Participants: Margot Marshall (Host), Dr. Eddie Ramirez
Series Code: HL
Program Code: HL000025A
|
00:15 Welcome to "Healthy Living!"
00:16 I'm your host Margot Marshall. 00:18 Activated charcoal is used worldwide in hospital 00:22 emergency rooms to neutralize drugs and poisons. 00:26 And it's also useful though to have on hand 00:28 for a variety of everyday ailments. 00:31 Stay tuned for more on this amazing product. 01:11 Charcoal is able to adsorb thousands of times its 01:15 own weight in gases, heavy metals, poisons and chemicals 01:20 often making them ineffective. 01:22 So it's a very useful item to have in your first aid kit, 01:26 and for all sorts of common ailments. 01:29 Our guest, Dr. Eddie Ramirez, will tell us about this 01:32 amazing product and show us how to use it. 01:34 Welcome Eddie, lovely to have you on the program. 01:37 Thank you very much. 01:39 So what is charcoal? 01:41 I mean, is it just something that we've burnt some wood, 01:44 is that what we're talking about here? 01:47 No, not necessarily - charcoal is something 01:50 that in my opinion, every household should have 01:54 some of it and in a minute we'll talk about the different 01:56 forms that we can find it. 01:58 But what about "activated" charcoal? What's the difference? 02:01 But what charcoal is, is basically a vegetable that has 02:07 been burned completely. 02:10 And the best type of charcoal is actually made out of 02:14 hard wood - that's the one that makes the best charcoal. 02:19 And you were asking about "activated" charcoal. Yes. 02:22 As technology increased, we realized that if we put that 02:27 charcoal under high temperature and high pressure, 02:32 the charcoal particles actually becomes in the form of 02:38 a sphere and by becoming more spherical and by changing 02:45 their electric charges, they actually increase the ability 02:50 to adsorb much more things. 02:53 Yes, well it's amazing the capacity to adsorb, 02:58 it's really incredible! 02:59 But look it, you've done some research on this, 03:01 tell us about your research. 03:03 Yes, I presented a study in a "PhRMA" meeting, 03:12 and the reason why they were interested in this 03:14 PhRMA meeting about my study is because this PhRMA meeting 03:19 was interested in environmental toxins - things that are 03:25 foreign to the body and that cause damage. 03:27 That is called a "xenobiotic substance." 03:29 So here I was showing, in this study, how a spider bite, 03:35 one of the most poisonous spiders that you can find 03:41 is called the "brown recluse," or also is called the 03:46 "violinist spider" because if you notice in its very head 03:49 it has the form of a little violin. 03:53 And in this study we were showing how activated charcoal 04:00 was an excellent aid to the other treatments that 04:05 were being applied. 04:07 See, this spider is so poisonous, it is actually 04:11 more poisonous than a rattlesnake for example. 04:16 That sounds really bad to me! 04:18 Now usually you will not die of this spider bite, 04:22 but what this spider does, it has a poison 04:27 that destroys tissue. Oh. 04:30 And in some people when they get bitten by this, 04:33 if you want to see something incredible how this 04:37 can damage the tissues in the body, just Google 04:39 brown recluse bite and you will see it with your own eyes. 04:43 As this venom starts going to the tissues, in certain 04:48 people - not in everybody, the skin literally dies 04:54 and this becomes a huge problem because a little bite 04:58 can become a big, big problem and usually, 05:02 when you get bitten by this spider, you immediately 05:05 are not able to do much. 05:08 If it bites you in the leg, and in this case in was in the 05:12 feet where the spider where the bite happened. 05:17 The person cannot walk after that, 05:21 that's how tremendous this is. 05:22 The skin starts to change color and so forth, 05:24 so what we did - we started applying activated charcoal 05:29 fomentations and in a minute we will share with you 05:32 the demonstration on how to do this at home - we started 05:37 applying these fomentations every 6 hours continually. 05:42 And you know, usually somebody with this type of bite will 05:46 recover in 3, 4, 5 weeks. 05:50 In his published study that is going to be coming up 05:53 in the journal, "Drug Metabolism Review," 05:56 is called the name of the journal, the person was able 06:00 to actually run by the second week which is unheard of! 06:05 How can somebody recover so soon? 06:08 So we were actually proposing that as a standardized 06:12 treatment activated charcoal should be 06:16 applied for spider bites. 06:19 Now, I know that here in Australia, there are very 06:22 dangerous spiders; in fact, I actually caught a redback 06:27 just for the fun of it. 06:28 You caught it. I caught it. 06:30 That wasn't a good idea if you did it safely. 06:33 And also you're familiar with the funnel spider and so forth. 