Unless you’ve been living under a rock these past few years, you might have noticed that activated charcoal is all the rage. There are a lot more benefits of charcoal than you might think! Most commonly, it is used in various beauty products or ingested as a detox supplement. There have been all kinds of foods surfacing with activated charcoal added to them. Like ice cream, smoothies, drinks, bread, coffee. You name it; someone has probably made it with activated charcoal by now. It seems weird, but it’s completely harmless. It might even be beneficial for certain people.
One thing I noticed recently is the fact that a lot of us don’t always know the details behind our beauty products. Some people use whatever is trending because it must work wonders if it’s super popular, right? But I wanted to give you a little more information on the different uses for activated charcoal and whether it’s really worth the trouble. Keep in mind, I am by no means an expert, but I’ve been researching these products so much recently I decided I wanted to share all the cool facts that I learned. Hopefully, this will help you learn a little about the benefits of charcoal! I know I learned a lot!
Charcoal vs. Activated Charcoal
Activated charcoal is different from your run of the mill charcoal for a few reasons. Normal charcoal is the sort of stuff you use for grilling. It has a few other uses as well, such as odor removal and even artists use charcoal sticks or pencils for sketching. There are many more uses and benefits of activated charcoal powder, which is why it is so popular right now! It can be used in toothpaste, face masks, and even can be ingested for health benefits. I’ll get into the details of all that really soon. But before I get into the details of the health benefits of charcoal, I wanted to explain what activated charcoal is and why it is different from normal charcoal.
The main difference is how charcoal is made. Activated charcoal is burned at a higher temperature than normal charcoal, and more air is added during the process. This makes it much more porous with a larger surface area than your typical charcoal. This actually why it has more benefits and uses! That is also why you find it in powder form the most often.
Benefits of Charcoal
So you can find activated charcoal in a few different forms, but they pretty much all originated in the powder form. I wanted to touch on each of these different products to give you the rundown of the benefits of charcoal and why you might want to give it a try!
Health Benefits of Charcoal
Activated charcoal has actually been used for a long time in emergency situations. It is highly absorbent because it is so porous. By ingesting it, you can actually avoid harm from things like poison, toxins, or even drug overdose. It will help absorb toxins in your stomach before they reach your bloodstream. I would recommend leaving this trick to the professionals though.
There are plenty of things this will not absorb and testing the limits can be dangerous. Most people use it to remove toxins from their bodies during a detox or cleanse. That’s part of the reason it got so popular! It is also why they have been adding it to foods. I wouldn’t recommend using it too often because it can also absorb the daily nutrients you need as well. But using this occasionally can be really beneficial!
Activated Charcoal Toothpaste
You have probably seen this around. It is pretty popular these days! Charcoal toothpaste can help detox your mouth to fight cavities and gingivitis, whiten your teeth, and fix the pH balance in your mouth. I would highly recommend using this if you want to whiten your teeth over the course of time. It won’t work for instant whitening, but using it consistently for a few weeks will remove surface stains. It will lift stains caused by coffee, tea, wine, or even smoking!
Most of the brands will recommend using this in place of your normal toothpaste. But I would not recommend daily use. It is an abrasive product that can wear away at your enamel over time if you use it all the time. So professionals recommend using it one time a day and only 2-3 days a week. I actually did reviews on the best charcoal toothpaste of 2018. I would check out those reviews if you’d like to find the best charcoal toothpaste for you!
Activated Charcoal Masks
This is actually my personal favorite use for activated charcoal! I’ve used a few different brands, and they are wonderful! It comes in a variety of options too. You can get the notorious peel-off charcoal face masks to remove blackheads. But if you aren’t interested in that slightly painful option, there are also activated charcoal clay masks, bubble masks, sheet masks, or sugar scrubs! I did reviews on the Top 10 Best Charcoal Face Masks too, in case you want some options. If you get the activated charcoal powder, you could even add it to your own DIY home face masks!
When added to a face mask, the activated charcoal will actually remove toxins from your skin. It pulls it all to the surface! So it might feel like you’re really breaking out at first, but you just have to give it some time. If you use it 1-2 times each week, your skin will clear up in no time! You don’t really want to use it more than that because it can dry out your skin when you use it too often.
Activated Charcoal Pills and Powder
It is increasingly popular to use activated charcoal in food or take it as a supplement. It can help you detox or cleanse your stomach. But you also need to remember to drink lots of water in the process! The powder can be added to your normal toothpaste, in DIY face masks, or added to food. But it can be a pretty messy process! That is why the charcoal pills are great in capsule form. That way you can just pop them open to add to whatever you want with much less mess!
Should You Start Using Activated Charcoal?
There are quite a few health benefits of charcoal but whether you want to add it to your list is entirely up to you. It is incredible for a natural detox, but I know some people can be a little shy about adding it to their food. If that’s the case, you could just take the pills. But I can understand not adding it to your routine. I’m not personally planning to take it as a supplement, I’m absolutely awful at drinking enough water on a daily basis, and that’s really important when you’re using activated charcoal as a supplement.
Maybe when I work on that, I’ll consider it more. But I love getting activated charcoal beauty products. Some of my favorite face masks contain activated charcoal, and it works wonders for my skin! It pulls everything to the surface. I just have to make sure I use moisturizer afterward, or it can make my dry skin act up. I’m also interested in the activated charcoal toothpaste because I’m a serious coffee drinker. I’ve considered whitening strips before, but I would much rather use this natural product instead! You just have to be willing to wait a few weeks to see results.
Summing It All Up
In the end, this might be a really simple ingredient, but there are so many benefits of charcoal! I love it because it’s an organic and natural ingredient. So if you’re interested in whitening your teeth without chemicals or want a natural detox for your skin, mouth or body, it’s perfect! It might not be for everyone, but I’m going to stick with it myself. It’s also so much fun to try new things and see such great results! Let us know how activated charcoal worked for you in the comments below!
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