Health - Mostly It's What We Drink

Ever wonder why some of your friends are constantly catching colds, viruses, and everything that is "going around"? Some folks simply have low immune systems which seem like a magnet for all bad bacteria and viruses to attack them. In many cases, people make themselves more prone to those attacks by drinking the wrong stuff!
Do you drink several soft drinks per day? Lot's of sweetened fruit juice? Coffee to the max? Well, let's look at what all these drinks have in common and why we need to be careful in drinking them. What do they have in common? They are all ACIDIC. The more acids (oxidants) put into our bodies, the more our bodies try to mitigate the damage to our cells and organs - because the healthiest human systems are slightly basic - the opposite of acidic.
When we constantly load our system with acids for years (as many of us do!) we are overloading our various organs which are designed to remove toxins - like the kidneys and liver. Eventually these organs have no way to fight excess toxins and they remain in the organs designed to flush them. Months and years of fighting to remove excess toxins can cause damage.
There is a positive antidote for this build-up of impurities in our body. If we make the conscious decision to ingest more anti-oxidants, we can check, or even reverse problems caused by years of oxidation from acidic food and drink! Anti-oxidant foods include; nuts, vegetables, some fruits. However, since humans are between 75 and 85% water, we can get healthier faster by changing to Alkaline Water instead of what we are now drinking. Health food stores are now stocking Alkaline Water - but for a price. If you want to have enough to cook with and drink on a regular basis, find a company which manufactures and markets equipment which can produce your own constant supply of Alkaline Water - At home! Check out various possibilties on yBoggle, including a simple remedy for having constant supplies of Alkaline Water, even when you travel!
With a home system, you can even refill sports bottles for the entire family with healthy water ...at a fraction of the cost of purchased bottled water.

More Travel Health - "Travel Gut" Got You?

Let's set the stage...We are on a great life-time dream, 2 week long trip to Thailand with our best friends. The first week in Bangkok is tremendous; staying in a 4 star hotel, seeing the Emerald Buddah, and shopping on Pat Pong Street for fine silks. But the itch begins to have some warm sand between our toes, so we get the bus to the beach town of Pattaya, on the Gulf of Siam. Arriving there, we are famished and just have to eat at a cute little corner restaurant down the street from our hotel. We sample the Noodle Soup, Laap Salad and other local delicacies! Then we walk down to the beach. Suddenly one of us starts feeling the immediate need of a bathroom and we begin what can be days of being immobilized by diarrhea attacks. What do you do?

The answer is first to have some Lomotil with you or get some at the local drugstore. Barring that, we need to understand that our sudden attack is not necessarily caused by bad food or drink. It is most probably due to our gastro-intestinal system trying to accommodate different microbes than we are used to in our hometown. The bacterial in Thailand are being rejected by our body.

Here is the quick fix prescribed by doctors with International experience, and by people who have lived in various regions of the world - nearly every region has it's own cultural food which will sooth the stomach, naturally and quickly! In South East Asia it is RICE, in the Middle East it is YOGURT ...! These dishes are available everywhere, and are made from local water, milk and other natural ingredients. They create a soft, easily digestible food which carries high nutrition along with a good dose of soothing local bacteria. Eat a bowl of the rice or yogurt with plenty of water every hour for three hours, or until the diarrhea attacks subside.
Soon you will be feeling yourself again, plus you will be filled with "good" bacteria which will make you comfortable with the local foods!

Travel Health - Busting the Myth!

How many of us have a personal story of enjoying a trip overseas with friends and family, only to fall prey to a debilitating attack of what Americans tend to call ..."Montezuma's Revenge"?

What causes it? And, more importantly, what can we do to minimize the effects so we can continue to savor our travel experience without losing precious days in the hotel room (hotel bathroom?), while others in our group are out on having the tour of a lifetime...without us?
Medical experts and those who have experienced a lifetime of living in foreign lands recognize that rapid change of diet, as well as differences of the microbes in food where climate differs, cause most of the stomach and bowel upsets which plague the vacation traveler. Bad food and bad water are way down the list of suspects!
You see, our internal systems are filled with bacteria from the food and water we ingest even at home. Then, fly half-way around the globe and you will find very similar food with completely different microbes. Those require our bodies to adjust!

So on that next trip to your exotic dream destination, don't fear the local delicacies. Take normal precautions on where you eat, but taking time to sample various foods from our host country is one of the important memories to take from being there. Don't miss out over fear of the "trots"!
To lessen the time you need to spend close to the "porcelain bowl" in Mexico or Morocco, we suggest you arrange to carry some Lomotil, or Off-the-Shelf meds designed to fend off diarrhea.

Now get out there and wolf down spicy fried fish under the Galata Bridge in Istanbul, or some Paella from a romantic little bohillo on the outskirts of Cabo San Lucas!