06:36 So I am not saying that if you get bitten by one of these 06:41 spiders, you just put charcoal on it and everything is 06:43 going to be fine - ABSOLUTELY NOT. 06:45 These are very dangerous spiders - you can apply the 06:48 charcoal but you run to the health professional to 06:53 continue with the care and so forth. 06:55 If you are in one of those desolate places which 06:59 there are many here in Australia and you're not able 07:02 to get medical care and you get one of these bites, 07:04 you can keep on applying that fomentation until you get 07:08 to a health professional and then you continue 07:11 with the therapy that is needed. 07:12 That sounds like good advice. 07:14 I'd like to know how it works. 07:15 How is it - what does charcoal actually do 07:18 that made that recovery so much quicker? 07:20 How does it work? 07:22 That's right, there are two key properties in charcoal. 07:27 You have absorption and you have adsorption. 07:32 Yes, what's the difference? 07:34 With "D" and with "B." Okay. 07:35 When it's with the "D," that tends to be 07:37 an electrical property. 07:39 See, when you are in the microscopic world, 07:44 electric charges make a big deal. 07:47 They have a big influence and the electric charges 07:53 as any magnet will attract things, in our world only 08:01 metals can be attracted to magnets. 08:03 Well, in the microscopic world, many other things 08:06 can be attracted with currents with magnets. 08:10 And then you have the other characteristic which 08:13 that one has to do with its ability to incorporate 08:18 the substance to the charcoal itself - so that's a more 08:23 chemical type of property. 08:26 So using those two properties, this will help. 08:30 And I also wanted to mention something - if you are in the 08:33 barbecue and you say, "Oh, well look at this, 08:36 I have some charcoal there that I'm using for my barbecue," 08:39 PLEASE DON'T USE THAT. 08:41 That charcoal that you buy in the stores for charbroiled 08:47 purposes and so forth, that one has chemicals! 08:51 That's the reason why when you put the match - immediately 08:54 it fires very quickly - DO NOT USE THAT. 08:57 Also, don't say, "Well I have here an old piece of bread, 09:01 I'm going to burn this and I'm going to make my own charcoal." 09:06 PLEASE DO NOT. 09:07 It needs to be completely burned and things that are 09:11 actually half burned - actually could be cancer-causing, 09:17 so it's not a very good idea. 09:19 So where do we access the charcoal - the sort of 09:22 stuff that we're going to be using for this purpose. 09:24 That's right, so you find different formats. 09:27 This you can find sometimes your chemist may have it; 09:31 sometimes in your health food store - sometimes you can 09:35 find it there and actually you may want to give us a ring 09:39 here and we can actually give you some tips here 09:41 at 3ABN on where you can find it. 09:43 And a disclaimer - I don't sell charcoal at all, I am doing this 09:49 because I know it is very effective. 09:52 In fact, as you mentioned very well in the introduction 09:56 of this program - charcoal is something we find in the 10:02 emergency department. 10:04 I remember one time, I was the physician in charge of the 10:07 emergency department and you know, a particular day that 10:12 I remember very well, most of the things that came that day 10:16 I could fix with charcoal. 10:19 You know there were some diarrheas and a little 10:22 insect bite and so forth and I actually ended up 10:27 using the most of the charcoal of the emergency department, 10:30 the nurses got upset with me. 10:32 But they needed the charcoal, not medication 10:35 in that particular occasion. 10:37 Well it's really nice to hear this coming from a medical 10:39 practitioner because sometimes when something 10:42 is unfamiliar to people, they might think, 10:44 "I'm not really sure about that," and that fact 10:47 that it was in the hospital too, it shows that it's 10:50 something that they use. 10:51 They use it for overdoses, don't they? 10:53 That's right, there are many indications that in the 10:57 official guidelines you use charcoal! 11:00 You said one very well - in certain cases for certain 11:04 substances that have been overdosed, you can introduce 11:07 charcoal to the stomach, the charcoal will help to 11:10 bind those toxic substances preventing those substances 11:14 to continue further in your system 11:16 and causing some damage and so forth. 11:19 So I guess it's not a good idea to have charcoal 11:21 if you've just had medication or something like that. 11:24 Absolutely! A very good point! 11:26 Charcoal absorbs a lot of things including your medication. 11:31 So please, if you are taking medication and especially 11:35 delicate medication like blood pressure, heart medication, 11:39 diabetes - if you take the charcoal too close to the 11:43 time when you take the medication, the charcoal 11:46 will bind that medication and it's as if you did not 11:50 have the medication and there can be 11:52 a little bit of a problem - so just beware of that. 11:56 How much apart, I would advise you if you're going to be 12:00 taking it orally between 2 hours or so. Alright. 