For those of us who are passionate about traveling the world—we know that it can create some amazing memories and experiences that we will carry for the rest of our lives. We get to see the differences in how human beings live, explore unique landscapes, try new foods, the list goes on. That being said, traveling can also really mess with our body and mind if we don’t take the extra steps to care for ourselves while on the road.
Our circadian rhythm’s get severely disrupted from time zone changes and long transit times. Our gut microbiomes take a big hit from foods and spices we aren’t use to, along with exposure to certain bacterias and parasites that we may not come across daily in our home countries. We typically don’t eat proper nutrient dense meals as we gravitate to what is more convenient. Lastly—if we are doing a lot walking/hiking our nutrient and electrolyte output far outweigh the input.
Below is a list of 5 ways to stay healthy while traveling so you can get the most out of your adventure!
1. Book Accommodation with a kitchen
Eating out when travelling is one of the greatest joys! But eating at a restaurant or street vendor for every meal can be pretty harsh on the system, especially when you’re in a developing country as they don’t necessarily have the same sanitation practices we have here in Canada or respectfully, potable water. We are very fortunate to be able to have access to safe drinking water here and sometimes we tend to take that for granted.
Having access to a kitchen to be able to prepare nutrient dense snacks or lunches for long hikes, beach days, train rides and flights is a game changer and will provide your body with the energy and support needed to sustain you throughout your trip. Your gut microbiome and your wallet will thank you for hitting the local market and preparing your own food.
2. Carry Electrolyte Tablets
Most of us have been in a situation while abroad, where we’ve picked up a food borne illness which induced diarrhea and/or vomiting. When this happens, it can completely derail your trip or depending on how long it lasts, ruin it all together.
Being in this state can cause severe dehydration and an electrolyte imbalance which can be quite dangerous. When you are suffering from diarrhea or vomiting, you are depleting your body of not only water, but minerals that are vital to the proper function of your organs. If we don’t support our system throughout this difficult time we will only feel worse and our body will have a hard time healing itself and in severe cases, it can cause organ failure.
Now—before you go reaching for that gatorade, remember that although these sports drinks are marketed as electrolyte boosters, they are also packed full of processed sugar. What do we know about sugar? We know that sugar is food for bad bacteria and parasites. So this is the last thing we want when fighting a gut invader.
These are also helpful if you’re traveling in a hot country and/or doing a lot of physical activity and need to replenish. Visit your local health food store and pick up a couple packs of electrolyte tablets. Simply drop one in your water bottle and you’re good to go! I personally use either NUUN or Hydralyte. If you don’t have access to these tablets, carrying around a little container of unrefined mineral salt and dropping a pinch of it into your water bottle is also a very helpful trick.
3. Don’t Eat Raw Food!
I’m not too concerned about this rule when I travel to certain countries, but this is a big one when traveling to developing countries as they don’t have clean water. It’s easy to get away with eating raw vegetables if you’re preparing them in a kitchen yourself using bottled water and a fruits & vegetable specific soap. But eating raw vegetables from a vendor or restaurant can introduce you to all kinds of bacteria and parasites you don’t want.
Now—if you’re someone who already has a strong immune system and a diverse gut microbiome, you can be a little bit more adventurous because your body will be more equipped to fighting it off and quickly expelling it. But for those of us with gut microbiomes influenced by the standard western diet, we are easily susceptible to becoming ill from these pathogens.
Eating food that is cooked is a great way to ensure that if there are harmful bacteria or parasites present, they will be killed off when exposed to high cooking temperatures.
4. Travel with Probiotics
Traveling with a good probiotic is always a good idea to make sure you’re supporting the gut the best way you can while it’s being introduced to foreign foods and questionable water. Taking a probiotic daily will help support and maintain the good bacteria that lives in our guts and is required to keep us healthy. Probiotics have also been shown to be effective in traveler’s diarrhea.
Probiotics that require refrigeration will not be suitable for traveling, so make sure you choose a shelf stable product.
5. Practice Grounding
It’s safe to say that flying is a stressful experience. We have to deal with long line ups, flight delays, and waiting around for hours. Then top it all off with landing in a foreign country with a completely different time zone, severe sleep deprivation and hunger. Our nervous systems basically hate us during this time.
The practice of grounding is simply connecting and aligning your electrical energy with that of the earth’s energy current. To do this we can walk barefoot on grass, soil, sand or into water. I know it sounds a bit ‘woo woo’ but hear me out— grounding therapy has actually been studied for decades with more and more research suggesting that grounding has some pretty amazing healing effects on the body and can be a powerful sleep aid.
So the next time you get off that 13 hour flight and are feeling disoriented, jump into a body of water, or go for a walk barefoot in some dirt for an hour. Don’t forget to practice some deep breathing while you do it to help reset the nervous system!
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2319417022001585
