stomach ache – Tummy Trouble

Traveller’s tummy or ‘Holiday tummy’ is something lots of people experience when they go on holiday. Some people get diarrhoea and others find they become constipated or experience nausea. Now, I have blog posts that deal with all three of these issues, but wanted to make a specific post about how to deal with this while on holiday. Whether this is because of the nerves from the flight, new food or water, we can’t be sure. Whatever the cause of your holiday tummy, there are some steps you can take to make sure you’re prepared for every scenario and can kick back and enjoy yourself.

Symptoms of ‘Traveller’s tummy’ can include:

stomach ache
abdominal cramps
diarrhoea or loose stool
constipation
nausea
heartburn/acid reflux

However, if any of these symptoms are severe or do not improve at all within a couple of days, you should seek professional medical advice. You may be able to ask a pharmacist, or speak with a doctor or visit a clinic or hospital if necessary. Remember to take your travel insurance documents and your ID with you when visiting health centres. This will avoid large medical bills.

Drink lots of bottled water

Yes it is more costly and can contribute to plastic waste, but it is definitely the safest bet for something with a sensitive stomach. I opt for bottled water even in regions where I’m assured the tap water is safe to drink. Even just a slight change in mineral content or fluoridation can upset a sensitive stomach and have you heading for the toilet more frequently than you would like. Just be sure to recycle your plastic bottles when you’re done!

Avoiding the local water can be difficult, remember that fruits and salads may be washed in tap water and that the ice cubes used in your drinks may be made from tap water. You can easily ask for drinks with no ice, or if the ice comes from bottled water. You may even wish to use bottled water, to brush your teeth!

Eat sensibly

While I’m sure there are lots of delicious foods to try on your holiday, being cautious while you are experiencing any diarrhoea or stomach problems is a good idea. You can stick to plain foods such as white bread or white rice. Avoid spices and heavily-flavoured foods while your stomach is still unsettled.

After a day or two, your stomach is likely to be a little better and you can be a little more adventurous when sampling the local culinary delights.

Anti-Diarrhoea medication

Anti-diarrhoea medication is very useful to take on holiday with you, but beware, it isn’t recommended for everyone. Those with a stomach bug, food poisoning and diverticular disease/diverticulosis should not take anti-diarrhoea medication unless instructed to by a medical professional. If you’re not sure whether you should be taking it, speak to your doctor or pharmacist before your trip.

Stool softeners

Should you get constipated and find it difficult to eliminate stool, you should try a stool softener. These are often taken in the evening so that they work overnight, meaning by the morning, you are able to have a bowel movement. Common stool softeners include lactulose, milk of magnesia and ;axatives such as Dulcolax or Senna.

However, if you don’t fancy trying medication, up your water and fibre (US: fiber) intake and try get some gentle exercise to get the bowel moving again. You can also eat prunes, figs, Weetabix, licorice and drink prune juice or black coffee. You can also read my post about constipation if you need more information.

Rehydration sachets

As I mentioned in my post about diarrhoea, re-hydration sachets can be extremely helpful when recovering from diarrhoea and re-hydrating your body. During this time, you should definitely avoid alcohol since that can cause further dehydration. This is especially important when visiting a destination with a hotter climate and swimming in the sea.

Have you experienced traveller’s tummy before? How did you deal with it?

Eating is something we do to get all of the nutrients that we need to be healthy and live an active lifestyle. A lot of people suffer with poor digestion and get symptoms such as stomach ache, bloating, indigestion, acid reflux or even just feeling sluggish. So, what can we do to prevent these problems?

Try these 7 tips to help your digestive system work in tip-top condition.

1. Eat slowly

When eating, it’s a good idea to eat slowly. This way you’re more likely to chew your food and not eat more than your stomach needs to satisfy your hunger.

2. Chew your food well

Digestion begins in the mouth, here we physically break down food by using our teeth, but we also begin to chemically digest food using our saliva. An enzyme in our saliva called Amylase helps us break down carbohydrates into sugars that will give us energy before we even swallow our food. To make food easier for our stomach to digest, we should chew our food very well until it is like a paste and is easy to swallow.

3. Avoid drinking lots of liquid while eating

Drinking lots of water at the same time as eating can overfill our stomach and cause us a lot of discomfort. It can even cause our stomach to stretch over time.
It’s best to avoid drinking for around 20-30 minutes either side of your meal. Of course, you can have a couple of small sips to cleanse your palette or wet a dry mouth, but our stomach and stomach acid can do a better job to digest our food without a lot of water entering the stomach at the same time.

4 . Avoid eating after 7 pm

A lot of people suffer with indigestion or acid reflux in the evening or when in bed at night and one cause of this could be eating too late in the evening. When we sleep, our digestive system slows down and doesn’t work as efficiently as it does during the day. Because of this, it’s a good idea to avoid eating after around 7pm or for about 4 hours before you go to bed. This gives food time to be digested and exit the stomach, meaning there isn’t lots of acid when you go to bed. However, there are lots of other reasons why you might be getting acid reflux or indigestion on a regular basis and this should be discussed with your doctor.

5. Avoid laying down or napping after a meal

Just as I mentioned above, sleeping after a meal, although tempting isn’t good for digestion since it slows the process down, causing food to stay around in the stomach for longer than usual. Laying down is also not a great idea because it can mean acid is more likely to escape from the stomach and go up into the oesophagus, giving us that burning sensation in our throat.

6. Stop eating if you don’t feel hungry

We know it’s rude to waste our food, but, it’s bad for our health and our digestion to eat portions that are much too large for us. Large portions are difficult for us to break down all at one time and can also stretch our stomach and make us feel bloated and uncomfortable. Remember, it takes around 20 minutes for the hormones produced by the stomach to tell your brain that you’re full. This means that many of us overeat. Eating slowly will certainly help us to receive that signal before we indulge too much.

It’s okay to say ‘no thank you’ – in fact, your digestive system might even thank you for it!

7. Eat small portions regularly

As we’ve seen above, large meals are hard on the digestive system. It’s much better for your body to eat smaller meals more frequently throughout the day than going hungry all day and sitting down to a huge meal in the evening.
But doesn’t eating more meals each day mean more cooking? Not necessarily…you can easily cook your lunch and split it into several portions to eat later in the day.

Do you get discomfort after eating and have any of these tips helped you? Let me know in the comments below.

Tag: stomach ache

Traveller’s tummy

7 Tips for good digestion