuPont in the 1930s. His painstaking work on polyamides led to the commercialization of nylon, as a wartime shortage of silk forced women to look elsewhere for stockings.

When other materials became scarce during World War II, researchers looked to synthetic polymers to fill the gaps. For example, the supply of natural rubber for vehicle tires was cut off by the Japanese conquest of Southeast Asia, leading to a synthetic polymer equivalent.

Curiosity-driven breakthroughs in chemistry led to further development of synthetic polymers, including the now widely used polypropylene and high-density polyethylene. Some polymers, such as Teflon, were stumbled upon by accident.

Eventually, the combination of need, scientific advances and serendipity led to the full suite of polymers that you can now readily recognize as “plastics.” These polymers were rapidly commercialized, thanks to a desire to reduce products’ weight and to provide inexpensive alternatives to natural materials like cellulose or cotton.

Types of plastic

The production of synthetic polymers globally is dominated by the polyolefins – polyethylene and polypropylene.

Polyethylene comes in two types: “high density” and “low density.” On the molecular scale, high-density polyethylene looks like a comb with regularly spaced, short teeth. The low-density version, on the other hand, looks like a comb with irregularly spaced teeth of random length – somewhat like a river and its tributaries if seen from high above. Although they’re both polyethylene, the differences in shape make these materials behave differently when molded into films or other products.

Polyolefins are dominant for a few reasons. First, they can be produced using relatively inexpensive natural gas. Second, they’re the lightest synthetic polymers produced at large scale; their density is so low that they float. Third, polyolefins resist damage by water, air, grease, cleaning solvents – all things that these polymers could encounter when in use. Finally, they’re easy to shape into products, while robust enough that packaging made from them won’t deform in a delivery truck sitting in the sun all day.

However, these materials have serious downsides. They degrade painfully slowly, meaning that polyolefins will survive in the environment for decades to centuries. Meanwhile, wave and wind action mechanically abrades them, creating microparticles that can be ingested by fish and animals, making their way up the food chain toward us.

Recycling polyolefins is not as straightforward as one would like owing to collection and cleaning issues. Oxygen and heat cause chain damage during reprocessing, while food and other materials contaminate the polyolefin. Continuing advances in chemistry have created new grades of polyolefins with enhanced strength and durability, but these cannot always mix with other grades during recycling. What’s more, polyolefins are often combined with other materials in multi-layer packaging; while these multi-layer constructs work well, they are impossible to recycle.

Polymers are sometimes criticized for being produced from increasingly scarce petroleum and natural gas. However, the fraction of either natural gas or petroleum used to produce polymers is very low; less than 5 percent of either oil or natural gas produced each year is employed to generate plastics. Further, ethylene can be produced from sugarcane ethanol, as is done commercially by Braskem in Brazil.

How plastic is used

Depending upon the region, packaging consumes 35 to 45 percent of the synthetic polymer produced in total, where the polyolefins dominate. Polyethylene terephthalate, a polyester, dominates the market for beverage bottles and textile fibers.

Building and construction consumes another 20 percent of the total polymers produced, where PVC pipe and its chemical cousins dominate. PVC pipes are lightweight, can be glued rather than soldered or welded, and greatly resist the damaging effects of chlorine in water. Unfortunately, the chlorine atoms that confer PVC this advantage make it very difficult to recycle – most is discarded at the end of life.

Polyurethanes, an entire family of related polymers, are widely used in foam insulation for homes and appliances, as well as in architectural coatings.

The automotive sector uses increasing amounts of thermoplastics, primarily to reduce weight and hence achieve greater fuel efficiency standards. The European Union estimatesthat 16 percent of the weight of an average automobile is plastic components, most notably for interior parts and components.

Over 70 million tons of thermoplastics per year are used in textiles, mostly clothing and carpeting. More than 90 percent of synthetic fibers, largely polyethylene terephthalate, are produced in Asia. The growth in synthetic fiber use in clothing has come at the expense of natural fibers like cotton and wool, which require significant amounts of farmland to be produced. The synthetic fiber industry has seen dramatic growth for clothing and carpeting, thanks to interest in special properties like stretch, moisture-wicking and breathability.

