Does charcoal supps work for gas ? and are they safe ?

I found this rather crappy abstract.

1: Am J Gastroenterol. 1981 Mar;75(3):192-6.Links
Effects of orally administered activated charcoal on intestinal gas.Hall RG Jr, Thompson H, Strother A.
The effectiveness of activated charcoal in treating intestinal gas, following a gas producing meal, was compared with a placebo. Both the number of flatus events and breath hydrogen levels were measured. These experiments showed that orally administered activated charcoal was effective in preventing the large increase in the number of flatus events and increased breath hydrogen concentrations that normally occur following a gas-producing meal.

PMID: 7015846 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Simethicone is a better bet IME.

I agree. Plus, activated charcoal will non-selectively adsorb everything vs. simethicone which is strictly an anti-foaming agent.

Yeah , but simethicone is not very effective. I was thinking like 1-2 doses per week of the charcoal ?

I doubt it will do anything to help dosed like that. If you get no relief from simethicone, you should see if you can determine the source of your gas and eliminate it from your diet if possible or find some method to improve digestibility.