Nutrition for Travelers

After I spent an entire summer becoming certified in travel medicine, someone came along and summarized the information painfully succinctly:

Don’t get bit. (Mosquitos and ticks are the primary offenders.)

Don’t breathe it. (Tuberculosis, viruses, air pollution and high altitude)

Don’t do ‘it’. (Many sexually transmissible diseases are regional.)

Don’t eat sh**. (Many bacterial, parasitic and viral infections are spread fecal-orally.)

The last ‘Don’t’ may happen, but strategic nutrition can prevent illness.

• Caution. Persons taking stomach acid-blockers are more likely to get diarrhea.

• Drink water that is bottled, boiled or purified with iodine tablets. Don’t use ice.

• Eat foods that are either wrapped (including fruits with a peal) or zapped.

• Pack a nail brush and sanitizing soap.

• Get ‘culture’. Either eat plain organic yogurt or take mild probiotic capsules (healthy gut bacteria such as S. acidophilus) beginning 1 week before travel. The bismuth in Peptobismal™ also helps prevent symptoms.

• Vaccinate against the worst ‘food poisoning’: hepatitis A and typhoid. Cholera vaccines to date are not effective. See www.cdc.gov.

• Sometimes malaria and travelers’ diarrhea prophylaxis can be combined. Discuss this with your physician. A good rule of thumb is to start an antibiotic when starting Imodium?. It works both ways, so bring Ex-lax™ too.

• Don’t let the problem get out of hand. Diarrhea spends body water and electrolytes, especially potassium and magnesium. This then worsens diarrhea. Break the cycle. 1.Drink young coconut water straight from the nut. 2. Sip chicken soup with rice. 3.Use WHO approved oral rehydration salts.

• Help your gut recover. Take 5 grams of glutamine twice daily to nourish the gut lining.

Here are some other tips to smooth your trip. These aren’t in textbooks. They come from people who have been around the world a few times.

• Help move the hands of the body clock a little faster. Sleep. Sleep on the plane. Pick a more comfortable seat with www.seatguru.com. Bring an over-the-counter sleep aide. Stay hydrated.

• Reduce caffeine intake a week before travel. This is likely to help jetlag more than melatonin. Also get sunshine during the new daytime.

• Pack healthy snack bars. These can replace airplane food. They are also a meal in a pinch, such as 3 a.m. ‘gut-lag’.

• Avoid the aches of suitcase hefting. Light sturdy-wheeled travel bags are golden! Organize your items in large ziplock bags. This minimizes disorder from rigorous suitcase inspections.

• Since the body interprets engine noise as stress, travel with a Bose™ noise-reduction headset.

• Standing by the airplane toilets is now considered congregating. Nonetheless, keep moving. Rub a hairbrush on your feet and calves. Wear support hose. Find the massage chairs at the airport Brookstone™ store.