Holiday Essentials - avoid a stomach of Dickie
Lately, the amount of holiday-goers heading off the beaten track for their yearly break has been rising, and with sound reason, too. Whether or not it is the UK's shonky weather, our natural urge to 'explore', the falling price of travel or just the need to go somewhere a bit different, holidays to far-flung destinations like Dubai, Indonesia and Thailand are becoming 'normal', rather than being the adventurous expeditions they once were.
Booming popularity is great, but it's good to bear in mind that these locations aren't always provided to address normal tourists' demands. English speakers may be rare, the general public transport systems might be hard - or maybe even impossible - to fathom and, being foreign, you may be seen as an easy target for crooks and other unscrupulous characters.
Eating on holiday can, at times, be a troubling and disconcerting experience. This often leads to some very different reactions when dinner is served. With limited communication between you and cafe staff, it is typically difficult to completely understand what you're ordering.
You might be worried after being presented with something resembling a plateful of pet. Okay, that is quite an extreme reaction but if your gut struggles with the spicy flavours, fascinating ingredients and country-specific cooking styles found in, as an example, the Far East, you could end up spending more time inside than you'd planned.
That leaves anyone suffering from a sensitive stomach disposition with a tricky call to make - try the tasty food pleasures of the country and risk an upset stomach or play it conservatively and miss out on some local culture.
It need not be that way, however, as there are a number of products around on the market which profess to help combat the foreign bacteria regularly found in overseas food and water to keep your belly at a pleasingly neutral level.
Biocare - Travelguard is one such product. Containing plant oils and probiotics in one regular dose, each tablet helps to maintain a good balance of good bacteria over less desirable organisms in your gut.
Take it daily with your food, and your odds of being laid low while abroad will fall seriously. Other tips. The same rules that you follow when eating at home apply - look for places that are clean, well-liked by neighbors and that appear well run.
That is not to say you may be completely blas about where you eat, though. When drinking, utilise a glass - don't just swig from the bottle - and don't go near the tap water ( not even for cleaning your teeth ).
Overall, use common sense and Biocare Travelguard tablets and you'll be able to taste the local delicacies but without the angst of being laid up in bed for 24 hours thereafter.