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It's that time of year - and a post here, plus one about visiting SE Turkey, reminded me. So here goes ...

Stomach problems are a regular feature of travellers' experience in summer.

To help avoid this, go to your local Pakistani supermarket before leaving home and ask for Sat Isabgol (psyllium husk). Stir a dessertspoonful of this into your breakfast youghurt just before you go on a trip, and then at least two-three times a week over the time you're there. You can also put it into water, where it looks a little like wallpaper paste but has no taste at all.
BTW - NEVER take it dry - it could swell up in your throat and choke you!

If you can't find it where you are, get psyllium husk from a health food store - but when you buy it there it's cut by one-two thirds (so you'll need to take correspondingly more) and costs the earth.

PS - I learned about this 'miracle' cure in Lahore, where I was suffering after drinking the local water. Felt washed-out for several days and nothing restored my energy until someone told me about this.
They say it prevents and cures constipation AND diahorrea both, putting a lining on the stomach.
I gave some to a guy who was trekking the less-known parts of the Ural mountains: he was the only one on his trek not to get ill.

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Psyllium husk gave me back my energy when everything else had failed. My diahorrea had long gone when I took it, but only after taking it did my energy levels come back. Thereafter, I ate 'street food' with impunity.

It's very easy to say 'avoid this - and that - and the other' - not so easy when you're on the road and it's a choice of eat, or drink, what's available.
Besides, half the fun of travelling is sampling new dishes - and (high end) hotel buffets can be the worst offenders, in many people's experience.

Antibiotics, as far as I'm concerned, are better reserved for really serious complaints - otherwise they won't work when you really need them and nothing else will do.

But here I'm recommending taking psyllium as a preventive, rather than a cure, although it works as both.
I've just got back from a trip to Egypt (notorious for stomach problems) and Sudan (where there's no real travellers' infrastructure and you eat and drink where and when you can).
Took psyllium before I went and a couple or three times while there.

Quod est demonstrandum, qwovadis...

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My 3 tips for avoiding Delhi Belly: 1) Don't eat meat, vegetarian cuisine is both a staple and divine in this part of the world; 2) Make sure your food is always piping hot (seems to be the standard in India regardless); 3) Invest in water sterilization. In Canada we have a product called Pristine that works wonderfully with zero taste or invest in a UV pen as my travel mate did.

Living by these 3 rules I didn't have a single problem throughout my travels in India and Nepal. Low stress, preventative and no need to add anymore unfamiliar products into your diet.

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People in India have told me to take satisabgol with yoghurt for diarrhea and with milk for constipation. Never tried for the latter, but can verify that in my case the former does the job. It can usually be found outside of India where there are large Indian communities (eg, Malaysia). For diarrhea, though, I suggest people try just yoghurt first, as the satisabgol may work too well.
These days I've switched over to wheat bran, which seems to work the same way. Then again, in Malaysia it's easier to find satisabgol than bran.

I think maybe this general topic is pertinent to those of us of a certain age, I recall grandparents requiring daily prune juice when a lad. Bran is now something I eat (or just 'take,' a few spoons in a glass of water with a little sugar) several times a week. Also while in Malaysia I picked up a bag of Baba's Chili Powder which, in the words of Horace Rumpole, “keeps me astonishingly regular.”

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