Supposedly, the charcoal prevents the absorption of toxins into the body by absorbing them first. The charcoal is recommended to relieve the symptoms of food poisoning and also to prevent flatulences, bloating, and heartburn. I really don't know how effective the charcoal is, but it's been recommended to me by friends and pharmacists, so I take it.
There's an article in English here about this kind of "activated charcoal" product. The label on the product I'm taking (photo above) is that the instructions say to take two capsules a day, either before or after a meal, with a large glass of water.
The suspicious thing is that it goes on to say you that to prevent gas you can take as many as 10 capsules 30 minutes before and after a meal. I don't know if that means you can take a total of 10 capsules, or 20. The it advises you not to exceed the prescribed daily dosage. Comprend qui peut. On this page in French, toward the bottom, I read that « Pour contrer une gastro-entérite : 4 à 8 gélules par jour, jusqu'à disparition complète des troubles intestinaux. » I'm not taking that many, but then my troubles intestinaux are still with me.
I'm doing better than I was a couple of days ago, but I'm still experiencing some symptoms of the oyster contamination. I ate three small meals yesterday — including a small bowl of grits (polenta) for breakfast. I had a bowl of turkey-barley soup for supper. All of it went down well and stayed down. I haven't been out of the house since last Wednesday.
You're right, it's not very clear. On the first line it says, before OR after, and further on - the confusing part -, it says before AND after. That's where the "and" should be "or". It's a very mild medication and it should be effective in the long run.
ReplyDeleteThe charcoal tablets are something my old friend Jeanine in Rouen recommended to me nearly 50 years ago when I was having a bout of "stomach flu." I'd never heard of any such thing, and the little black pills looked strange to me, but I took them and they worked. Then in 1996, when Walt and I were in Paris, I had the first and really the worst case of oyster-related food poisoning I've ever had. I remember I wrote a not explaining the situation and asking for some kind of medication that would get me through the crisis. Walt took it and went out looking for an open pharmacy on what I think I remember was a Sunday morning (we were staying in an apartment on rue Fabert near Invalides). He found a pharmacy on the Avenue de La Motte-Picquet. Again, the pharmacist's recommended medication was charcoal pills.
DeleteKen, part of the "cure" of these tablets is in the levure....
ReplyDeletethat will cause you to have the "trots" in that sort of quantity... which is quite deliberate...
the GP prescribed me some charcoal tablets and told me to take yeast tablets.... when I ate the dodgy crab...
the charcoal does what you say, the yeast helps you pass the contaminated charcoal "quickly", therefore clearing your guts of the poison much more rapidly than nature taking it's own time!!
And, more vital to a healthy system... neither destroys your natural gut bacteria... antibiotics do!
Glad to hear you are on the mend.
Thanks, Tim. I'm off the charcoal capsules now. I believe the malady I had was caused by bacteria, but I didn't even consider antibiotics. I figured the illness would pass in three or four days' time.
DeleteWow, never heard of this, but I see, online, that even in the U.S., charcoal is considered a "natural" remedy. YAY for France, for having it recommended at the pharmacy. I hope you're close to feeling normal, soon!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know charcoal was available medicinally in the U.S.
DeleteThe charcoal colored pills are photogenic...dark and shiny, they look dressy and attractive. Hope you are on the mend soon.
ReplyDeleteI remember thinking they were strange-looking when I first saw them. So I must take good photos.
DeletePlus lots and lots of water, to flush your system. And to counter dehydration. You're on the mend now and will be up and about in no time!
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm better. I've been drinking small sips of water all day long for, what, 4 o4 5 days now.
Deletehttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/06/brittany-oyster-farms-gastroenteritis-epidemic-sewage?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium=&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1578308280
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHere's that link live.'
DeleteThanks!
Delete