Activated Charcoal can be found almost everywhere: in toothpaste, skin care products, baked goods, beverages and water filtration systems. Here’s what you need to know about this seemingly ubiquitous ingredient.

Activated Charcoal is created from carbon-rich materials burned at high temperatures. For example, carbon-rich materials such as wood, coconut shells or coal, are burned at a high temperature (between 600 and 900 degrees Celsius) to create a charcoal powder.

The charcoal powder is then typically charred with some additional material, such as chloride salts, to help create the porous structure. The excess material is then washed away with a dilute acid solution to leave the pure carbon. The charcoal can further be treated to create a finer network of pores, and therefore additional surface area, by exposing it to an oxidising gas, such as steam or carbon dioxide.

So much additional surface area is created during the activation process that 50 grams of activated charcoal has 17.5 times more surface area than a full-size football field, according to a 2016 study in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

Activated Charcoal works by trapping toxins and chemicals in the gut, preventing their absorption. The charcoal’s porous texture has a negative electrical charge, which causes it to attract positively charged molecules, such as toxins and gases. This helps it trap toxins and chemicals in the gut. Because it is not absorbed by your body, it can carry the toxinsbound to its surface out of your body in feces.

Gas reduction: Activated charcoal may help reduce gas production following a gas-producing meal

Water filtration: Activated charcoal is a popular way to reduce heavy metal and fluoride content in water

Tooth whitening: Using activated charcoal to brush your teeth is an effective for tooth whitening. It assists by absorbing plaque and other teeth-staining compounds

Hangover prevention: Activated charcoal can be used as a hangover cure. While consuming it with alcohol may reduce blood alcohol levels

Skin treatment: Applying activated charcoal to the skin is an effective treatment for beauty, acne and insect or snake bites

Gas reduction: Activated charcoal may help reduce gas production following a gas-producing meal

Water filtration: Activated charcoal is a popular way to reduce heavy metal and fluoride content in water

Tooth whitening: Using activated charcoal to brush your teeth is an effective for tooth whitening. It assists by absorbing plaque and other teeth-staining compounds

Hangover prevention: Activated charcoal can be used as a hangover cure. While consuming it with alcohol may reduce blood alcohol levels

Skin treatment: Applying activated charcoal to the skin is an effective treatment for beauty, acne and insect or snake bites