As in the case of packaging, textiles are not commonly recycled. The average U.S. citizen generates over 90 pounds of textile waste each year. According to Greenpeace, the average person in 2016 bought 60 percent more items of clothing every year than the average person did 15 years earlier, and keeps the clothes for a shorter period of time.

Does Monsanto’s Roundup cause cancer? Trial highlights the difficulty of proving a link

In this June 1, 2010 photo, central Illinois corn farmer Jerry McCulley sprays the weed killer glyphosate across his cornfield in Auburn, Ill. A handful of hardy weeds have adapted to survive glyphosate _ sold as Roundup and a variety of other brands _ which many scientists say threatens to make the ubiquitous herbicide far less useful to farmers. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

(The Conversation) Does glyphosate, the active ingredient in the widely used weedkiller Roundup, cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma? This question is at issue now in a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court. Hundreds more claims have been cleared to proceed in a federal multi-district lawsuit.

Illinois corn farmer Jerry McCulley sprays glyphosate across his cornfield in Auburn, June 1, 2010.AP Photo/Seth Perlman

Much of this litigation is based on a 2015 determination by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, that glyphosate is a probable human carcinogen. This report has come under heavy criticism, which is not surprising because there’s a lot of money at stake.

The IARC classification relied in part on experiments in mice. But is that enough to conclude the weed killer causes cancer in humans? Mice are not people, so probably not.

If it was simple to determine the cause of cancer in humans, scientists would do the right experiment and we’d know the answer pretty quickly.

But it’s not simple.

Related: How to Avoid GMOs in 2018 – And Everything Else You Should Know About Genetic Engineering

Proving causation in product liability lawsuits

Epidemiology is one of the sciences that provides evidence needed to prove cause and effect in medicine and public health. It is the most important tool for determining whether exposure to a given substance increases the risk of disease. The problem is that it is easy to do it badly, and a bad study is worse than no study at all.

In fact, after a special hearing examining the science on both sides of the glyphosate argument, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria called epidemiology “loosey-goosey” and a “highly subjective field.” Nonetheless, he concluded that the views on both sides were reasonable and should be heard in court, with the verdict up to a jury.

I have spent much of my working life trying to help figure out why people get cancer. To illustrate how hard it is to prove causality, consider the question: Does smoking cause lung cancer?

Innumerable epidemiological studies since the 1940s have shown a strong association between smoking and lung cancer. But there has never been a randomized trial in humans. In addition, we know from experimental studies that smoking rats don’t get lung cancer.

For years, Big Tobacco dismissed observational studies in people (epidemiology) with the mantra that “association is not causation,” and avoided regulation. The scientific community was intimidated by this strategy for far too long. Eventually, the studies accumulated to the point that the association was overwhelming, and cause and effect could not be denied.

There are two main types of epidemiological study designs: cohort and case-control. In a cohort study, a large group of people – some smokers, some not – are followed over the years to see who gets sick. In a case-control study, a group of lung cancer patients (perhaps several hundred) are asked about their smoking history, along with an equal number of people without lung cancer.

Invariably, in cohort study after cohort study, smokers got sicker from heart disease, lung cancer and many other maladies over time. In most of these studies, scientists did their best to take account of other differences between smokers and non-smokers, so as to isolate the effect of smoking. Also invariably, in case-control studies patients with lung cancer were much more likely to have been smokers than people in the general population.

In the first case of its kind to reach trial, Dewayne Johnson is suing Monsanto, the maker of Roundup. The 46-year-old blames his 2014 cancer diagnosis on Roundup’s active ingredient, glyphosate.

Defining ‘proof’

When scientists are asked for a definition of proof, most of them use criteria such as “reproducibility” and “statistical significance” and “plausibility.” But who decides whether each of these criteria has been met? The answer is a panel of experts. It is unsettling to most scientists to hear that “proof” can only be defined as “a consensus of experts,” but this is true from physics to bird-watching. And what has been proven can later be unproven with new experts and/or new evidence.

Who chooses the experts? They include panels convened by the National Academies of Sciences, or advisory boards of professional societies such as the American College of Cardiology. The makeup of these panels can be challenged, and of course, people can choose to ignore the “experts” and believe what they want.

