What is the Best Activated Charcoal (Hardwood or Coconut)

I may receive a commission if you purchase through links in this post. I am not a doctor; please consult your practitioner before changing your supplement or healthcare regimen.

You may be wondering what is the best kind of activated charcoal to get, and you’re not alone! It’s a popular question, and the answer is little discussed, but the material used to make supplemental charcoal really does make a health difference.

Spoiler alert: In this article, we’ll talk about why hardwood activated charcoal is best!

Additionally, hardwood activated charcoal is harder to find, so I’ll share with you the product I use and that my doctor recommended to me and recommends to all his patients.

What is activated charcoal

One medical source shares, “Making activated charcoal involves heating carbon-rich materials, such as wood, peat, coconut shells, or sawdust, to very high temperatures. This “activation” process strips the charcoal of previously absorbed molecules and frees up bonding sites again. This process also reduces the size of the pores in the charcoal and makes more holes in each molecule, increasing its overall surface area. As a result, one teaspoon of activated charcoal has about the same surface area as a football field.”

Activated charcoal may be taken even daily to adsorb heavy metals, reduce intestinal gas, improve kidney health, cling to invisible toxins found in bile or relieve IBS or IBD symptoms.

AC can be taken in acute situations to adsorb most poisons or meet First Aid needs topically.

It may also be used daily in personal care routines: for dental and oral health, as deodorant, for water filtration and for skincare.

Commercially, AC is used internationally to clean up hazardous sites or clean water.

Charcoal’s particle size is determined by its source, and that’s key!

As we discuss which activated charcoal is best, it’s important to note that different sources of charcoal have different sizes of particles. Particle size determines the best role of the charcoal.

Hardwood charcoal’s finer particle allows faster adsorption of toxins and adsorption of more toxins from the human body.

Why hardwood activated charcoal is best

Is coconut or hardwood activated charcoal better?

As one study tells us, “Several charcoal forms exist, including coconut shell charcoal, barbecue charcoal, activated bamboo charcoal (BC), activated charcoal (AC), and wood charcoal (WC)”.

Both this study and most of the others done on activated charcoal over the last several decades have been done on hardwood activated charcoal, or more recently wood charcoal.

The study goes on to tell us, “AC is a fine black powder made by heating charcoal at a high temperature. The heating process to form AC increases the surface area by reducing the pore size resulting in a higher number of pores than other forms of charcoal.”

While WC is showing itself to have new promise in aquaculture arenas, AC still wins out over the other forms because of that higher number of pores.

More pores means more space for toxins to be stored and ushered from the body.

What about pore size

Hardwood activated charcoal has more pores, and the pores are also larger.

Whereas coconut charcoal’s small particle size can hold liquid and vapor well, it can not hold as many or certain kinds of larger solid toxins found in our GI tracts.

One source clarifies, “The larger surface area in powdered activated carbon makes it the best for the adsorption of impurities that have a bigger molecular size. Color in food and is of a large molecular size …”, (very interesting for those detoxing vitamin A, which colors food).

What is the Best Activated Charcoal?

Hardwood charcoal is superior because it is more effective at detoxifying what humans contend with — both in and on our bodies.

Human toxins and impurities are adsorbed much better by hardwood charcoal than by coconut shell AC.

(I was actually astonished when I researched this article just how much disparity there is between the two. And that our supplement market is saturated with coconut shell charcoal when it doesn’t do anywhere near as good of a job.)

Which hardwood activated charcoal I use

Food grade activated charcoal

I use Zen Principle Hardwood Activated Charcoal.

This is a bulk powder that I stir into my nightly water. (I also stir in potassium, and I use the water to take my nightly magnesium and zinc.) So while some people may prefer the convenience of capsules, I find the ritual is a good one, and I like that the AC touches my mouth and throat, as it goes down.

If you do want capsules, you can make your own with this tool set.

Again, I think it’s easier to just add a scoop to your water, and drink it down. It’s lovely especially, when you think about what it’s doing!

Activated charcoal has a very subtle texture in water and is flavorless.

Which form of activated charcoal is best?

While pills are convenient, capsules and tablets of activated charcoal are known to clump while dissolving.

Taking AC in liquid form, by buying it in bulk, and stirring it into water, allows AC to spread out immediately. Liquids are a great choice because they coat the GI wall, providing a large surface area for toxin adsorption.

Here are some of Zen Principle Hardwood AC’s qualities:

finely milled to be extra gentle when taken orally, or use topically
whitens teeth with its fine texture, gentle on the gums
its highly porous structure acts like a magnet to trap toxins, and also lightens the feel of the GI tract
sourced responsibly, using renewable wood, and uses no harsh chemicals often found in other AC brands
works naturally to cleanse and purify — an ancient material and method utilized for millennia

With no additives, it’s pure and effective, and the company cares about sustainability.

Additionally, hardwood AC, in general, is the AC that’s been tested in scientific studies for decades, so we know this is the form/sourcing that gets results.

