Let your liver do the detoxing, not charcoal

Part of my day job is to read scientific journals, the way scientists have communicated their findings to each other for more than 350 years. I use an online database called Pubmed, which is home to the abstracts of more than 30 million journal articles in the biomedical and life sciences.

The great news is that Pubmed makes these abstracts freely available for anyone to search and read, not just academics. Give it a try. Interested in diabetes? That’ll return 687,515 abstracts. Vaping? 2884. The bad news is that because they’re freely available, interesting findings can be taken out of context and turned into pills and potions to sell to people.

Like lysine for treating cold sores, vitamin E for its antioxidant properties, or beta-carotene to prevent cancer. At best supplements like these are just a waste of money, but at worst they could be dangerous.

And it’s not just studies in Pubmed. Some people are taking actual medicines out of context. Take activated charcoal.

I’m currently binge-watching ER, the mid-90s TV medical drama and activated charcoal appears regularly throughout the show’s 15 seasons.

That’s because it’s on the World Health Organisation’s list of essential medicines. It’s used to treat poisonings and drug overdoses.

Activated charcoal is made by heating substances like coconut shells or bamboo at high temperatures to turn them into ash and then treating the ash with hot air or steam. This oxidises, or ‘‘activates’’ the charcoal, making lots of tiny holes in its surface that allow the charcoal to soak up a whole range of different chemicals.

These days, activated charcoal is appearing in biscuits, burger buns, smoothies and flat whites. Some come with claims they’re anti-ageing or can assist in ‘‘detoxing’’ you of the toxic chemicals you’re supposedly exposed to. Or even prevent a hangover.

That’s nonsense. Activated charcoal is believed to be fairly safe to humans but taken in a smoothie every day it has the potential to interfere with the absorption of valuable nutrients or even medications you are taking.

Leave the activated charcoal to the emergency department and the detoxing to your liver.

Activated charcoal is appearing in biscuits, burger buns, smoothies and flat whites.