When life gives you lemons, make charcoal lemonade.

What?! Charcoal lemonade?? Yes! I said it. Charcoal lemonade. Before you say “forget that” and close your browser, hear me out!

When you read “charcoal” you’re probably thinking of the charcoal you use in the grill. It’s similar but it’s not the same! Activated charcoal typically comes in powder form (either loose powder or in capsules) and is tasteless and odorless. Activated charcoal is known for it’s detoxifying properties. It absorbs toxins and can help eliminate them from our systems. Some things that activated charcoal has been claimed to help with are bloat, gas, skin health, digestion, cholesterol reduction, and teeth whitening. This activated charcoal lemonade tastes just like the tasty summer drink, just with some extra health benefits!

Ingredients:

• 5 c. of filtered water
• 3-4 lemons (enough to make 3/4 c. – 1c. of juice)
• 2 tsp. activated charcoal
• natural sweetener of choice to taste (stevia, agave, honey, maple syrup, etc.)
• optional – a few drops of lemon essential oil, herbs (mint, rosemary, thyme, etc.)

Juice your lemons. I find that rolling your lemons on a hard surface before cutting them in half helps to make them easier to juice.

Pour your juice, water and sweetener of choice into a pitcher (I used stevia). Stir until all components are combined. Add in your activated charcoal and stir. I purchased mine on Amazon in powder form. When using the activated charcoal, be careful. It’s very easy to get powder everywhere and it can stain clothing and counter tops (although I’ve clumsily spilled and haven’t had an issue with stains yet!).

This lemonade can be as sweet or as tart as you like! It is slightly textured but unless you have intense texture issues, it won’t even phase you.

Hopefully you venture out and try this charcoal lemonade!

Naturally,

Ari