Probiotics could prevent holiday tummy

'Tums on the run’ is a classic holiday tale. If you catch a holiday bug, it can literally upset your longed-for summer break. With up to 50% of holidaymakers suffering from traveller’s diarrhoea each year, chances are that you have been the victim of such an experience.

Make this year different and defend yourself against the threat of holiday tummy. It starts before you even pack:

Probiotics can help prevent or lessen the worst effects of traveller’s diarrhoea. The most effective way to avoid holiday tummy in the first place is to charge your gut with good bacteria before leaving home. And then keep up a high count of these health-promoting organisms while you’re on holiday.

Before You Go

The best protection will be from a high strength probiotic for at least two weeks before you go away to build up the good bacteria count. Make sure you take them on an empty stomach (usually first thing in the morning and last thing at night work best) with only a glass of water.

While You’re Away

Keep the count high while you’re away. Where possible, keep them refrigerated to ensure the live bacteria are kept in the best condition.

The Bacteria Battle

Diarrhoea is the body’s quickest way to rid itself of an infection of the gut by foreign bacteria or parasites that are usually taken in with food or water. But good bacteria can block the invasion of these bad bacteria by gathering on the intestinal wall and stopping them from getting into the body’s system.

The good bacteria also stimulate the intestinal immune system to produce immunoglobins A and G that offset the bad effects of invading bacteria. And finally, the good bacteria produce natural compounds that kill off the bad bacteria.

Long Name and Numbers

Cheap brands are a false economy: don’t be fooled into thinking ‘500 million bacteria’ sounds like a lot of the good bugs: you should actually not take anything with less than 70 billion per capsule. There are 100 trillion bacteria in the human gut so the higher doses work best. Key strains to look out for are:

- S boulardii to destroy the common destructive gut toxin C difficile;
- Lactobacillus GG to inhibit E coli, streptococci, C difficile, bacteroides fragilis and salmonella;
- Bifidobacterium bifidum to boost the body’s own count of this vital good bacterium
- Bifidobacterium infantis to protect against dysentery and the common Shigella species that is so often the downfall of holidaymakers

Powerful Probiotic

One of the UK’s most powerful probiotics is the top grade, multi strain CP1 pro-biotic. It has five superior strains of pro-biotic micro organisms and laboratory tests verify around 70 billion total bacterial count per capsule. Its L.Acidophilus, L.Rhamnosus, L.Plantarum, B. Longum and B. Bifidum are specifically helpful to the small and large intestines.

CP1 comes in pots of 90 capsules costing £34.99, available from Gutdoctor.co.uk.