In health research, “causing” disease is defined as “increasing risk.” This does not mean that exposure to something like cigarettes is both necessary and sufficient to cause disease. Most heavy smokers never get lung cancer, and some lifelong non-smokers do. However, experts agree that smoking causes lung cancer because hundreds of observational epidemiological studies show that a heavy smoker has a risk of lung cancer 10 to 20 times higher than a non-smoker. This agreement among experts is the proof that smoking causes lung cancer.

U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry holds the report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service on the relationship of smoking to health, January 11, 1964. The report led to laws requiring warning labels on cigarette packages and a ban on broadcast cigarette ads. AP Photo/hwg

For many other potential hazards, the epidemiology is either inadequate or contradictory. One study may show an association between exposure and disease, while another shows no relationship. This can happen because the exposure does not cause the disease, and studies that do show a relationship are due to chance, bias and/or confounding – in other words, they are false positive results. It also can happen because the true exposure has not been accurately measured, so existing research is masking a real causative effect – also known as a false negative result.The process of proving cause in science is quite similar to a jury trial. Evidence is presented to a jury (the expert panel or committee), which renders a verdict. To a “reasonable” person, does the evidence rise to the level of guilt – or, in science, proof of cause and effect?

A health scientist sees proof of causation when evidence from epidemiology (observational studies in people) and toxicology (experiments in rats), and, to some extent basic science (does a chemical damage DNA in a test tube?) accumulates to the point where there is no other viable explanation for the evidence than cause and effect. Epidemiology is paramount, because it is a direct assessment of risk in human beings. It is analogous to circumstantial evidence in a jury trial.

Glyphosate is widely used on field crops, including corn, soybeans, cotton and wheat. USGS

Is circumstantial evidence enough?

The fact that smoking causes lung cancer is accepted beyond a reasonable doubt based on the circumstantial evidence of numerous observational epidemiological studies. A convincing case for guilt can rest entirely on circumstantial evidence when that evidence is extensive and strong enough to convince a panel of experts.

It will be harder for jurors in the Roundup trials to weigh epidemiological evidence that glyphosate caused plaintiffs’ cancer, because jurors are rarely experts and successful trial lawyers are exceptionally persuasive.

In my view, there are two crucial requirements for an equitable assessment of proof of causation from products like glyphosate or cigarettes. First, were the epidemiological studies well done? Second, how objective are the jurors and the expert witnesses?

Both science and the judicial system are highly imperfect. The verdicts in these trials could be wrong, and could be appealed. This happens as often in the worlds of science and medicine as it does in the courtroom.

It took many years to develop a broad consensus on cigarettes. Unfortunately for the plaintiffs in the Roundup litigation, the same maybe true for glyphosate.

What Is Activated Charcoal Used For?

Black particles charcoal on a wooden spoon

(Dr. Mercola) Activated charcoal is now making waves in both the medical and cosmetic industry because of its supposed ability to improve your well-being. But this is not an entirely new trend; Egyptian records as early as 1,500 B.C. showed that activated charcoal was already being used to absorb unpleasant odors from putrefying wounds.¹ In this guide, you will learn what activated charcoal’s benefits are and the possible side effects that may occur when you take it.

What Is Activated Charcoal?

Activated charcoal is not the same as the toxic briquettes often used for grilling foods. Instead, it is a byproduct of wood, peat or coconut shells, and is made after being heated along with a gas that assists with opening various “pores” in the coal.²

Related: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

The finished product is a tasteless and odorless powder³ that may have either positive or negative charges, depending on the pH level of the solution used to create the powder.⁴ Activated charcoal powder is very porous, and once activated, the porosity rises, allowing it to efficiently absorb more substances.⁵

Activated charcoal allows harmful drugs and toxins lurking in the body to bind to it, so these materials may be expelled. This is why activated charcoal is often used for patients who have suffered from drug overdose or poisoning, as it helps with their recovery. Activated charcoal powder and capsules, both taken orally, are sold by various retailers.⁶

Activated Charcoal Is a Notable Addition to Water Filters

Activated charcoal can be used for purifying and filtering water. It’s a common ingredient in water filter systems for industrial or home use. It has the potential to trap pesticides, solvents, industrial waste and chemicals, and help reduce unpleasant odors. Activated charcoal has also shown promise in eliminating harmful substances like chlorine, chloramine, phenol and tannins, to name a few, though it may not work for others.⁷ You can check out a detailed list in this article.

