8 Easy Tips to Keep Your Gut Healthy While Traveling This Summer

Whether you’re setting off on a holiday or travelling for business, there’s nothing quite like escaping your daily routine and discovering new places. Yet in our excitement to plan the fun parts of a trip, we often overlook the less pleasant possibilities – the chief one being tummy troubles. 

After all, new surroundings bring unfamiliar germs, which is why so many of us come down with something while on the road. In addition to that, the summer heat makes foods spoil faster, which increases the risk of food poisoning. Here are 8 easy tips to keep your gut healthy while traveling this summer:

1. Take a Daily Probiotic Supplement

Our gut microbiome is home to trillions of microbes, while some are helpful (probiotics), others are harmful and can cause stomach issues. Taking a daily probiotic will ensure that your gut microbiome gets plenty of healthy microbes, which prevents harmful bacteria from multiplying. Not all supplements are equally good, so you should compare the top probiotic supplements that have been vetted by independent gut health dieticians to help you decide which one is best suited to your needs. 

2. Have Prebiotic-Rich Foods

Prebiotic foods are a type of dietary fiber that probiotic bacteria use as food. This means that eating more foods that are rich in prebiotics will help to improve your gut health. Cabbage, peas, garlic, onions, bananas, apples, and oatmeal are good sources of prebiotics, so include them in your daily diet while traveling this summer.

3. Stay Hydrated

Studies show that the amount of water you drink impacts microbiome diversity and your overall gut health. Since it’s summer, you will need to increase your water intake to make up for the loss of fluids through sweat.

4. Practice Portion Control

Large portion sizes of your regular foods stress your digestive system, but overeating unfamiliar foods, especially rich and spicy foods, can wreak havoc on your gut health. If you are eager to try a variety of foods, stick to small portion sizes so that you get to enjoy new foods without overeating.

5. Avoid Eating Roadside Food

You will be tempted by the rich aromas of street food, and you may even convince yourself that it’s safe to try foods that are cooked in front of you, since any harmful bacteria would die due to the high heat. Even if a food is dipped in batter and deep fried, only the outside reaches a high temperature, while the inside doesn’t get hot enough to kill all the germs.

Another “hack to roadside eating” is to eat where the locals are eating, since it is presumed that they know which places serve fresh food. However, just because their digestive system is able to handle those foods, it doesn’t mean that yours can! Studies show that up to 70% of travelers during a 2-week period will experience traveler’s diarrhea, so it’s best to stick with reputed restaurants.

6. Skip Buffets

Some infectious disease specialists have described buffets as “cesspools for bacteria”! This is no surprise since they consist of foods that are often sitting out for hours. These foods can contain everything from E. coli, salmonella, listeria, and norovirus, which can cause severe food poisoning. Another problem is that a lot of people touch those serving utensils, which means that it is easy for bacteria to transfer to your hands.

7. Avoid Salads

There’s no doubt that salads are healthy for you, but many of the leafy greens used in salads, such as romaine and spinach, can be contaminated with E.coli. Studies show that this is likely because of indirect transmission of fecal material from cattle in adjacent lands through water run-off. If the restaurant does not take adequate measures to clean the leaves thoroughly, it can cause food poisoning or, at the very least, diminish your gut health.

8. Track your Alcohol Intake

When you’re enjoying an evening out in a new place, you’re more likely to overindulge. While it’s fine to drink in moderation, too much alcohol harms the probiotics in your digestive system, which impacts your gut health. Drink a glass of water in between alcoholic drinks to reduce the effects of alcohol on your digestion.