Written by Sharing Sustainable Solutions
What Is It Good For?
If you’ve ever been poisoned, you know what charcoal powder is, because that is normally what Emergency Rooms administer for an antidote in most such cases. Like many healing substances that cannot be patented , the vast resource of credible data about the healing virtues of activated charcoal remains inaccessible to most. We hope to scratch the surface. Charcoal, like similar useful substances provided for in creation, has not just one healing application, but is believed to produce beneficent results in several instances of family health, and is therefore a product that no house should be without. Let us attempt to discuss just a few.
Charcoal is a clinical absorbent. That means that it absorbs inorganic matter. That is why they use it in water filtration. But it does the same thing anywhere. On a bee sting; on a snake bite; in your stomach when you have the flu. Don?t take it with any pharmaceutical medication, however…… it will absorb it! (On second thought……) Activated charcoal is obtained by blasting the burning charcoal with oxygen, which increases its surface area, and hence its ability to absorb inorganic matter and toxins, enormously. When I speak of charcoal in this article, I am speaking of this activated variety. It will be perhaps necessary to point out that just because something has charcoal in it does not mean that it will therefore be safe to ingest.. Charcoal briquettes, for instance will make you sick if you ingest them.
Activated charcoal is an extremely effective remedy for nearly all poisonings ……Tylenol, Aspirin, barbiturates, chemicals, etc.. Since Charcoal binds nutrients very poorly, an iron tablet overdose will be little helped by it. Strong acid or alkali substances are also best treated by neutralizing the substance with something of the opposite ph. Common household substances would be Vinegar, which is acid, for an alkali poisoning such as lye; or Baking Soda, which is alkali, for an acid poisoning such as a hydrochloric acid poisoning. Though such poisonings are rare, when they occur, it is a great comfort to have the cure at once on hand, and the knowledge of how to administer it, without dependence on a derelict and self-serving medical community.
But Charcoal has a much greater value in the treatment of very common ailments. It works wonderfully, where the allopathic medical community has no remedy to offer whatever, such as in the case of the brown recluse spider bite. This bite can cause a large area of the flesh to die and fall off, and cause gangrene, and other complications. If the bite is on a finger or some area where there is not much flesh, it can necessitate an amputation, for obvious reasons. Timing is everything here. If the bite is recognized quickly, the effects can be greatly mitigated, often leaving only a scar. But if the person waits a couple of days, then the results will be less impressive, but still better nothing ……the standard allopathic treatment. This works best if used in conjunction with Melaluca oil, for some reason, alternating between the two.
As we would suspect, then, Charcoal will work very well for bee stings, or ant stings. In all of these conditions the method of treatment is the Charcoal Compress, which will be described shortly. Charcoal is also of great benefit in Snake Bites. The clinical experience for using this treatment in this case is not worth mentioning; but empirical evidence strongly suggests is effectiveness in treating such cases.
An Arkansas couple reported the following experience: Their 1- year old child was bitten by a Copperhead on the chest. There was swelling in the area, and the child was in extreme pain. They called their doctor, who advised them to get to the E.R. ASAP! But they were 60 miles of winding roads away from the nearest hospital. The doctor told them to use charcoal compresses, changed every ten minutes and get to the hospital. By the time they arrived the swelling was totally gone, and the child was sleeping. As a precautionary measure the antivenin was administered anyway. It should be noted here that the compress should cover the whole extremity, and charcoal should be taken internally as well.
Departing for just a moment from our subject, it will be of interest to the reader to learn that electric shock can also cure snake bites. I know….. it sounds weird. It sounded weird too to a medical missionary, (an invention of this ending age), until he ran out of antivenin, and had people coming to his South American clinic with lethal snake bites.
He had heard of this remedy, and had counted it a fable, but he had people in his clinic who were going to die anyway, and so he tried it. Much to his chagrin it worked. To this day they don?t have a clue why it works, but it absolutely must be DC power. NOT AC. That means that you take the spark plug wire from your car or boat motor, and touch it to the bitten area, and crank the engine, or pull the cord, or whatever, and it will shock the area with DC power. I read this man?s article in some sort of Christian magazine, and it all seemed quite reputable.
Charcoal also works satisfactorily for Poison Ivy & Poison Oak, because it absorbs the toxic oils which cause the infection. Combining some French Green Clay with some Charcoal and Water and applied to the infected area works well. Fresh Plantain mashed up and applied to the infected area also works well. What works best, though, is to wash the area with isopropyl aclohol every time it gets itchy, so as to wash off the oils before they spread.
