Diarrhea while traveling is a common ailment that can be prevented. Let's see how...
Unfortunately, we are talking about a disease that is much more common than one might think (20-30% of international travellers, for a total of 10 million people!), waiting to ruin the much-desired holiday period.
Diarrhea is generally more likely to occur based on specific destinations such as Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, affecting more frequently young adults, immunosuppressed, subjects affected by chronic diseases and on H2 blocker therapy (less effective gastric barrier).
Why do you get diarrhea when you travel?
The main reasons for this contagion are theingestion of contaminated food or drink.
The manifestation of this annoying episode is highly variable as it can appear both in the first week after infection and in subsequent periods, even after the holiday is over, a factor which makes an accurate diagnosis not always easy.
The most common symptoms, in addition to watery diarrhea (usually 5-6 episodes/day) that evolves from a simple increase in the frequency and volume of defecation, are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, swelling, fever and general malaise.
How to relieve diarrhea symptoms on vacation
Diarrhea resolution is shown very variable depending on the bacteria involved and the performance status of the subject, including periods ranging from a few days up to a month.
They exist various health and hygiene measures which help minimize the risk of contagion.
Foods that may cause diarrhea:
- Avoid foods and drinks prepared and stored in questionable hygienic conditions (e.g. street vendors) and prefer closed packaged formats for drinks.
- Avoid eating raw or undercooked meat or fish;
- Avoid eating raw fruit and vegetables without peeling them;
- Tap water, ice, unpasteurized milk.
Which foods are safe abroad?
- Bottled sparkling water;
- Hot tea and coffee;
- Beer;
- Wine;
- Boiled water or water treated appropriately with iodine or chlorine.
Precautions and remedies for diarrhea while traveling
A further measure that can make life much easier in these contexts it is the one that provides for a specific probiotic coverage with strains that are shown to be particularly effective in prevention and in the treatment of intestinal bacterial infections.
Read also: Which probiotics to choose to improve intestinal bacterial flora.
Among the various application possibilities, Saccharomyces boulardii, a yeast closely related to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae or the common microorganism used in baking and brewing.
The discovery of this tropical yeast is attributed to the Frenchman Henri Boulard, who isolated it from the lychee (Chinese cherry) and the mangosteen in 1923.
Particularly interesting are the potentials of the Saccharomyces boulardii in assisting the maintenance and promoting the restoration of the intestinal microbiota both at the level of the small intestine and at the level of the large intestine.
Indeed, this appears to be extremely consistent with the observations of Boulard who noted how the natives used to chew the peel of lychee and mangosteen in order to control the symptoms of cholera.
Saccharomyces boulardii, in addition to showing positive effects in rebalancing the intestinal bacterial population, is non-pathogenic and cannot spread throughout the body, but instead remains in the intestinal tract. Another favorable factor is the ideal temperature for the yeast, 37°C, perfectly compatible with that of the human body.
Other factors that made the "artisanal" use of this microorganism effective and that also make its current use as a probiotic interesting, lie in its ability to reach the site of action of interest in sufficient quantities, overcoming the gastric barrier, resisting the action of digestive enzymes (proteases and lipases) and that of bile salts.
By virtue of these characteristics, its use is proposed not only in the treatment of conditions such as traveler's diarrhea, where it proves very interesting in prevention and very useful in treatment, but also in much more difficult situations such as:
- complicated intestinal infections;
- irritable bowel syndrome;
- inflammatory bowel disease;
- antibiotic-associated diarrhea;
- serious infections (such as HIV/AIDS);
- Candida albicans infections of which it appears to be an interesting biological antagonist.