Activated Charcoal May Have Beneficial Uses for Your Body

Activated charcoal may also be used for other medicinal purposes:⁸

•May work as a poison antidote: Activated charcoal is most known for its capability to facilitate a chemical process called adsorption. This means it can trap harmful chemicals and toxins in the bloodstream in its pores.⁹ According to a 2000 British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology article, activated charcoal’s beneficial effects may be at their best when taken at least an hour after toxic substance intake.¹⁰

•Work against the effects of toxic mold: Mold may cause health issues like depression, reduced brain function, kidney and liver failure, eye irritation and weakened immune system function. Activated charcoal may help combat these effects.^11,¹²

Prior to using activated charcoal, consult a physician first to fully check for symptoms of mold exposure. Talk to a professional to check for the presence of mold at home so that the situation can be properly dealt with.

•Help prevent premature aging: Activated charcoal may aid in supporting adrenal gland health and preventing cellular damage to your kidneys¹³ (when taken alongside a low-protein diet¹⁴) and liver.¹⁵

Related: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

•Help relieve gastrointestinal issues: Activated charcoal may be useful for people dealing with bloating, diarrhea and other related issues, since it can bind with gas-causing byproducts in foods.¹⁶ In fact, the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) has promoted the use of over-the-counter charcoal tablets as a potential method to address flatulence.¹⁷

•Assist in treating bug and/or snake bites: If you or someone you know is suffering from the effects of bee stings or mosquito, fire ant, or spider bites, a combination of activated charcoal and coconut oil may help address the condition.

A 2013 Der Anaesthesist study has also proposed the use of activated charcoal to combat the effects of snake bites, although more studies have to be conducted to truly determine its true efficiency toward this life-threatening health issue.¹⁸

There are other reports indicating that activated charcoal may assist with eliminating fishy odors linked to a disorder called trimethylaminuria,¹⁹ optimizing cholesterol levels, promoting better kidney function, treating patients with chronic kidney disease, promoting better renal dialysis outcomes, and shielding workers who may have been exposed to vapors (via the use of a charcoal cartridge).²⁰

Take note, however, that activated charcoal is not an instant cure. If you want to significantly improve your health, you need to focus on improving your lifestyle by eating healthy foods and maintaining a regular exercise routine.

Can Activated Charcoal Help With Personal Hygiene?

Activated charcoal face masks are gaining popularity, especially among people who want to improve the overall condition of their skin. Activated charcoal may be used for treating acne, as it may eliminate pimple-causing oil and dead skin cells.²¹ Because of this, numerous online sellers have been promoting the use of charcoal facial sponges as a gentle exfoliant.²²

However, as California-based dermatologist Dr. Ivy Lee highlights in a Reader’s Digest article, there isn’t enough scientific evidence to classify activated charcoal as a potent acne treatment.²³Furthermore, cases of skin peeling were reported after using bamboo charcoal face masks, an adverse effect that was linked to PVA glue. This is an active ingredient in the mask mixture that may target impurities and negatively affect the skin. This is a compelling enough reason for you to consider other more effective natural acne treatments.

There’s also talk of activated charcoal’s potential for dental health, but dentists typically ask their patients to be cautious about using this substance, as it is very abrasive and may damage tooth enamel. The American Dental Association explains:²⁴

… [U]sing materials that are too abrasive on your teeth can actually make them look more yellow. Enamel is what you’re looking to whiten, but if you’re using a scrub that is too rough, you can actually wear it away. When that happens, the next layer of your tooth can become exposed — a softer, yellow tissue called dentin.

If you want whiter teeth, coconut oil may be a better option, especially when you use it for oil pulling. This technique may assist with eliminating harmful bacteria residing in your mouth. You can also add a drop of peppermint essential oil for a minty aftertaste.