Charcoal is also a phenomenal treatment for Diarrhea & Vomiting, either from food poisoning, or from infecting agents such as the flu. Finding a satisfactory treatment for nausea and vomiting is a great trial for most. When the flu bug comes into a house it usually means a great deal of suffering. I don?t need to consult the books here, but can speak from experience, that charcoal can utterly relieve these symptoms. I am not a doctor, and I don?t mean to act like one, but Charcoal has relieved great suffering in our house! Again, TIMING here is everything. When you FIRST start feeling nauseous, AT ONCE get up and take some charcoal, (2 tbs. In 8-12 oz. of water, and drink it), and that will simply be it. It will all be over. You will get the flu, you will feel weak, you will feel like going to bed; but you won?t be vomiting, and having diarrhea, which are by far the worst symptoms of this malady, and the next day you should be fine. As you would expect, it doesn’t taste like chocolate milk. It is basically flavorless, but the texture is less than appealing.
But most people seem to wait until they are good and sick, and then try to get better. Charcoal still works here. You WILL spend some time before the toilet, however. You stir in two tablespoons of charcoal into 8-12 oz. of water, and drink it down. If you are already sick you will usually throw it right back up within seconds, or atleast within 10 minutes. But just repeat the treatment, and wait to see what happens. You will usually throw up two times, and hold down the third. The only time that we have gone over three doses is when the intestines have been stopped up and could not receive the treatment, and when these are cleared, (by whatever means, enema, etc.), the cure should be effective.
Charcoal has also been used in Uterine infection. A pencil is made by boiling water, starch, and charcoal together until thick, and this is formed into strips on a pan and let cool. These are then inserted through the cervix into the uterus. This is said to have cured Endometritis, but required more than one pencil. Just how this procedure is performed is unknown to me. Perhaps it could be beneficial when used as a douche in some cases.
Charcoal is also the best possible agent for whitening the teeth. Just brush with it, and that’s it! I should note that we have had our teeth look grey for a short time afterwards, but not to worry….. it goes away. Repeat treatments as necessary.
Charcoal has many other uses. I am getting much of my information from a book entitled, Rx Charcoal by Drs. Calvin & Agatha Thrash, which we sell in our home business. It explains many other uses, and the ones I have mentioned it explains in much greater and authoritative detail. These would include, Eye & Ear conditions; Infections; Inflammation; Chronic Relapsing Pancreatitis; Kidney & Liver Failure, Cholesterol regulation, Diabetes, and others.
How Do I Take Charcoal?
There are several ways. Ranging from most to least common, it would probably look like this: Charcoal in water, taken orally; Charcoal compresses, taken topically; Charcoal bath; Charcoal Enemas; Charcoal pencils; Intravenous Colloidal Charcoal. As nearly all treatments employ the former three methods, we will speak only of those.
Before describing these methods, allow me to make the admission that charcoal is unavoidably messy. No matter how careful you are it will always make a disaster. But when you witness its healing effects and the weal to your household to break free from the monetary drain of the not so great physicians, this problem will seem infinitesimal. To get around this people often buy charcoal in capsules, but they pay dearly for it, and buy it thus in an amount that would be grossly insufficient for a compress, but only for oral administration. Buy it bulk.
The Compress. The first thing that should be said is that any charcoal compress MUST remain wet in order to work. If it dries out it will effect absolutely nothing. The idea of a compress, then, is that you make a mixture of charcoal and water, (sometimes of charcoal, water, and starch to thicken it), and then spread it over the area requiring treatment. The Thrash?s recommend spreading ? in. of the mixture on a paper towel, and then placing another paper towel on top of this, (presumably the paper towels are wet), placing this on the treatment area, and then wrapping with plastic wrap to hold in the moisture. This method is a very clean way to apply charcoal, but our (non-professional) opinion is that better results should be attained by placing the charcoal mixture directly on the skin, and then covering with the wet paper towel, the plastic wrap, etc.. This is much messier, and doesn’t seem to keep the moisture in as well, but it does keep the mixture in more direct contact with the skin. For poison Oak, try adding some French Green Clay to the mixture. Warning: If you use charcoal to draw out toxins from a festering wound, be advised that it CAN permanently tattoo the patient.
Charcoal bath. In some cases where there is a general poisoning, such as in a bee attack, or in a bee alergy case, charcoal can be of great use by taking a cup or two and putting it in the bath tub, and soaking the patient in it. One lady who got into some bees, and who was greatly allergic to bee stings used this treatment, and felt so great that she got out. Within minutes she could hardly breath. This method also underlines the necessity of having more than 100 capsules on hand! I should also here again mention the fact that I have never found a remedy that worked faster or better for the common bee sting, (one sting, no allergies), than simply mixing a little charcoal and water and putting it right on the sting. Within about 10 seconds there is major relief, and within about 30 seconds there is almost total relief. you have to keep in on, though, for about five or ten minutes.
The best remedies are those provided immediately by God to man, and charcoal is definitely once such remedy. While activated charcoal is obtained by employing some rather modern methods, (blasting it with oxygen while burning), and is about four times as effective as non-activated charcoal, it remains that it is but a wood based charcoal, and such as you can get from chewing on any stick put in the fire! Cool it first!
Originally posted @ Sharing Sustainable Solutions
