Name: Activated Charcoal: What is Activated Charcoal? Should you use it in Food?
Uploaded: 2022-02-07T10:56:45.000Z
Duration: 6 min 36 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

The other day I was researching how  to make my chocolate cake even darker,  

and I read an article saying that I can add  some activated charcoal to my mix. However,  

I was reluctant to use it cuz I am not sure  if eating charcoal is a good idea or not.  

So why don't we find out with People Also Ask?  

Hi, I am Shao Chieh Lo, welcome to what people  also ask, where I search something seemingly  

obvious and share with you some of its PAA, aka  People Also Ask, which is a feature telling you  

what other people are searching on Google  that relates to your query. Today's keyword  

is activated charcoal. We'll discuss what it  is and whether or not it should be used for  

food or other uses. So let's start with our first  PAA: What is activated charcoal? The question is  

answered by an article titled “What Is Activated  Charcoal Good For? Benefits and Uses” published  

on Healthline which is an American website and  provider of health information headquartered in  

San Francisco, CA. According to this article,  activated charcoal is a fine black powder  

made from bone char, coconut shells, peat,  petroleum coke, coal, olive pits, or sawdust.  

The charcoal is activated by putting it through  a series of high-temperature processes. The  

high temperatures alter its internal structure,  shrinking its pores and expanding its surface  

area. As a result, the resulting charcoal is more  porous than conventional charcoal. Interesting,  

but why do we need more porous charcoal? What is  the point of it? Let's talk about our next PAA:  

What is activated charcoal used for? The  question is answered by an article titled  

“Charcoal, Activated (Oral Route) Proper  Use” published by Mayo Clinic, which is  

a nonprofit American academic medical center  focused on integrated health education,  

and research. Activated charcoal is employed  in the emergency treatment of certain types  

of poisoning by preventing the toxin from being  absorbed from the stomach into the body, according  

to this article. However, If corrosive agents  such as alkalis, strong acids, iron, boric acid,  

lithium, petroleum products such as cleaning  fluid, coal oil, fuel oil, gasoline, kerosene,  

paint thinner, or alcohols have been swallowed,  this might not be effective because it will  

not prevent these poisons from being absorbed  into the body. I also read another article in  

WebMD also mentioned that It is common to used for  high cholesterol, hangovers, and upset stomach,  

but there is no strong scientific evidence  to support most of these uses. Which bring  

us to our next PAA: What toxins does activated  charcoal absorb? The question is answered by an  

article titled “Can activated charcoal detox the  body?” published by MedicalNewsToday. According to  

this article, If a person consumes one of these  specific poisons, activated charcoal treatment  

must be administered within one hour for it to be  effective. However, some substances might move through  

the digestive sysyem more slowly than others, and a  doctor may decide to administer activated charcoal  

beyond the typical 1-hour window. Substances that  might be absorbed by activated charcoal include:  

A bunch of hard to pronounce stuff, I  will just listed in the caption.

Activated charcoal can also be used to provide protection against organic vapors like paints, adhesives,  

and plastics. As a result, workplaces that use or  produce these products often require at-risk staff  

to wear respirators containing activated charcoal  cartridges. Okay, activated charcoal appears to be  

useful in an emergency, but what if I just want  to eat it for the sake of eating it? Let's talk  

about our next PAA: Is it safe to take activated  charcoal daily or use it in food? The answer to  

this question is answered by an article title  ”Here's the truth about activated charcoal, the  

latest supplement trend” published by Today.com,  which is a website associated with The Today Show,  

which is ​​an American news and talk morning  television show that airs on NBC. According  

to this article, many people take an activated  charcoal supplement because they believe it can  

“detox” their bodies or absorb alcohol.  But is it safe to do so? Dr. Michael Lynch,  

medical director for Pittsburgh Poison Center  and assistant professor in the department of  

emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh  School of Medicine, tells TODAY that it would be  

minimal risk to do so, but activated charcoal  really does not do what fans claim it can.  

Activated charcoal is not helpful to treat  over-drinking because It does not bind well to  

ethanol or alcohol. And the very concept of “daily  detox” is dubious because activated charcoal can  

only be used to detox very specific substances  that we usually do not ingest on daily basis.  

Another risk of ​​activated charcoal is that it  does bind well with many prescription drugs, though.  

This means that people who take, blood pressure  medication for example, and also take charcoal  at the same time

may reduce the effectiveness of the medication. As  to whether or not you should put it in your food,  

it is controversial too. I found an article titled  ”Surprise, NYC Apparently Has a Ban on Black Foods  

with Activated Charcoal” published by Eater.  According to this article, The Department of  

Health of New Yorker says that activated charcoal  is banned from all food and drink in the city.  

And it seems that FDA does not approve it to  be used in food in the first place either.  

But again, it would be minimal risk to use it  as food coloring if you want to. Today we  

learned what is activated charcoal,  what is activated charcoal used for,  

and the risks associated with taking it  daily. If you made it to the end of the video,  

chances are that you enjoy learning what  people also ask on Google. But let's face it,  

reading PAA yourself will be a pain. So here's the  deal, I will do the reading for you and upload a  

video compiling some fun PAAs once a week, all  you have to do is to hit the subscribe button and  

the bell icon so you won't miss any PAA report  that I compile. So just do it right now. Bye!