The rottweiler at the local pub likes nothing better than grabbing a lump of coal from the scuttle and munching away on it, and it doesn’t appear to do it any harm. Northerners are meant to live on the stuff, but has anyone tried it?
It’s full of energy, but can humans convert it to a useable form through digestion?

ian…………put some butter on the lump on you head where you banged it………. 😉

Good question Ian.

What about wood… or drinking diesel?

I can remeber being prescribed charcoal after a bout of upset stomach as a kid.

Can’t say it tasted particularly nice though.

It’s high glycaemic and high in energy – you will put on weight rapidly.

It may sort out your halitosis though!

Its a dog, they eat their own puke and other dogs poo, I’m not about to base what is edible on that information.

An Auntie of mine had the craving to suck on coal during her 1st pregnancy (she ate chalk during her 2nd one)…and although it didn’t seem to harm my cousins the 1st born did go onto become a Fireman so maybe burning was in his genes!

of course you can eat coal.
how much you can eat and get away with it is the question. shirley.

Eat it – yes

Digest it into something usefull, no. Charcoal is given to absorb toxins in the digestive tract such as heavy metals, excess alcohol/drugs etc. Carbon is also a component in dog biscuits as it gives them a nice coat, no idea if the same applies to people but I guess we have less hair and more shampoo.

Coal however is full of all sorts of nasties such as heavy metals which are posionous, plenty of carcionogens (aromatics etc), and sulphur which will give you wind.

Charcoal/carbon is therefore good, coal bad.

These guys say it tasted delicious but they were drinking piss 😯

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-478062/Two-trapped-Chinese-miners-eat-coal-drink-urine-miraculous-escape.html

…..I would reckon its eatable but not edible.

😯 i will stop then.

Its a dog, they eat their own puke and other dogs poo…

I picked the wrong thread to read while I had a quick sandwich then… 🙁

My mother in law had cravings for coal when mrs. xiphon was still inside her – it’s a northern family, so might explain something!

Absolutely. Why, when I were a lad, living in (cheshire), we had to work down’ mine 27 hours daaay; then come ‘ome, get up before we’d even gone t bed, and eat coal f breakfast. And we were APPY to get it, you ‘ear me? APPY to eat our coal!!

It ain’t gonna kill ya, but perhaps it would be best not to smoke straight afterwards.

An aunty used to swear by brushing her teeth with coal dust and I gotta admit she had a fab set of pearly white teeth (her own) when she passed away at 94 after cleaning them with the stuff all her life. I dont think she ate coal though.

my Mum also had cravings, and ate cooking apples too. Nothing wrong me…. got to go.. men in the white coats have arrived again

I had a heap of coal or charcoal shoved down my throat by the dr’s or nurses (don’t know which, I was comatose at the time) at the hospital when I took a massive quantity of anti depressants and sleeping tablets.
I had a raging sore throat for a week afer it and an infected trachula (I’m sure that’s not spelt correctly).
I wouldn’t recommend eating coal to be honest.