Nutrition helping you keep healthy during your summer travels

Travelling abroad The excitement of a holiday, new clothes, sunshine and exploring on day trips is sometimes almost enough for you to forget about your travel health.  Most of us don’t think about it until we get there, but we’ve got a few suggestions to help you plan a little in advance so you don’t have to worry when you should be enjoying your summer break. Reducing the risk of the travellers tummy bug: Most tummy infections from micro-organisms and parasites are from contaminated foods, water and infected animals.  However, tap water in some countries is to an equivalent or even better standard than bottled water so it is worth checking if you can drink it before you go. Bear in mind that tap water can be suitable for a local’s immune system but still affect you. If it’s not suitable for you make sure that you brush your teeth and drink mineral bottled water only. Be careful not to be caught out with ice made from tap water in restaurants and also make sure fruit is pealed and vegetables are boiled to reduce the chance of ingesting food borne contaminants.

Tasty food can look after your tummy: When choosing a meal at a restaurant look for dishes containing garlic, coriander, cloves, coconut, cinnamon and oregano as they not only make our food taste delicious they also all act as natural antibiotics making the digestive tract less habitable for pathogens. Had one too many to drink? The drinks were flowing and the evening was jolly but then you wake up the next morning it’s a slightly different story. The aftermath of alcohol can leave you feeling a little low, lethargic and under the weather due to four main reasons; the toxic load on the liver, disruption to blood sugar levels, dehydration and depletion of your B vitamin levels which like to keep you happy and energized. Reduce hangover symptoms by:  - Having liver supportive foods such as beetroot, artichoke, eggs and cruciferous vegetables before and after drinking can help to detoxify alcohol effectively through the liver.   - Eating berries and a banana the following morning can help rehydrate you and combine this with some nuts and seeds to aim at rebalancing your blood sugar levels.

Keep that flat tummy The trick to keeping your stomach flat is ensuring that you  are adequately digesting your food. We have put some tips below to help:

- Chew your food to a pulp so that your body can digest it - Limit refined carbohydrates in the diet such as pasta and bread.  They cause water retention and your body doesn’t really know what to do with it - Eat salads - raw foods contain digestive enzymes to aid food digestion

The desired summer glow The sun can give your skin a nice glow but can also cause damage. A couple of tips below should help: - Wear a sun cream of SPF-15 to protect your skin from the suns UV rays - Use aftercare containing vitamin E and aloe vera to help soothe and rejuvenate your skin - Use a skin regime containing antioxidants to protect and repair skin such as zinc, vitamin A and CoQ10

We hope that you enjoy your up and coming travels!