Whether you term it Delhi Belly or Montezuma’s Revenge, travelers’ diarrhea is no joking matter. You don’t even have to be trekking through rough terrain in undeveloped places. Researchers recently found that a majority of North American medical students traveling in Israel developed symptoms of travelers’ diarrhea (Israel Medical Association Journal, Aug. 2019). If you drink contaminated water or eat food with unfamiliar bacteria lurking in it, you may suddenly need to rush to the restroom. Beyond the urgent need to defecate, you may also have nausea and vomiting, abdominal cramps and possibly even fever. Needless to say, none of this is pleasant, especially when you are far from home. If you end up becoming dehydrated, it could even be dangerous.
There are ways to protect yourself from diarrhea when you are away from home. People often travel abroad for the US Department of Defense. More than a thousand of them enrolled in a study (Journal of Travel Medicine, May-June 2015). Optimal treatment of severe travelers’ diarrhea includes antibiotics and antidiarrheal medicines. In some places, travelers would find it difficult to purchase these drugs. Are there other treatments that can help for this problem?
Does Raspberry Powder Ward Off Travelers’ Diarrhea?
Q. This may sound silly, but we New Zealanders and Australians travel a lot to resorts in Asia like Thailand, Bali and Vietnam. A favorite anti-diarrhea ploy is to take sachets of pure raspberry fruit powder or raspberry cordial containing not less than 30% raspberry.
I take a dessert spoon of the powder or a 1/4 glass of cordial the night before I leave and then each morning when I wake up. I don’t suffer from the trots during my holidays. This remedy is great for families travelling with kids.
No Science on Raspberry Fruit for the Trots:
A. Thank you for sharing this intriguing remedy. We could find no research to support your treatment plan, but it does seem benign. Traditionally, herbalists recommended raspberry leaf tea for diarrhea (Current Medicinal Chemistry, June 2004). On the other hand, no one seems to have studied raspberry leaf for this purpose, either. However, raspberry shoots are rich in ellagic acid and have antimicrobial activity (BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Dec. 12, 2014).
Pepto-Bismol Can Help:
Another low-tech treatment for mild travelers’ diarrhea is bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol) (Journal of Travel Medicine, April 1, 2017). It will turn the stool black, but that is not something to worry about if you use this anti-diarrheal medicine for just a few days.
Other travelers have reported that consuming coconut can be helpful. In addition, this article from the Mayo Clinic offers ways to remember not to drink the water or consume unwashed fresh produce if you are traveling outside North America, western Europe, Australia, New Zealand or Japan.
