It’s vacation travel season, so I thought I might be helpful sharing a preventative health tip I recently became aware of. It involves eating.
A chance encounter with the wrong bacteria or virus can create an unpleasant GI problem even here in America, so I always travel with Pepto-Bismol.
But it turns out the pink tablets are good for more than just treating a tummy problem. They can be a very effective preventative.
Imodium is always in by toiletry kit as well, just in case things get bad, or I have to be on a plane or somewhere else I can’t be guaranteed of getting to a restroom quickly. Pepto-Bismol is sufficient in most cases, but Imodium is the quick lock-down solution when needed. Pro tip: To avoid constipation, stop Imodium as soon as relief is found, and keep drinking plenty of water throughout the whole episode. Also, step up the fiber after stopping Imodium.
You likely know all this.
Perhaps, like me, you didn’t know that taking two Pepto-Bismol tablets every three hours during eating hours is very good at preventing diarrhea. Pepto-Bismol has an anti-bacterial and anti-viral effect, which has a chance to work - most of the time -because the Pepto-Bismol also helps your body absorb water from the intestines. In order for it to work best, take the Pepto-Bismol on schedule so it is in your GI tract when you eat. Take a maximum of 8 tablets every 24 hours.
For Eating in America friends around the world or those looking for help after the fact in a farmacia in Latin America or a drugstore in Africa, you can ask for bismuth subsalicylate. Kaopectate in America also contains bismuth subsalicylate. Imodium’s generic name is loperamide.
Although bismuth subsalicylate is effective for indigestion and nausea as well as diarrhea, you’ll want to limit your use of it. It’s banned or very restricted in Western Europe because bismuth is a heavy metal, although research shows it has low toxicity. I don’t worry, but I wouldn’t take it regularly for indigestion.
Bismuth subsalicylate when taken as a prophylactic is mostly protective. In a randomized-control trial of American students who stayed for three weeks in a country where Americans often have traveler’s diarrhea (I won’t tell you about when I was there a few months ago and who on the trip had it) those on the placebo were three times as likely to get diarrhea as those on the full preventative dose of Pepto-Bismol. Forty percent of the students on the placebo got diarrhea!
Whether you take Pepto-Bismol or not, greatly reduce your chance of getting diarrhea when outside the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, and Western Europe, by never eating uncooked vegetables (including those bits of lettuce on your sandwich), fruit you don’t peel yourself, or street food. Never drink water or allow ice in your drink that you are not sure is purified. Be sure your food is freshly made and steaming hot, and avoid those sauces that have been on the table for hours or days. I know everyone has heard this advice or most of it, but a lot of people don’t fully follow it, and, when I travel, I have seen most of those people get sick.
Finally, if you’re traveling someplace more “iffy,” especially if you’ll be any distance from reliable medical care, you might ask your doctor for an antibiotic prescription to have on hand just in case of a real emergency.
Pay attention to all drug precautions, check in with your doctor with your status and questions, and remember my advice cannot replace that of a trained medical professional.
And send photos.
Thanks for reading. You’re the best.
