Why Activated Charcoal is a Vegas Packing Must

So you’re packing for a trip to Vegas, & on your list are cute dresses, dress shirts if you’re a guy, bikinis, & maybe some nice dress shoes.  But my question is: do you ever bring any supplements to Vegas?  Supplements that may actually help you avoid a hangover, or at the very least, make it a whole lot better?  ENTER: Activated Charcoal.  I’ve written about charcoal before, in posts on avoiding Montezuma’s Revenge in Mexico; my doctor actually prescribed it when I got a bad case of Montezuma’s in Cozumel.  So let’s find out why activated charcoal is a Vegas packing MUST…

Welcome to Las Vegas….& welcome to a world WITHOUT hangovers!! (Or at least, a reduced hangover ; )

How to Avoid a Nasty Vegas Hangover?

Two supplements will help you AVOID a nasty hangover in Vegas.  Forget those expensive oxygen machines or spending hundred of dollars on IV drips.  Instead, try bringing a few pills of: 1) Activated Charcoal ($16), & 2) Methylated B Vitamins ($42).  Take the activated charcoal at night, before you go to bed, with a full glass of water.  The charcoal will bind with alcohol & toxins ~ & you should have a nice, healthy poop the next morning!  Bye bye alcohol….

The B vitamins are optional, but if you bring them: take in the morning to help with energy & replenishment of nutrients.

Methylated B Vitamins

Why Does Charcoal Actually Work?

Activated charcoal is one of the most effective emergency decontaminants, & it works directly in the stomach & intestine, to remove toxins.  It binds with these toxins, & helps expedite them out of your system.  And in case you’re wondering: alcohol is most definitely a toxin.  In a recent podcast by neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, he actually refers to it as “poison.”

In terms of charcoal’s efficacy: this has a very personal reference for me.  Once upon a time….my little black lab, Dylan, accidentally ate over 50 Advils.  The doctors told me he would die: he’d have simply too much brain, liver, & kidney damage to survive.  But ~ the one thing they could try, was to give him charcoal (both orally & as an enema), because of its ability to bind with toxins.  In this case, Advil. 

And it ended up working.  He lived for another eight years; he was four at the time it happened. 

Because it saved his life, I know that charcoal works.

My dog, Dylan, with his teddy bear at Dove Lewis Animal Hospital in Portland, Oregon ~ after 48 hours in intensive care. Charcoal saved his life.

Can I Use Charcoal All the Time?

NO.  You most definitely do not want to use charcoal all the time.  Why not?  Because charcoal is powerful enough that it will even bind with nutrients & beneficial gut flora, removing them from your system as well.  You really want to take charcoal BY ITSELF, with no other supplements.  If you take it with food or vitamins, it will bind with them & render them useless.  Wait at least two hours before having any other substance(s), & take the charcoal with a full glass of water (this should also help with your hangover).

The next day, you may notice that your poop looks a little funny: it will be darker & blacker, & may even be a little bigger than normal.  The blackness is the charcoal, so don’t be alarmed!  This is actually a good thing.  

The Charcoal Product I Use: NOW Activated Charcoal.  I keep a big bottle of activated charcoal on hand, just in case of emergencies.  I always pack it when I go to Vegas, Mexico, or especially South America: as I’ve run into trouble with Montezuma’s Revenge.  Other than that, when I’m home, I really only take it after a big night of drinking ~ or if I’m feeling exceptionally bloated (charcoal can help reduce bloating).

NOW Activated Charcoal is the brand I use.

Why Charcoal is a Vegas Must

Thanks for reading this article on charcoal, & if you end up using it in Vegas: let me know in the comments below!  I love hearing about people’s experiences with more natural remedies. 

For more reading on Sin City, here are some of the best Vegas pools for chilling out & relaxing…  

xoxo Noelia 

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