Activated Charcoal and cholesterol

What 2 graded rows on activated charcoal agree on for cholesterol, and where they differ. Counted side by side, never averaged.

Consensus finder Rows from the Activated Charcoal page, reviewed Oct 21, 2026 How it decides

What the rows agree on

Each block and row is one graded row from the Activated Charcoal page, with its PubMed record.

Supplement

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2 rows · 17 people

They agree: both rows found an improvement.

No difference

Improved

Each block is one evidence row, sized by how many people it enrolled, with its grade inside.

From the rows

The best-graded row, grade D, is a crossover trial of 10 people (1989) and found an improvement.

The rows run from 7 to 10 people, published from 1986 to 1989: 2 single studies.

2 improved

Grade DTotal and LDL cholesterol vs cholestyramine and bran · Improved
Crossover RCT · n 10 · 1989 · Patients with severe hypercholesterolaemia (Finland)
16 g/day (dose-response arm: 4–32 g/day) · 3 weeks per phase
16 g/day lowered total cholesterol 23% and LDL 29%, against 31% and 39% for cholestyramine 16 g. Vitamins A, E and 25(OH)D did not change.
Row on the Activated Charcoal page · PubMed 2612535 (opens PubMed)
Grade DTotal and LDL cholesterol in high cholesterol · Improved
Open-label trial · n 7 · 1986 · Patients with hypercholesterolaemia (Finland)
8 g three times daily (24 g/day) · 4 weeks
Total cholesterol fell 25% and LDL cholesterol 41%; HDL rose 8%. Side effects were negligible.
Row on the Activated Charcoal page · PubMed 2874369 (opens PubMed)