Dosage of Zen Principles’ bulk activated charcoal

When taking activated charcoal, it’s important to stay regular, as too much can cause constipation. Many find it’s helpful to take Magnesium, eat lovely sources of fiber (like oatmeal, apples, beans and sometimes foods like psyllium husk [everyone’s different, so find what works best for you]), and potassium.

Once regular daily, it’s good to start with half a dose to be sure your bowels aren’t slowed, and then increase to a full daily dose.

Half a dose is a 1/4 teaspoon, and a full dose is a scant 1/2 teaspoon (about 1000 to 11oo mg).

Individuals can take more than this as long as no constipation occurs.

I, personally, stir a scant 1/2 teaspoon nightly into my glass of water.

(I have the larger size bag of Zen [40 ounces], but if you get the smaller one [8 ounces], I believe it comes with a 1000 mg scoop included.)

Zen’s bulk AC is also suitable to add to smoothies or similar, if desired.

You may wish to carefully scoop some of the charcoal from the bag it comes in, into a small jar with lid, for daily scooping.

What is the best time to take activated charcoal

I personally take activated charcoal at night to address nighttime bile dumps. Our bodies “take out the trash” and detox while we’re sleeping.

If you struggle with wakefulness in the 3 a.m. range, you may be responding to your body dumping bile. AC adsorbs this bile, so a before-bed dose can be beneficial.

AC is also fine to take in the morning.

Why coconut activated charcoal is not as good

Coconut and allergies

Firstly, I want to give full credit to my doctor for this allergy insight and the link I provide, as I learned about the information from him.

Coconut based products are now almost as common in the supplement and food industry as soy and corn. Not surprisingly, and perhaps as a direct result, coconut allergies are on the rise, significantly so.

Even coconut filters in reverse osmosis water filters cause allergic reactions. Coconut is not as gentle and safe as we think. Taking coconut-based AC daily may be inviting a new allergic reaction. Certainly, it is not as safe a route to go.

(Tangentially, coconut itself is high in copper, a heavy metal, so coconut as food is also something to reconsider in any quantity or regularity as well. Moderation is key, but with toxicity, avoidance can be better.)

Coconut filters are there to affect taste (not filter contaminants)

Interestingly, coconut shell carbon filters are not in RO water filters to filter out contaminants. In fact, they are there to remove the residual taste that occurs from carbon filtering, and also to add back in a bit of sweetness to the water that’s lost during the RO process.

Coconut charcoal does not adsorb as much, better for air applications

Coconut charcoal — which is almost ALL of the “Activated Charcoal” you see for sale at health food stores these days — is not as effective as hardwood sourced AC for internally removing toxins.

That’s because, firstly, its pore size is smaller.

In contrast, it is used in water filtration, large treatment facilities, to clean up big environmental messes (like industrial spills), for mercury removal and different solvent recovery procedures. It is often used on the “first sweep”, to overall improve the situation. But not for finer applications — to zero or non-detected contamination.

Another function for AC from coconut shells is to clean the air: “Activated charcoal produced from coconut shell is known for its micro pore structure which works well for small air/gas molecules.” As a result, coconut carbon also works well for dechlorination.

As you can see, there are many applications for the use of coconut charcoal. But we shouldn’t be using it in our bodies for detox unless we don’t care that much how good of a job it’s doing.

3 bottles of activated charcoal at store — These three bottles were all lined up at my local market. All three are coconut based charcoal. Several others lined the shelf as well that did not designate the form. Undesignated charcoal is almost always coconut shell based.

Why coconut activated charcoal is so common in supplements

Coconut charcoal is the most commonly supplied by supplement companies for two reasons:

Production costs are low
It’s a renewable resource that’s a bi-product of agriculture (a waste product)

So, it’s cheap to produce!

The third reason? Consumers, and perhaps manufacturers in some cases, don’t know it’s far inferior. But once we’re informed, we make a better choice for our bodies.

What is the Best Activated Charcoal: Is bamboo activated charcoal good

From studies, we know that BC is at least a somewhat effective form of charcoal, as it increased the growth of fish in one study, demonstrating the elimination of poisons and impurities from GI tracts.

I have not seen studies contrasting the effectiveness of hardwood and bamboo AC. But Zen says in their literature, “Our 100% pure Zen activated charcoal features much better adsorption than cheaper alternatives such as bamboo.”

I appreciate that almost all of the studies done on AC have shown hardwood activated charcoal to be the most effective for human health, so that’s what I choose.

Find the best hardwood activated charcoal (the one I use) here.

Cautions with activated charcoal

Don’t breathe it in; remember it’s a fine powder, and we don’t want any fine powder in our lungs, even good and helpful products. (I don’t find this to be an issue, but it’s good to be aware.)
It stains. Be careful not to get it on clothing. Wear an apron, or stand back a tiny bit when you scoop and stir it in. (I haven’t had any accidents with it each night when I take it, but just be aware.)
AC can render some medications ineffective, including birth control pills and antidepressants. Ask your doctor if you’d like to take both how to space them or if it’s possible in your situation.

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