The Activated Charcoal Food Trend Is Pretty, but You Should Definitely Avoid It
Photos: Courtesy.
Over the unicorn food craze? You're not the only one. Instagrammers are moving on from rainbow foods en masse and filling their feeds with photos of activated charcoal dishes instead. The new chic, black foods are the antithesis of all things magical, colorful, and glittery—and they look great on social media. The thing is, you shouldn't be eating them.
Charcoal is really just burnt organic matter (usually made from coconut shells, peat, or wood). It becomes activated charcoal when it's exposed to certain gases at high temperatures during a special process, and this "activation" helps the charcoal bind with anything it comes in contact with. That’s why you’ve been seeing it in so many beauty products lately—companies claim that the charcoal will bind to dirt and oils to clear your skin.
Doctors use activated charcoal to treat poisoning and drug overdoses, because it binds with the substance before your body absorbs it. But when you eat charcoal, it can also bind with stuff that you don't want to get rid of—like vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients—which obviously isn't great. It can also keep your body from fully absorbing any medications you've taken while eating charcoal-filled foods. Not to mention, there are claims that it causes intestinal blockage. And if you're curious, activated charcoal isn't an effective detox. “The idea that activated charcoal will cleanse your body from toxins doesn’t make sense, as it will only bind to things in your stomach and small intestine—not any ‘toxins’ that have built up in your body,” Alissa Rumsey, M.S., R.D., spokeswoman for of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, previously told SELF.
So unless you're looking to suck some of the nutrients out of your body, you probably don't want to consume any of these trendy foods or drinks. Activated charcoal is ineffective—and potentially harmful. Which is all the more reason to look, not eat. With that in mind, here are 11 pretty charcoal foods that got the Instagram treatment. (There's no harm in looking, right?)
This story originally appeared on Self.
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