Activated carbon there was a big boom a few years ago when many influencers started uploading photos of all kinds of pitch black meals, ensuring they have many detoxifying properties. Chemistry and nutrition experts began to deny that this ingredient was a panacea and that we really need it. detoxify Any. And the truth is that it seems to have worked because the fashion has fallen into disuse. But it still comes back once a year with black products advertised by some companies like special dish for halloween.
From ice cream to burgers or cookies, anything will do. A little activated charcoal into the mixture and, voilawe get spooky halloween plate. The situation is no longer so serious, as it is punctual consumption. However, there are those who continue to warn that this black ingredient is not only not healthy, but can be quite harmful.
There is talk, for example, of how it can reduce the effects of certain medications such as contraceptives or other medicines to treat chronic conditions. In addition, it can directly affect health by causing constipation. Does this mean we can’t have a Halloween burger once a year? To answer, you need to start from the beginning.
What is activated carbon?
Activated carbon, or activated charcoal, is a carbonaceous material with high internal porositywhich makes it an excellent adsorbent. That is, it has the ability to stick to all kinds of substances and pull them along. For this reason, it is used, for example, for clean waste wateror in medicine, for treat poisoning.
This ability to bind to poisons or toxins has erroneously led to boom activated charcoal as a detoxifier. These types of fashion originated from delusion still in effect our body needs regular detoxification. This is mistake; for unless we have been poisoned in some way, there are no toxins in our body. And if they were, then our kidneys and our liver would be responsible for their cleaning. If this is not enough, adsorbents such as activated carbon will come into play. But we insist only in case of intoxication.
How does this affect food?
We have already seen that the consumption of activated charcoal is only advisable if we were intoxicated. Therefore, if we add it to food unnecessarily, it will continue to perform its function, which is not good.
First, just as it clings to toxins and drags them along, it can also cling to certain nutrients in food. subtracting their nutritional value original. Also, medications that are taken intentionally behave like toxins before activated charcoal, so it will also stick to them, causing them to lose their effectiveness.
If it’s paracetamol for pain, it’s not particularly serious. But if this contraceptive, for example, could mean pregnancy. What if it’s a drug? serious chronic illness, can also cause problems. Moreover, if this antibioticsby reducing their effectiveness, resistance can be promoted, although this, if only punctually, as in halloweenIt wouldn’t be too serious.
And this is what we also need to consider: dose. As a rule, restaurants that add activated charcoal to their dishes do not inform the consumer about the amount of this ingredient they contain. But usually not much, since a little is enough to give the color black. For detoxification, the adult dose is usually 25-100 g or 1-2 g/kg. Therefore, if it is significantly lower than this amount, we can assume that it will not affect the medicines we take.
However, we don’t know exactly how much that is. Therefore, if we take a very important medicine, it is clear that the best part is that we don’t play it. In addition, special attention should be paid Childrenin which the lower dose may already stick to the substances we do not want to eliminate.
halloween constipation
Finally, activated charcoal can cause intestinal problems. And the fact is that if it absorbs a lot of substances on the way to the intestines, these may accumulatewhich makes it difficult to remove. It may start out as simple constipation, but in more severe cases, it can lead to more complex intestinal obstruction.
Again, this should not happen at low doses; but still, it is important to be careful not to abuse. In short, the punctual consumption of Halloween activated charcoal products is not as serious as the regular use of this product for supposed benefits that do not exist. However, in case of doubt, especially in the presence of risk factors, it is better to do without its use. We also don’t want to be too terrifying.
Source: Hiper Textual