Studies on Activated Charcoal

Initial information about activated charcoal’s adsorbent properties were known as early as the 1700s.²⁵ Scientists Michel Betrand, Pierre Touery, William Hort and Sir Alfred Barring Garrod were responsible for some of the earliest studies regarding activated charcoal. Most research during this era discovered activated charcoal’s potential in counteracting clinical effects of poisoning in animals and humans.

It was reported that Touery swallowed a lethal dose of poison called strychnine in front of colleagues at the French Academy of Medicine. He survived because he also drank activated charcoal, proving that it can counteract poison.²⁶

Related: Activated Charcoal is Very Popular Right now – Here’s Why

One of the most recent studies about this substance was published in the journal bioRxiv in August 2017. Results showed that a slow-release activated charcoal formula called DAV132, which was developed by researchers from a Paris-based company called Da Volterra, may assist antibiotics in addressing certain illnesses, without triggering side effects the latter are known to cause.²⁷

The study participants either took five days’ worth of the antibiotic moxifloxacin alongside a twice-daily DAV132 dosage, took the antibiotic only, or received no treatment at all. The researchers discovered that:²⁸

The DAV132 formula had no effect on both the quantities of antibiotics in the bloodstream and in the latter’s efficiency in treating the infection.
DAV132 also assisted with cleaning the large intestine and flushing out antibiotics from the body. This was concluded after examining the amount of antibiotics in the feces of participants who took the formula.
DAV132 maintained around 90 percent of the beneficial gut bacteria in those who took it., Those who only took antibiotics had significantly reduced healthy bacteria.

While this sounds promising, take note that most studies conducted on activated charcoal focused on its effects on adults, and little on children. Guidelines regarding activated charcoal intake for children are often based on case reports and case series.

Future researchers need to consider how activated charcoal can affect children, since it’s during childhood when organs are developing to deal with toxic drugs and chemicals that they may encounter. It’s important to consult a physician or a health expert first before letting a child take activated charcoal. Some children might not be able to handle this supplement which could lead to adverse reactions.²⁹

Side Effects of Activated Charcoal

Generally, the use of activated charcoal is safe, but only when it comes to treating a case of poisoning or an overdose at a healthcare facility, and under the guidance of a health professional.³⁰

An important note regarding frequent activated charcoal intake is its tendency to absorb essential nutrients and minerals,³¹ depleting their levels and raising your risk for certain health problems. Activated charcoal may disrupt proper vitamin and mineral absorption from foods that you eat too, and it may not work well when used with other detoxifying chelating agents.

Related: Best Supplements To Kill Lyme and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Lyme Disease

Side effects have been reported after ingesting activated charcoal, such as pain or swelling of the stomach. People may notice that the tongue or the stool turns black, which is usually expected from this supplement. Other side effects may also occur, but these often do not need medical attention, and may go away during treatment once the body adjusts to the activated charcoal.³²

If activated charcoal triggers severe side effects such as diarrhea, vomiting, constipation or even a suspected gastrointestinal blockage, talk to your doctor or physician immediately.³³ Activated charcoal can block the absorption of medicines (like acetaminophen, theophylline and tricycline antidepressants) or supplements. It’s also known to interact with other medicines like:^34,³⁵

Ipecac or syrup of ipecac, as activated charcoal may decrease its effectiveness³⁶	Drugs used for constipation, such as cathartics (sorbitol or magnesium citrate), since they can trigger electrolyte imbalances and other problems
Precose (acarbose)	Cancer drugs like Arava (leflunomide)
Lanoxin or Digox (digoxin)	Transplant drugs like mycophenolate mofetil and mycophenolic acid
Acetadote (acetylcysteine)	Polyethylene glycole solution³⁷

Lastly, avoid taking activated charcoal mixed with chocolate syrup, ice cream, raw milk or sherbets, since these may prevent it from working properly.³⁸

The full extent of activated charcoal’s capabilities is still being determined, but there’s evidence showing its potential when it comes to improving your well-being. It may not be a magic solution for coping with certain health problems, but it can be a complementary option if conventional treatments do not suffice.