The Charcoal Juice Phenomenon
What's in Those Little Black Bottles? Mackenzie Wagoner investigates.
Since bursting onto the mainstream scene nearly a decade ago, cold-pressed juices have come to encompass the full color spectrum, from deep earthy greens to vibrant reds and oranges—but lately, we’ve found ourselves wondering about the rows of little black bottles turning up at our favorite liquid-fix destinations. Arriving from companies like Juice Served Here, Juice Generation, and LuliTonix, a closer inspection of their labels reveals a new class of alkalizing brew that’s made from green juice or lemonade—and spiked with a flavorless form of food-grade carbon known as activated charcoal. Served in combination with ingredients like lemon zest, spinach, or hemp seeds, these murky tonics are marketed as everything from a hangover cure to a powerful skin-brightening, energy boosting elixir.
If the idea of using charcoal as a cure-all beauty remedy sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because it’s been added into topical face masks, cleansers, and creams as a method of drawing dirt out of the pores and purifying the complexion for decades. Now, the food and wellness industry is attempting to apply its benefits to your digestive tract. It’s a line of reasoning that may have roots in the medical community, where activated charcoal has been largely used as a remedy for the ingestion of poisons. “It has a great capacity for absorption,” explains Donald Hensrud, MD, MPH, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, of the ingredient’s ability to decrease the effects of a drug or toxin. Which may explain why health companies are attempting to maximize activated charcoal’s detoxifying benefits by taking it to the wellness community. Case in point: LuliTonix founder Lianna Sugarman relies on the ingredient’s purported vacuum-like internal abilities when flying. “I always bring activated charcoal with me when I travel to battle jet lag and to cope with unfamiliar foods,” she says.
According to the Los Angeles–based holistic nutritionist Heather Wilson, a small dose of the ingredient could potentially help expedite the process of coping with gut irritants. “If you accidentally consume something that you’re sensitive to, like gluten or dairy, having activated charcoal right away may help absorb those things before the body does,” says Wilson, who suggests drinking it or taking it in pill form within an hour of eating the offending ingredient in question. However, she’s quick to stress that the jury is still out on its broader-reaching effects. “Think of activated charcoal like a sponge. It doesn’t know the difference between nutrients or toxins,” says Wilson, who suggests consulting your doctor before introducing it to your diet. “If you take medication, supplements, or a pain reliever, the charcoal could absorb that, too.” Hensrud remains somewhat more skeptical of activated charcoal’s dietary benefits. “I can see the rationale, but the body has its own very efficient detoxification processes. The liver and the kidney do a lot of that. I haven’t seen any studies to prove how beneficial activated charcoal is at detoxifying.”
Rather than using the new juices as a substitute to a daily breakfast or snack, suggests Wilson, consider trying it at the end of a cleanse, to give an extra one-off detoxifying boost to your results, instead. And while the relatively low concentrations of the ingredient found in many of the blends—there are around two teaspoons in Juice Generation’s 16-ounce container—allow for safe consumption, if you’re going to add it to your dietary regimen, do so in moderation. Wilson's recommended prescription? “Once a week—or twice at most.”