12:04 Now what do we use charcoal for? 12:07 Well let me tell you how you find it. 12:10 Usually you're going to find it in three forms, the charcoal. 12:14 You're going to find it in little capsules, 12:18 you're going to find it in tablets, 12:20 and you're going to find it in powder. 12:24 Personally, I like the best the powder format 12:28 because it's very easy to do many things. 12:34 In the capsules, the amount of charcoal is less charcoal 12:39 and that's why if you ask me to choose between 12:43 the tablets and the powder, I would go for the tablets 12:47 if I'm traveling and it's easy to carry with you and so forth. 12:51 But at home, it's a good idea to have some of that 12:53 activated charcoal in powder format. 12:56 Now what would we use that powder charcoal if we want to 13:02 take it orally? 13:04 Well we would use it for things like indigestion, 13:08 for things like gas - okay there are times, you know, 13:13 you go out and you go and eat, and things don't agree 13:17 very good with you, you can try some of this charcoal 13:22 and see if it's improving your problem. 13:26 That's to drink it. That's right. 13:28 We're talking about, right now, the oral format to drink it. 13:32 And in a minute we will show you how you can actually 13:35 prepare it. Yes, that would be good. 13:37 So you would use it in those cases and I just want to 13:42 give you a little warning - if the abdomen is hard; 13:48 if it's a lot of pain in the abdominal area, 13:52 please don't say, "Oh charcoal is going to take care of me." 13:55 You call your emergency services because 14:00 this could be an emergency! 14:01 Now if you're in the boonies, far from cities and something, 14:05 you could start with something but if you have close by 14:10 access, please do. 14:12 So let's go ahead and see the demonstration on how 14:14 you can use this charcoal. 14:17 So we're very grateful to have a therapist with us, 14:23 and what she is going to do is she's going to use 14:26 2 tablespoons of charcoal, thank you, and then you 14:32 put it in water and very carefully do the mixture 14:36 because it can get messy. 14:38 And it's a good idea to use a straw if you don't want to 14:41 get the charcoal in your mouth, and the taste of charcoal 14:47 is actually a no-taste, it doesn't taste like anything. 14:52 You can drink it without the straw, it's fine, no problem, 14:57 but if you prefer to be a little bit less messy, 15:00 you can use the straw. 15:02 And you need to use common sense - you just drank 15:05 something black - so when you go to the restroom, 15:09 you're going to see that your feces are going to become black, 15:13 so it's okay, it's normal, nothing to worry about. 15:19 And this charcoal is something that you can use it, 15:26 be careful when you are handling it because of its electrical 15:30 properties - it tends to fly quite a bit. 15:33 If you hit it in the wrong angle, it flies and it's messy. 15:37 It can stain your clothes very easily - so just beware 15:43 of those things. 15:45 Now not only can you drink it orally, but you can also 15:51 apply the charcoal directly on the skin. 15:54 Now why would you do that? 15:56 What would prompt you to do that? 15:59 There are many indications for that - when an insect bites you, 16:04 you know, you have bees here in Australia; you have hornets, 16:10 and when you receive one of these bites from one of these 16:14 creatures, what charcoal does when you put it on the skin 16:18 it helps to absorb the poison. Oh. 16:22 Now if the person is allergic and starts having 16:26 a severe allergic response as a result of this, 16:30 please don't say, "Oh just charcoal and that's enough." 16:33 You need to call the emergency department. 16:35 Now when you're saying, "An allergic response," 16:38 that wouldn't be to the charcoal, that's to the bite. 16:40 That's to the bite, that's right. 16:41 The person starts having problems breathing, 16:44 the whole body starts getting full of reaction, 16:48 I mean that's severe, you call the 16:50 emergency department. 16:51 Absolutely, I just want to be clear that the charcoal 16:54 wouldn't cause that sort of reaction. That's right. 16:55 And also, beware if the skin is open and you apply 17:03 the charcoal, you can have a little tattoo in your skin, 17:08 so make judgment, you know, would I rather have a 17:12 little tattoo-type of mark with the charcoal 17:18 or should I rather do something else - so just beware 17:21 of that if the skin is open. 17:23 That only happens if the skin is open. 17:25 So we're going to ask our therapist to help us 17:29 demonstrate how you use this activated poultice on the skin. 17:38 So what she's going to do, she has the powdered charcoal, 17:43 she is going to add it to a place to be mixed, 17:46 then we're going to add a little bit of water. 17:50 You can add a little bit of ground flaxseed, 17:52 and I'll explain that in a minute. 