Taking charcoal supplements could help fight obesity, study reveals

Japanese researchers say that taking edible activated charcoal supplements before eating high-fat foods could prevent obesity.

A team from Shinshu University’s Department of Metabolic Regulation found that a “Western Diet” — rich in processed foods, red meat, and high-fat dairy products — is popular around the world. However, the Western diet is linked to obesity and health problems.

“Making charcoal from wood (“Sumi-yaki”) has been a traditional activity in the southern part of Nagano Prefecture for centuries, with “Ina Akamatsu” charcoal was made into activated charcoal for deodorant and water purification,” the study says.

So researchers decided to put charcoal to the test.

Using a mice model, half of them were fed a normal diet and the other half were fed a high-fat diet for 12 weeks. Unsurprisingly, the mice eating fatty foods gained more weight than the others. But when the team added activated charcoal to the mice’s high-fat diet, they gained the same weight as the mice eating a normal diet.

The study also found that bile acid, cholesterol, triglyceride, and fatty acid in their faeces increase by two to four times.

The study is published in Frontiers in Nutrition.