A veritable star ingredient used in beauty rituals since the dawn of time, vegetable charcoal is famous for its many virtues: detoxifying, absorbing, purifying, whitening... In recent years, vegetable charcoal has made a particularly strong comeback. And it's no coincidence, since this ingredient is totally compatible with the widespread return to natural, organic, healthy, vegan and eco-responsible living. Since then, vegetable charcoal has become a must-have ingredient in cosmetics ranges. In fact, so many of us have adopted it for our bathrooms that we can't keep our hands off it!
The powers of this economical, vegan, organic and eco-responsible natural super-ingredient are not limited to cosmetics, as charcoal is also a particularly effective solution for digestive problems. It is even used in some household products.
To discover all the secrets of vegetable charcoal, an organic, vegan and eco-responsible magic active ingredient, click here!
What is vegetable charcoal?
- Origins
Since ancient times, vegetable charcoal has been recognized for its numerous health benefits and therapeutic properties. Previously even used as a remedy and antidote against poisons, this universal ingredient has survived the centuries and is still very popular and sought-after today!
Did you know that? In 1831, French professor Tourey demonstrated the detoxifying power of vegetable charcoal in a dangerous experiment: he ingested a lethal dose of poison in front of his colleagues at the Université Médicale de France. It was activated vegetable charcoal, which he had mixed with the poison beforehand, that enabled him to survive and prove the effectiveness of this super-ingredient with natural absorption capacities!
Not to be reproduced at home!
- - Manufacturing processes
In France, activated charcoal is obtained from the flameless combustion of carbon-rich plant materials such as coconut shells, poplar, birch, oak, pine, beech, willow, lime or ash wood.
Vegetable charcoal is activated by the action of water vapour, which gives it its characteristic porous appearance, the source of its great absorption power; this is why vegetable charcoal is also called "activated charcoal" or "activated coal".
The result of this unique manufacturing process is an extremely fine, colorless, odorless and tasteless black powder, known and appreciated worldwide for its detoxifying properties and health benefits, particularly in the case of digestive disorders.
Scientific focus: how does vegetable charcoal work in practice?
Adsorption and absorption
Thanks to its porosity, activated vegetable carbon acts like a magnet, allowing gaseous or liquid adsorbates to bind to it. For example, it has the ability to adhere to undesirable elements in the digestive tract, such as food additives, gases, toxic bacteria, pesticides or heavy metals, and then promote their elimination via absorption. Thanks to this action, activated charcoal facilitates digestion!
What are the benefits of charcoal?
- - Global detoxifying and purifying action
An active ingredient widely used in cosmetics, plant charcoal's absorption capacity helps purify the skin by ridding pores of accumulated impurities and toxins, while preserving the skin's hydrolipidic film.
Activated charcoal is effective both externally, in the upper layers of the epidermis, and internally. Thanks to its high porosity and absorption capacity, activated charcoal facilitates the natural elimination of waste, bacteria and toxic or pathogenic elements.
- - Promotes healthy gastrointestinal function and the digestive process
Acting as a transit regulator, activated charcoal can be an excellent solution for limiting digestive disorders - linked, for example, to heavy meals, fatigue, stress or lack of exercise - which can lead to bloating. Activated vegetable charcoal also absorbs poisons, making it particularly suitable and recommended in the field of nutrition, particularly in cases of mild food poisoning. A real ally for everyone's comfort!
- - Natural tooth whitening solution
Widely used in oral care, vegetable charcoal is known for its whitening properties on tooth enamel. It also helps prevent tartar build-up.
Use in moderation if you use pure powder directly on your toothbrush! No more than twice a week to avoid accelerated tooth loosening.
Why take vegetable charcoal?
A few weeks of charcoal detox is always a good idea! Choose organic vegetal charcoal (refer to the label on the product packaging), which flushes out toxins from the body as a whole, helping to boost the body's immune defenses in the face of daily internal and external aggressions. Activated vegetable charcoal is beneficial in many cases:
- - Nutrition: a solution to get your digestive system back on track
- - The No. 1 natural and economical ally in the fight against stomach aches caused by the digestive process.
