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denver · Joined: 26 Jul 2004 Posts: 76 Location: PANAMA

Hi Gang

I am arriving in INDIA for the first time and it seems EVERYONE I have met that has been there, either almost died thanks to food poisoning or survived after terrible cramps, diarrhea and the likes.

Please HELP!!!

What can I do to avoid getting sick? Is there a guide on the things to do? a list of precautions? Thanks a million!!!

Cheers

Denver

garbotara · Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Posts: 529 Location: China

Stomach problems are some of the easiest things to cure. They have antibiotics and labs everywhere.
Here are a list of don'ts:
1) Don't drink the local water even in cities ( tehy say it is treated- don't believe it).
2) Don't eat raw veggies until you know they have been purified. ( I would eat them anyway, but you are new)
3) If you see a lot of flies in a restaurant, don't eat there!
I will write more when I think of them.

Mike L. · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 519

Go vegitarian! A very doable option in India.

garbotara · Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Posts: 529 Location: China

I agree with going vegetarian. The veggie food is great in India and so varied. You will not get bored with the food there.I miss Gupta Brothers in Kolkotta. They had amazing chat and lassis.

jpvanderwerf2001 · Joined: 02 Oct 2003 Posts: 1117 Location: New York

Wash your hands.

AsiaTraveller · Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 7:44 pm Post subject:

When I visit India, I try to be vegetarian but that's not always possible. On my most recent three-week trip, I was healthy as can be in both Mumbai and Bangalore. I even had a well-cooked chicken curry one time, and a chicken biryani. I did not eat at foodstalls on the street, but I did eat in fairly small neighborhood restaurants -- nothing fancy and no hotels.

On the other hand, I regularly get sick by being a veggie in Malaysia, Indonesia and even Singapore. Maybe it's the strength of the spices in India that kills off anything bad for me?

Also, whenever and wherever I travel I try to take a daily capsule of acidophilus to keep my stomach flora healthy and working against evil invaders!

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

I was in India for two weeks and never got even the slightest dose of travellers diarrhoea, which isn't even true of the UK. And I don't get it in Sri Lanka any more, but I suspect that is because I have been going there so oftent.

Every country has its own bugs. After you've been sick a couple of times you'll have immunity. The water is quite safe to drink in the cities (it's pristine spring water you have to be careful of) and you can eat off most roadside stalls.

I would stick with vegetarina food, or fish on the coast, but that is for gastronimic, not for health reasons.

Travel Zen · Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 12:15 pm Post subject:

I was in India for three months and had a case of the runs for half of it. Crying or Very sad

Best thing to do is to go to the resturuants that are recommended for foreigners in books (Lonely Planet is excellent) or reccomended by foreigners. Do not eat at food stalls, wash your hands, take it easy on the spices, be careful of any meats, eat heated foods, and don't stuff yourself.

Stomach problems and hygene will be your number one problem in India. And be careful about the water!!!! Just as dangerous.

zaneth · Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 7:31 am Post subject:

Everybody told me to eat yoghurt but I didn't have a taste for the stuff then so didn't. Probably good advice, just from a nutritional point of view. I definitely got sick and lost a lot of weight in India.

I had friends who tried to be extremely careful about what came into their bodies, even wearing respirators against big city pollution. In the end I don't think it's possible to keep a country outside of your body. Take reasonable precautions but don't get paranoid.

I agree that vegie food is not a 100% guarantee. I was pure veg then. But how can it not be possible to be vegetarian in India? If you can't be veg in India, where can you? I guess if you are a regular houseguest of Muslims, maybe.

As for boredom, beautifully spiced amazingly delicious food can get boring after a while. You long for a plain potato with just a little salt. It can also be entertaining trying to convince an Indian waiter that that's all you want. I recommend it as a cultural experience.

memorabilis · Joined: 04 Feb 2005 Posts: 54 Location: Seoul, South Korea

hehe, my travel doctor was quite good at explaining how you get diarrhea while travelling. Traveller's diarrhea is caused by eating poop. In many countries, there is less road cleaning that in North America. Consequently, there is poop lying about. If flies land on the poop, and then land on your food, you can get sick.

What is there you can do about this? Well, not letting flies land on your food is about the only thing. But you don't really have control over what happens in the kitchen (and there are flies in the kitchens of even the nicest hotels and restaurants).

Other than that, get a perscription before you travel for an antibiotic and follow your doctor's advice.

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

IN the US you get the poop in the hamburger. Comes from the floor of the abbattoir.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Stay at home and live like Howard Hughes who was (like many from his country) obsessive about hygiene.

beck's · Joined: 06 Apr 2003 Posts: 426

A few years back I travelled in India for four months. I was sick for part of the time and so learned some valuable lessons.
1. Never drink the tap water. Don't even use it to brush your teeth.
2. Eat at the food stalls that are crowded and where you can see the food cooked in hot oil in front of you.
3. Eat only peeled veggies and fruit. Never the peeled cucumbers sprayed with water.
4. Eat only vegetarian food. Avoid all meat like the plague.
5. Drink only boiled milk with your tea.
6. Never eat the food on the trains or on the planes. Bring you own snacks
7. Don't eat ice cream. It has been frozen, thawed and re-frozen countless times due to the constant power failures.
8. If you eat eggs, make sure they are hard boiled.
9. When drinking beer of pop make sure the waiter opens the bottle in front of you. The same goes for bottled water.
10. Bring a course of Cipro from a western country with you in case of dysentry.

Hope this helps.

AsiaTraveller · Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:20 pm Post subject:

I think that this thread aptly demonstrates that different people have different constitutions. Stomach sensitivity varies greatly.

Even though I follow only a very few of the previous poster's guidelines, I simply don't get sick in India and I'm not sure why. I do get occasional short bouts of stomach problems in other Asian countries (even the supposedly "cleanest").

Stomach bugs affect different people differently. It's wise to take precautions, but precautions will vary from person to person.

zaneth · Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 3:59 pm Post subject:

Oh, but what would a long train journey be without that wonderfully creamy local ice cream?

Beer of pop? Is that like milk of magnesia?