Activated Charcoal (also called Activated Carbon) has long been known to combat poisons and intestinal disorders.  Activated charcoal is frequently used immediately after the ingestion of a poison to prevent damage throughout the body.  In fact, it is commonly used in emergency rooms for in response to poisonings, drug overdoses, and other contaminations.  It is the preferred treatment over ipecac or stomach pumping, which are rarely used anymore.

Through years of research and practical application, it has been discovered that activated charcoal can aid in general detoxification, normalizing cholesterol, improving intestinal function, accelerating weight loss, protecting against pathogens, and improving overall longevity. In one animal study, Russian gerontologist Dr. V.V. Frolkis demonstrated that the use of Activated Charcoal increases the mean lifespan of older test animals by approximately 40% and their maximum lifespan by approximately 34%. ¹

Activated Charcoal is a highly adsorbent material that most people associate with air and water filters.  (Adsorption, as opposed to absorbtion, is an electrical, not mechanical, process by which the organic and inorganic compounds bind to the surface of the Activated Charcoal without entering into its molecule.)  It is this amazing adsorbency that plays a critical role in detoxification.

Activated charcoal is created by the treatment of charcoal with oxidizing gases (i.e. high-heat steam) which change the charcoal’s structure making it much more porous, increasing its surface area, therefore adding more “pockets” for the trapping of chemicals, and boosting its overall adsorption capacity.  Further, activated charcoal’s ionic charge is negative, which draws positively-charged toxins to it for effective detoxification.
 
One gram of activated carbon can have a surface area in excess of 500 m2, which is over 5,300 square feet.²   It is able to adsorb thousands of times its own weight, making it perfect for binding toxins and carrying them out of the body completely. 

Through this type of detoxification process, it is natural for the body’s overall metabolic health to improve.  In fact, studies have shown the use of activated charcoal to reduce the concentration of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood serum, liver, heart and brain.  LDL cholesterol has been reduced up to 41% with no significant side-effects.³

The activated charcoal contained in BodyDetox (Step 2 of DailyDetox) not only binds toxins, but prevents re-distribution of toxins throughout the body due to its powerful binding capabilities.  BodyDetox therefore helps to shorten the time required for the body to detoxify, and lessens the workload of the liver.  This enhancement of the detoxification process is often missing in typical detoxification formulas, and is one of the critical components which makes DailyDetox so unique and effective. 

¹ V. Frolkis, et al.  Enterosorption in prolonging old animal life. Exp. Gerontol. 19; 217-25, 1984
 ² Paul PJ, Jhadhav S. Value Added Products from Gasification: Activated Carbon (lecture). The Combustion, Gasification and Propulsion Laboratory (CGPL) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) (2010).  http://cgpl.iisc.ernet.in/
³  Kuusisto P et al. The Lancet, Volume 328, Issue 8503, Pages 366-367, 16 August 1986.