- - Deeply cleanses and purifies the body, inside and out
- - Regulates excess sebum
- - Shines hair
- - Deep exfoliation
- - Effective solution for fresh breath
- - Naturally whitens teeth by removing plaque
How to take vegetable charcoal Dosage & Dosage
Vegetable charcoal can be taken in a variety of ways, as a dietary supplement, by the skin or orally.
Depending on the specificity of your treatment (oily skin with imperfections, teeth, stomach aches following nutrition during digestion, etc.), you can take activated charcoal in different forms, at your convenience:
- - As a pure, crude powder, in a glass of water or yogurt for immediate effect.
- - Food supplements, in tablet form, with a glass of water
- - Capsules with a glass of water
- - In granules
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recommends a minimum dosage of 1000 mg of detox activated charcoal per serving for optimum effectiveness, particularly in the intestinal tract.
As far as intake is concerned, it's advisable to take these 1000 mg of vegetal charcoal at least 30 minutes before meals, to avoid the charcoal preventing the body from assimilating essential nutrients such as vitamins and minerals.
Remember to repeat the same dose of charcoal shortly after a meal to aid digestion.
What are the possible side effects of taking activated charcoal?
Generally speaking, activated charcoal has few side effects if dosages are respected.
In the case of an unsuitable or overly long course of treatment with activated vegetable charcoal in the form of dietary supplements, for example, certain undesirable effects can occur, such as a slowing down of transit, leading to temporary constipation and black stools.
To avoid these inconveniences, it's advisable to carry out this detox plant charcoal dietary supplement cure on an occasional basis over a short period of time, between 7 and 10 days in most cases.
Caution: if you are taking medication, it is important to know that you should take activated charcoal at least 2-3 hours apart from any medication, so that the effects of the medication are not cancelled out by the absorbing action of the charcoal.
Tips and recipes using activated charcoal :
- Charcoal in the kitchen: food tips and nutrition
Turning now to nutrition, and for an unexpected & surprising effect at the table, don't hesitate to add vegetable charcoal to your recipes! Providing both an aesthetic benefit with its surprisingly original, naturally black color, and a health benefit thanks to its purifying virtues and digestive benefits, vegetable charcoal can be combined with both sweet and savory dishes, since it has no taste or smell.
Tip: Add charcoal to your vegetable oils to purify them and retain only the essential nutrients and vitamins they naturally contain!
The best Halloween recipe for a guaranteed wow effect: the vegetarian black burger with pumpkin and coral lentil patties!
https://cuillereetsaladier.blogspot.com/2018/10/black-burger-vegetarien-galettes.html
- Coal as an ally in everyday household life
At home, the uses for vegetable charcoal are simple, effective and varied, and allow you to adopt an eco-responsible attitude!
- If you're faced with the problem of unpleasant odours in the fridge, place a little vegetable charcoal in a dish and you'll be able to say goodbye to those unpleasant smells, which will be instantly absorbed!
- Thanks to its purifying and absorbing action, activated vegetable carbon can also be used to clean fruit and vegetables in water.
- Purify your tap water, which, depending on the region, can be more or less hard and polluted. At the same time, use plant carbon to enrich your tap water with essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron and potassium, which will be released by the carbon on contact with the water.
- - Use natural household products enriched with activated vegetable carbon to deep-clean your washing machines, for example, in which pie, dirt and numerous residues accumulate.
Discover our charcoal products
In short, vegetable charcoal or activated charcoal is a natural, vegan, eco-responsible, organic ingredient with many superpowers that everyone should adopt!
Yodi understands this and has chosen to incorporate vegetable charcoal into several of its products - 100% vegan and eco-responsible - for optimal effectiveness:
- Facial cleansing powder with purifying vegetal charcoal and organic jojoba oil. For combination and oily skin looking for healthy, deep-cleansed, matte, blemish-free skin.
- Face oil - Shake It! with purifying plant charcoal and Bakuchiol, a plant-based retinol-like compound. For combination to oily skin with imperfections seeking sebum regulation and an even complexion.
