How to stop the stomach bug from ruining your vacation?
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There’s something to be said about having a staycation during your time off from work. For starters, you won’t likely pick up a stomach bug eating at your favorite local restaurant.
Staying local also saves a lot of money. There’s no hassle with long, arduous, flights, hot, sweaty and hectic trains, and unscrupulous cab drivers.
And you certainly won’t get traveler’s diarrhea (TD) or pick up a gastrointestinal hitchhiker.
But for many people, the need to visit and immerse themselves in far-off, exotic locales is an insatiable urge. Bacterial pathogens and intestinal viruses be damned!
If you’ve been planning your dream vacation for a long time, don’t let a stomach bug or flu ruin it; be prepared!
The conventional wisdom of avoiding getting sick on vacation is drinking bottled water, avoiding tap water, and not eating uncooked food such as produce.
However, according to this report by the Centers for Disease Control, even if you follow these rules, there’s still a decent chance you may get bitten by the stomach bug.
If you’re planning on visiting a developing country, realize that even the most steadfast preventative measures–not opening your mouth when you take a shower and meticulous hand washing, for instance–you are most likely to succumb to traveler’s diarrhea for one simple reason.
And this one simple reason you are susceptible to picking up a stomach bug has been consistent for decades: poor hygiene practices in local restaurants.
That fact alone shouldn’t deter you from taking the dream vacation of a lifetime you’ve always wanted to go on, say an African safari or a trek to Machu Picchu.
But if you are going to a developing country where food preparers might not have developed-nation hand-washing consciousness and resources, here’s some things to consider.
Stomach Bug While Travelling: Western Root Causes
Bacteria is to blame for an overwhelming majority of TD cases. In fact, the CDC estimates 80-90 percent of TD incidences are of bacterial pathogenic origin. As for intestinal viruses, they are infinitesimal in comparison, accounting for approximately 5%-8% of all illnesses picked up while travelling.
Some health experts recommend taking probiotics and prebiotics (which serve as food for probiotics and encourage probiotic colonization) well before and during your travels.
However, nothing is full-proof. Unfortunately, a stomach bug or flu can strike regardless of how cautious you are.
Traveler’s Diarrhea: A Chinese Medicine Perspective
According to TCM theory, stomach bug, flu and traveler’s diarrhea (and related symptoms such as abdominal cramps, nausea, stomach gurgling, etc.) are the result of one of the external influences weaken the immune system: an invasion of dampness.
Most often, diarrhea presents with a combination of dampness and heat invasion (damp-cold can also be the cause, however). This damp heat results in Qi and Blood stagnation, which in turns creates a traffic jam in the energy channels (meridians). Consequently, the organs no longer function properly, especially the Stomach and Spleen.
The Spleen is the key digestive organ in TCM. It’s responsible for the transformation of all liquids and foods. But when Qi and Blood stagnation occur, Spleen cannot properly play its role in creating Qi from nutrients.
Tummy Troubles While Travelling?
Regardless if the cause is damp heat, damp cold or food retention–another TCM root cause of diarrhea–it’s best to have a formula on hand in case TD or stomach distress strikes.
For mild upset stomach, mild to moderate diarrhea, occasional nauseousness, slight chills, our formula, Stomacare may help.
The herbs in Stomacare, such as perilla leaf and ginger show the ability in research studies to support the gastrointestinal tract. (Perhaps it’s this reason why both these herbs are common with sushi.)
Stomacare also works in case of food poisoning and is a well-known formula in the Orient for hangovers.
Stomach Bug Got You Down? Try Stomach Dampclear
When you need an herbal remedy for TD that acts fast, Stomach Dampclear comes to the rescue. It’s especially potent at clearing damp accumulation in the spleen and stomach. This is one herbal formula you may want to consider having handy when you go on vacation (and at home). After all, you never know when stomach upset will strike).
This formula differs from StomaCare in that it’s more helpful for damp cold symptoms. Damp cold symptoms include poor appetite, indigestion, loose stools, and heavy sensation of the limbs and tiredness.
We recommend having both these formulas on hand in case of emergency.
Don’t let a stomach bug ruin your vacation. Carry Stomacare and Stomach Dampclear with you at all times.
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