Carbo Vegetabilis

Wood charcoal, one of homoeopathy's best-known remedies for heavy bloating and belching, and for weak, sluggish states that crave fresh air.

Carbo vegetabilis is vegetable charcoal, made by burning wood such as birch or beech with little air, so that almost pure carbon remains. Charcoal has been used for centuries to absorb gases and odours. Homoeopathy grinds it for many hours with milk sugar.

Homoeopaths traditionally use it for slow, sluggish digestion: a stomach full of wind, heavy bloating and belching that brings brief relief, often after rich food. It is also associated with weakness and coldness in people who have never fully recovered from an earlier illness, who feel faint and want the window open or to be fanned.

• Bloating and wind
• Belching
• Slow digestion
• Weakness after illness
• Craving for fresh air