Activated Charcoal Saved My Ass! Literally…
(Photo from Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca, 2013 shortly after charcoal delivered me from the despair of diarrhea)
Activated Charcoal Saved my Ass! Literally...
The year was 2013...
I had spent 5 months in the Peruvian Amazon doing a part-time apprenticeship / extended retreat and now had 2 months to explore the rest of the country and have my first solo travel adventures beyond the jungle...
I had made a habit of having skewers of beef and boiled eggs + salad from the local vendors for lunch and was very comfortable with eating street food which had never given me a problem up until this point...
This one particular day, as the market in Iquitos was closing, I found a place to eat and sat down for my $3 delicious and filling lunch before preparing to head to the airport to fly back to Lima and then continue my adventures from there...
Well, as it would happen, because I was late to lunch all of the homemade hot sauce/salsa that typically consisted of hot peppers and red onion (among other things) was gone and so I had the now lukewarm meal which had been sitting for a few hours, and then continued on my way...
Well, you can probably guess what happened next...
Because I didn't have the protective effects of the hot salsa to kill any pathogens in the meal, within a day I started to have very loose stool and cramping throughout my guts...
It wasn't fun, but wasn't the worst I had so I didn't think too much of it and continued onward...
Side note, I am lactose intolerant and didn't know this until around 14 so from ages 11-13 this got worse and worse and made cramping, gas, loose stool and general bowel discomfort often the norm...
This bout of runny stool ended up lasting for almost 2 weeks and got progressively worse and more concerning...
I tried downing an entire mini bottle of Pepto Bismol as a remedy while taking an overnight bus from Cusco to Puno, but to no avail, and proceeded to have some of the worst diarrhea in that bus bathroom along the way...
Not fun and impossible to hide my frequent trips among the very full and crowded coach style bus...
Well, I continued on, drinking fresh juices and eating soups and trying to stay hydrated and well nourished but I knew I had to figure something out...
I would go from pharmacy to pharmacy looking for something to soothe my stomach and stop the diarrhea...
It wasn't until about 3 days later, walking through the town square in Copacabana Bolivia, where I had stopped en route to Isla del Sol on lake Titicaca during a border run to renew my visa that I finally found something I had been hoping for!
Tablets of activated charcoal from the local pharmacy...
Well, I shit you not, within minutes of taking 2 tablets with some water I felt my insides settle...
It promptly ended my trips to the bathroom and gave the rest of my trip a significant boost now that I didn't need to find a bathroom every couple hours...
And now I share all of this not just to tell an interesting story about my adventures through Peru 11 years ago...
But to impart that activated charcoal is ESSENTIAL to carry with you on such trips in case of food poisoning, stomach bugs, or simply to prevent hangovers after indulging in food and drink...
It works great, will tend to reliably stop diarrhea within hours, and has very little downside as long as you drink enough water with it since charcoal is very drying on it's own which is why it's great for stopping liquid poop explosions lol
Anywho, let me know below, were you aware of these remarkable effects of activated charcoal and further still, do you keep it in your travel essentials?
Comment below and feel free to share similar (now comical) mis-adventures of the loose stool variety, I never tire of hearing such stories and find that laughing about previously shameful poop problems is always good medicine!
Cheers,
