5 Uses For Activated Charcoal — Gabrielle D'Auria

Activated charcoal is my jam y’all. I’m sure you have all seen the pictures of people on social media brushing their teeth with what looks like black toothpaste? Well my friend, this is activated charcoal. While teeth whitening is a great benefit, there are several other amazing benefits to using this product!

Activated charcoal is a form of carbon, usually made from coconut shells or bamboo, that has been oxidized at extremely high temperatures to change its structure into a highly porous state. It has an extremely high surface area which attracts all manner of pollutants from air and water.

It is so effective at filtering toxic substances, it was used as far back as World War I as the filtering component in gas masks - the first once was developed in 1915. Crazy huh?

Here are my favorites uses for activated charcoal!

1. GAS & BLOATING

This is my favorite use for activated charcoal! Chemicals, pesticides, and bacteria all cause indigestion and upset stomach. Activated charcoal binds to these sources in your gut, removing them and reducing the miserable symptoms that come along with them. This is a MUST when I travel! You can find my favorite brand here.

When you take high does of activated charcoal, it will turn your stools black. Don’t be alarmed, its just exiting your body when that happens. Like all supplements, make sure you are following the directions on the bottle to make sure you are taking it properly! My advice, drink LOTS of water with it!

2. DANDRUFF

Dandruff is the worst! When my candida was really out of control, it looked like it was Christmas time on my head whenever I took a shower. So gross, but honesty is key here. When it was at its worse, activated charcoal was a life safer! Because activated charcoal has antifungal and antibacterial properties, it works wonders on your scalp. There's several different ways you can use it on your scalp to help with dandruff:

You can take a capsule of charcoal and rub it on your scalp before showering. If your dandruff is caused by dry scalp, I would skip the charcoal and do a deep scalp treatment instead.
Use a scalp treatment. I still use it to this day because the smell is amazing! You can find it here. Its a little pricey, but it will last you awhile. Its worth every penny!
If you aren’t in to scalp treatments and you just want something to drop on your scalp and leave it,then this scalp treatment is for you. After you shower, just rub a few drops of this in your scalp. It’s the easiest option out of the three! You can find this product here.

3. Teeth Whitening

Once I went all natural and non toxic, I had zero idea how I was going to whiten my teeth. I had a fresh box of teeth whitener from my dentist that I just stared at in hopes I would change my mind and go back to my old ways. But, I stuck to my guns and searched for other ways to get those pearly whites shining. I found that activated charcoal works wonders pulling the stains out of my teeth. The charcoal binds to the stains lifting them and bringing those chompers back to life! This is my favorite brand that I have found so far! You can find this product here.

4. SOAP

I don’t know why, but I have always been drawn to bar soaps. I guess because I feel like loofahs are full of bacteria and I am just making myself dirtier by using them. Anyway, I was shopping around my favorite natural store and came across activated charcoal bar soap! I felt like I hit the lottery. It was pitch black, which is the complete opposite of most bar soaps, but I was excited to give it a change. Sure enough, I haven’t even had to use my body scrub at all since using this soap. It makes my skin silky smooth! You can find a similar product here.

5. Bug Bites

I was in Costa Rica recently, and I got bug bites constantly. The big bites that make you scratch them until they bleed, you know exactly what I am talking about. I busted a capsule of my activated charcoal and rubbed it on the bite. Sure enough, the swelling and itching reduced! This will work for bee stings and poison ivy too. The activated charcoal pulls out the toxins, ,making the pain and swelling reduce.

These are some of my uses for activated charcoal. Which one sounds the most appealing to you? I hope that you can get some relief by incorporating some of these into your routine! Let me know how it works for you!

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