Growing up in a typical Nigerian Sub Urban home, Charcoal was not an unusual site. You only had to take a stroll to the backyard to find it among the firewood and you soon learnt not to stain your clothes or your body with the black colour. It was on the back of darkened pots that you had to scrub after every cooking.
So from an early age, charcoal came to be related to cooking. It's still used today for cooking and barbecuing in many countries. It is of the believe that charcoal is mostly used by countries who are underdeveloped because the developed countries have moved to gas cooker, electric cooker and others.
However, this article is not looking at charcoal as a means of cooking which is the most general knowledge of the use of charcoal but its taking it a notch ahead by taking a look at some other usefulness of the popular substance. There are quite many uses to charcoal spanning quite a massive range:
Purifying Agent
Charcoal in the form of Activated Charcoal is used as a purifying agent to absorb impurities. It is present in Air Filters, Water Filters, Gas Masks etc. Hospitals and poison control centres use it to treat accidental poisoning or a drug overdose.
Activated charcoal is created when carbon is treated with an oxidizing agent resulting in superfine dust with millions of pores and an immense surface area. It is this that allows it to trap toxic substances in your gut like a sponge, preventing them from being absorbed by the body an estimated 47%. The bad stuff is then carried out with your next bowel movement. It is however interesting to note that it is not a very specific absorber of substance and will absorb anything in your gut, good and bad. That includes any useful medication you might be taking.
Teeth Whitening
Activated Charcoal is also said to have whitening properties. The activated charcoal pores bind with rough parts on the teeth, usually surface stains and plaque making it easier to remove the yellow substances once the charcoal has been given enough time to stick to your teeth, it can be removed and when it is, it takes the plaque, food particles and surface stains with it.
Improving Hair and Skin
Activated charcoal draws bacteria, poisons, chemicals, dirt and other micro particles to the surface of skin helping you achieve a flawless complexion and fight acne. Charcoal is not metabolized, adsorbed or absorbed by the body itself. It is however proven to adsorb thousand of times its own mass in harmful substances which makes it a popular ingredient in facial masks. It is the same all natural ability to adsorb that makes it good for hair with less negative reactions because it does not add any new chemicals. It also removes scalp conditions like dandruff, redness, oily and itchy scalps etc.
These uses just have to do with one aspect. Charcoal still has applications in Arts, Horticulture, Production of fireworks and things as random as keeping your tools rust free or curing a hangover.
So what's black, can feed you, save you and make you a lot more pretty? = Charcoal