17:54 Then she carefully is going to mix this and then you have 17:59 a paper towel and you apply that mixture on the 18:06 paper towel - distribute it well and then it's a good idea 18:13 to protect the area because, as I said, charcoal can be 18:17 a little bit messy. 18:18 He has a little hornet bite that he received 18:23 a few minutes ago, so he is going to receive that poultice 18:29 and, if you notice, we put a little bit of plastic there 18:33 so it can keep the charcoal and then we apply 18:36 a little bit of Ace bandage so that it can keep nice 18:40 and in one place instead of going all over the place. 18:43 I'd also like to invite you to pray as you apply 18:47 these simple remedies, it works much better 18:50 in my personal experience. Yeah, that's beautiful. 18:52 And you know, I mentioned ground flaxseed - so the ground 18:58 flaxseed what it does to the charcoal mixture is it helps 19:03 to give it a little bit more consistency. 19:06 If you don't use the flaxseed like in this example, 19:11 what's going to happen is that as the charcoal gets 19:16 dry, it can even become a little bit powdery, 19:19 it can be a little bit messy and also the charcoal poultice 19:25 made with the ground flaxseed would give a little 19:31 bit better consistency. 19:33 As I tell people, I like to have the consistency of 19:37 peanut butter - so go ahead and do a little bit of 19:41 experimentation about 1 tablespoon of charcoal 19:46 with another tablespoon of ground flaxseed, 19:50 with enough water so that you can have 19:53 that type of peanut butter consistency. 19:55 If you don't have the flaxseed, don't worry, use it as 19:58 an example that we just showed. 20:03 So it's the charcoal that does the work, flaxseed is just 20:06 to make it so that it doesn't go dry and crumbly, 20:09 and if you are having it on all night, for example, 20:12 it might not be so messy. 20:14 That's right because this also can be applied 20:17 to bigger areas like your abdomen. Yes. 20:20 You know those times when you are a little bit too gassy 20:25 and so forth, you can apply it on the skin of the abdomen 20:31 and that will help things get better. 20:34 So are you saying that if you had problems with gas, 20:37 you could either have it orally, drinking it or you could 20:41 actually put it on the outside of your abdomen? 20:42 Or you can actually do the double one - you drink and 20:46 you apply. 20:48 I guess it depends on how big a problem you have. That's right. 20:51 But isn't that remarkable that you could actually 20:53 apply - it would obviously be a large area to put it on, 20:57 and that would actually draw out the gas. That's right! 21:00 It's fantastic! It helps the abdomen feel much better. 21:04 Irritable colon syndrome, this type of problem - these also 21:12 respond very well - by personal experience 21:16 I can testify of that. 21:19 And this charcoal is very useful as you can see, 21:24 so use your creativity, you know, and just make sure 21:30 when you're applying it, if you're going to be there 21:32 overnight with the poultice, be careful that the charcoal 21:36 doesn't go to your sheets and things 21:38 because it can stain them. 21:40 And it's a good idea also, if it's that type of condition, 21:44 it's a spider bite that is taking a little bit longer to 21:48 recover, as you change every 3 hours, every 6 hours, 21:53 you need to discard that old charcoal because it has 21:56 already adsorbed things and so forth, so be careful with that. 22:04 Well it's a remarkable product and it seems to be so 22:07 versatile doesn't it - to think that you can use it 22:09 internally and externally and for all kinds of things, 22:14 even a snakebite I suppose. 22:16 That's right, it won't heal the snake bite but while you 22:21 get to the E.R., you know, you can apply a poultice 22:25 like that, you know? Yes. 22:27 And if you notice, this is something quickly 22:29 that you can do. That's right. 22:31 That's right and I was very interested that you just 22:35 use the charcoal on a paper towel with things you would 22:38 already have in the kitchen as long as you've got charcoal. 22:41 So you can use that and not everybody is going to have 22:45 flaxseed and that's why we've particularly chose 22:47 not to do that - you can do it either way, 22:49 but they'll both work. That's right, both will work 22:52 very good. The other will just give 22:54 a better consistency and give you a better outcome. Yes. 22:57 And also make sure that you're not taking it 23:02 too close to your meals also unless the problem was the 23:07 meal per se, you know, you can go ahead and take it. 23:11 But I'm not saying that this is something you should be 23:14 doing every day - that wouldn't be a good idea. 23:16 If you take it too close to your meals, 23:20 it will literally start to absorb the nutrients 23:23 of your food, so be very careful for that. 23:29 So you should weigh out what's more important, 23:31 you know, whether you can afford to miss the 23:32 nutrients from that meal as opposed to the 23:35 problem that you're experiencing. 