I know "activated” charcoal is used in emergency rooms for people who have O.D.ed or for some types of poisoning. I was watching Survivorman (season 1) and saw Les eat ash and charcoal out of a burned out fire to help his stomach ache after eating an ostrich egg.
Is what’s left of a fire the same as activated charcoal?
Is this the same as regular charcoal (burnable but not necessarily briquettes)?
Is that the same stuff that is used in fish tank filters?
How should one determine when to eat it and how much?
Has anyone here done this?
Thanks,
M

When you haven't eaten in a long time and you eat too quickly you can get a build up of excess stomach acid. Ash is an alkali which counter acts stomach acid. I understand you have to be careful about the dosage as too much can make you sick on it's own.

Here is a site that explains the medical usages of activated charcoal:

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/activated_charcoal/article_em.htm

Sue

Here's a Wikipedia article that lays out some useful info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_carbon

It seems (from the info above) that activated charcoal/carbon is the stuff left by fire that hasn't fully burned.

Ash, of course, is a different item, with its own uses.

Charcoal from a campfire has been suggested for addition to questionable water (on the theory that it will absorb a variety of toxins and foul odours/tastes). As I recall, boiling with charcoal in the water is the preferred method.

Before I'd eat anything like that I'd get the advice of a medical professional. Or two.

The SAS Survival Guide recommends an infusion of mint (whole plant, no roots) with crushed charcoal to settle a stomach. It's the only reference I can find so far.

Charcoal is a good to use in the field when you suspect you have eaten some types of poisonous plants (youll know by your gutts heaving and all the puking going on), it will not work for heavy metals or acids. To my knowledge constipation is the primary concern when using charcoal. The difference between activated charcoal and the charcoal from your fire is the activated charcoal is ground to a fine powder. The difference will cause a change in dosage smaller with activated. Don’t use charcoal briquettes some of them have chemicals in them that may do more harm than good

There is a difference between ash and charcoal. Ash is completely burnt wood and charcoal is partially burnt wood. The charcoal from your fire will work to remove toxins. Just not as well as activated charcoal. Activated charcoal is charcoal taken to to a completely different level. To activate charcoal is usually heated with steam to something like 900 degrees centigrade. Very, Very hot. This breaks down the charcoal so that it has a tremendous surface area. The more surface area the more it absorbs. So to do the same job it requires much more plain charcoal. Most commercial activated charcoal is made from coconut hulls.

In Poland charcoal is a popular medicine for upset stomach... My mom used to give it to me when I was little. Now my preffer method is alkaseltzer ... If I remember correctly they were 500 mg tablets.

Everyone knows it's binding properties for toxins. Charcoal also adsorbs gastrointestinial gas and may cause mild constipation which is good ico diarrhea.

Great link on charcoal:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_carbon

So, why the activated carbon pills are not existent in the US? And is there any replacement pills for that? Alka-seltzer is not adsorbent at all.

By the way, ash from plants works simply as sodium carbonate (washing soda) in many ways.