Traveling is a lot of fun, and many individuals and families are back on the road again in 2021. They are probably glad to do it, especially if they could not go anywhere last year. This year, with vaccines widely available, many more people are willing to take the trips they wanted to take in 2020.
While traveling is a great thing to do, and many people feel like you need to travel sometimes to broaden your horizons and make you a more complete person, there are some dangers worth discussing. Food poisoning is at the top of the list. In this article, we’ll talk about how you can try to avoid it when you’re in an unfamiliar place.
How Might You Tell if Your Food Has Poisoned You?
Food poisoning kills about 420,000 people in the US every year. Salmonella kills them, as do Norovirus and E. Coli. Those are some of the most common culprits, but there are other ones as well.
You can usually tell if your food has poisoned you within 24-48 hours after you eat it. There are other instances where the food poisoning will lie dormant for a time.
You might not feel ill for up to 8 days, with E. Coli, or up to 28 days, with Hepatitis A. For the most part, though, you will start to feel sick to your stomach, and that can be the first giveaway that you’ve eaten unsafe or contaminated food. Nausea might get worse, and you may vomit.
You might experience confusion, lightheadedness, and dizziness. You might sweat or have uncontrollable tremors. You also may have abdominal pain that won’t go away or fatigue to the point that you cannot stand on your own.
What Can You Do if This Happens?
If you feel like you are experiencing food poisoning, you might not have to do anything about it but lie in bed for a couple of days. That can be enough for your body to recover on its own, though you won’t have a very fun time while the contaminants work their way out of your system.
Food poisoning can cause severe or even life-threatening problems in some cases, though, which is why it’s best to find a doctor to help you if you experience these symptoms. At the very least, they can confirm the diagnosis and advise you regarding what you should do.
How to Avoid Food Poisoning in Unfamiliar Places
Getting back to traveling, though, you probably want to know how to avoid food poisoning when you’re in an unfamiliar state or country. Any time you eat in a restaurant, you don’t know the exact steps the food takes to get to your plate. Because of that, eating anywhere is a leap of faith, whether the restaurant is a mile from your house or on the other side of the world.
There are a few rules you can follow, though, that will make food poisoning while traveling less likely. Never eating anything that’s less than fully cooked is one hard-and-fast rule that you should follow.
That means staying away from oyster bars or raw bars. Raw seafood or seafood that the chef has not cooked thoroughly can be dangerous.
You should also avoid meat that’s less than fully cooked. You might like to order your steak rare, but while traveling, you are less likely to experience food poisoning if you request it well done instead.
What Else Can You Do?
You can also avoid drinking tap water, and you can drink exclusively bottled water instead. You can often prevent dysentery that way.
You can eat at places where the locals seem to be eating as well. If they all seem to trust an establishment, that means you probably can too.
You should also avoid dairy, or at least be cautious when you consume it. You can drink hot, cooked milk, but other than that, tread cautiously. Cheese can be a mistake, especially if you get it in an undeveloped region.
If you are unlucky enough to eat food or consume water that poisons you while you’re traveling, see a doctor, and then don’t overexert yourself. Food poisoning often weakens you quite a bit, and it will dehydrate you as well. Make sure to drink lots of water and consume electrolytes.
Despite these dangers, don’t let the food poisoning possibility dissuade you from traveling. If you take a common-sense approach, you will probably be fine.