23:36 And the speed that it works is so fast, you know, 23:43 you will quickly get some relief. 23:46 Now in the case of diarrhea, if the diarrhea, you've seen 23:50 with your eyes that it has blood and lots of mucus, 23:54 and this type of problem, you call your health 23:57 professional - you know, charcoal may not be enough 24:00 for this type of problem. 24:02 But the type of diarrhea you get, you ate something 24:05 you shouldn't have and you are having some diarrhea, 24:08 you can use some charcoal for this type of problem. 24:12 It's certainly a good thing to have when you're traveling. 24:15 You know, especially to countries where you might not 24:17 be able to get, you know, easy help and if you 24:20 run into that kind of difficulty - you get sick, 24:23 vomiting or diarrhea, it's great to have it there, 24:26 and you can be using it or be getting some other help. 24:29 And another hint I want to give you - in certain people 24:33 charcoal tends to constipate, so in order to help you 24:38 with that, as you're taking the charcoal, go ahead 24:42 and drink more water. 24:44 And you know, it's not only one time that you can 24:46 drink it, you can drink this charcoal 1, 2, 3, even 4 times 24:51 in a short period of time of half an hour - an hour 24:57 if the problem is continuing. 25:00 Now if this, after a few hours, is not improving or is getting 25:06 worse, you call your health professional, you know. 25:10 Also another tip that I want to give you - when you 25:14 have a case in which somebody drinks, by mistake 25:19 or by purpose, the wrong type of thing and you call 25:22 Poison Control, it's a good idea to volunteer the information, 25:28 "Look, I have some charcoal here, could I 25:31 give him some charcoal?" 25:32 And those people that have been professionally trained 25:37 to give you advice - they may say, "Yes, go ahead 25:41 and give him some charcoal." 25:44 There are many poisons that would benefit if you take 25:50 that charcoal and when you're being guided by a professional 25:53 like Poison Control, that would be very useful. 25:56 But it's not a decision that you make yourself, 25:58 you get that professional advice before you administer. 26:00 That's right, when this is something poisonous 26:03 and dangerous and so forth, please seek professional help, 26:09 ask these people who are specially trained. 26:12 There are special guidelines that are used and 26:17 followed to help you make those decisions. Yes. 26:20 Charcoal has been used for thousands of years, hasn't it? 26:22 Absolutely! 26:24 It's not just a brand new thing, but it's probably 26:27 something we haven't used as well as we might have 26:30 or been as aware of as it would be useful to be aware of. 26:33 So I'm really pleased that you've talked to us about this, 26:36 and as I said, because you're a medical doctor and that 26:39 you're endorsing it and that they use it in the 26:42 emergency department, it certainly helps us to be 26:44 confident that this is a great thing to have. 26:47 I have three daughters and, I mean, they already know. 26:52 When they eat and something doesn't agree, "Daddy, 26:57 where's the charcoal, I need some charcoal." 27:00 And they already know as we have been using it for them 27:05 for bites and things that kids get and so forth. 27:09 So it is something very, very useful. 27:12 In my opinion, every household should have some of this 27:16 activated charcoal. Yes! 27:18 I keep it, I have it on hand at all times. 27:20 Rarely really need to use it, but I always want to have it 27:23 there because you never know when it just might be needed. 27:26 That's right. I always have some in my 27:28 toilet bag when I travel there's some there ready to go 27:32 so that I don't miss out. It's really good. 27:35 Yes, it's just a great product! 27:38 So your homework today is going to be to try some of this 27:40 poultice, you know, try it out, 27:43 try to make one and see if it works. 27:45 I mean how hard was that, honestly, that was just 27:47 so simple to do, wasn't it? 27:49 And I just think that was really good to be able to do. 27:52 I'm sure your daughters would just do that... 27:54 Absolutely, even on their dolls they put it, 27:56 so let me put it that way. Laughter. 27:58 Oh they do it for their dolls, do they? Laughter! 28:01 Well, they'll be very healthy dolls, won't they? 28:03 I hope they don't make make them eat it. 28:06 But look, anyway this has just been a very, very useful 28:09 program - not the sort of one that 28:11 we probably hear at all times. 28:13 Lots of programs we hear repeatedly but charcoal 28:16 is just a great product and I hope that you will 28:20 add it to your shopping list because you'll be so 28:23 glad that you have it on hand. 28:25 And remember, you can watch our programs on demand by visiting 28:29 our website that's at: 3abnaustralia.org.au 28:33 and just click the watch button. 28:34 So join us next time as we discuss more 28:37 secrets of healthy living. |
Revised 2019-11-25