How to prevent “Delhi Belly”?

Question

Montezuma's revenge or Aztec two step in Central America, mummy's tummy, or Cairo two-step in Egypt, Kurtz Hurtz in Uzbekistan, Bombay belly or Delhi belly in India.

A case of the sh-- or Hershey Squirts or The McSh-- in North America, Down Under Butt Chunder in Australia, Karachi crouch in Pakistan, Suryavarman's Revenge in Cambodia.

Kabulitis in Afghanistan, holiday tummy in United Kingdom, Bali belly in Bali, or Taghazout Tummy in Taghazout or Kathmandu quickstep in Nepal.

Beaver fever in Canada, Thailand it's Thai-dal wave. Peacekeepers to Arabic-speaking countries have called it yalla yalla (Arabic for "fast, fast").

In Central Asia, it was ridiculous, with every second backpacker walking around with toilet paper on them, regularly having to make a 'run' for it. In Egypt, half my tour group got sick, by the time we'd converted into a mobile pharmacy!

Regardless of what it's called, what's the best way to try and prevent it?

Answer 1

Basically, you can't.

The world is full of gastro-intestinal (GI) diseases, even in developed, First World nations. There are some decent steps to trying to minimize your exposure:

1. Properly cooked foods. Everything heated to a proper internal temperature (depends on the dish, check the USDA's site for guidelines), no sampling the raw chicken dish, etc.
2. For fruits and veg, if you can't peel it, don't eat it. A tremendous number of GI outbreaks are due to fruit and veg, rather than meat. This includes things like salads - since you can't really peel lettuce, avoid it.
3. Check if the local water is safe. When in doubt, assume it isn't. You can stick to bottled water, though there's always the distinct chance its being bottled from a contaminated source. Coke/Pepsi etc., and beer are good alternatives. Little known fact, the Coca-Cola company is hugely involved in clean water programs worldwide, because they need it for their product.
4. Ice. Ice is bad. Its probably made using the local tap-water, and there are many beasties that can survive an encounter with an ice machine.

But when it comes down to it, nearly every traveller makes some sort of safe-eating "mistake" fairly frequently, whether they realize it or not. At the end of the day, your best bet is to talk to your travel physician, and see if you can get a prescription for an antibiotic. Using that in combination with something like Imodium will probably keep your trip mostly on track - shutting down the problem long enough for the antibiotics to treat the source. Unless of course its viral - norovirus, rotavirus etc. In that event, best of luck.

And if it does happen? Stay hydrated. You're losing salts and water, they need to be replaced.

Answer 2

Some elementary precautions:

1. Drink no water or other liquid unless it has been boiled or bottled or canned. Be careful using ice; it may have been made from tap water.

2. Avoid eating at roadside food stands; sanitation levels are low. Avoid eating any place where there is evidence of poor sanitation, e.g. flies. Stick with the better restaurants, or with "home cooked" food.

3. Don't eat anything that hasn't been cooked or peeled immediately prior to eating. That includes bread, unless it is fresh bread, or just unwrapped.

4. Be careful with utensils. Wash them in boiled, or at least very hot water.

5. Carry pills for dysentery and similar ailments.

Answer 3

My friend and doctor also told me to take some malt liquor (eg. vodka or whisky) with me and have a shot after a meal. It's supposed to help you also with digesting as well as prevent some "stomach sensations".

Answer 4

To memorize and teach it (your kids etc.):

Wash it, peel it, cook it, or forget it.

You have been warned about ice made from tap water. You will often find yourself in situations where "coke" is understood, "no ice" is not. Learn these 2 words in the language of the country you board.

Answer 5

One of:

1. Peel it

2. Boil it

3. Throw it away

Only drink bottled water that has a seal on the cap (they can refill the bottles). Bring hand sanitizer (with a high alcohol content).

Answer 6

Specifically related to Egypt (but may be relevant in other countries):

I was told by an Egyptian tour guide that one of the things that causes illness amongst British tourists is the richness of the food especially fats/oils and sugar content as this is much higher then we are used to. So his advice was to avoid all Egyptian food and stick to plain 'western' foods if at all possible.

Obviously tap water is to be avoided but having said that a (British) friend of mine worked out in Cairo for several years and claimed that he could drink the water!

Answer 7

I would add:- sterilize your hands frequently and always before eating. If you distrust the water, use an alcohol gel.

Answer 8

While these steps are certainly inconvenient and inhibiting, there is no easier way to really be sure to avoid the Delhi belly:

• Get an ozonizer and take it with you in your luggage. Immerse fruits, vegetables, dishes, and other food-related items in water and ozonize them before consumption.

You can also ozonize the drinking water itself. Ozonization will kill nearly all harmful organisms from the water and from the surfaces of items immersed in the water. It's better if you use filtered water for this. If you use tap water for this, ozonize longer, and splash some bottled water over each item before use/consumption.

• Bring a small, portable induction cooker and a pot. Get takeaway food and boil everything yourself for several minutes before consumption.

• Drink only bottled water from good, trusted brands.

• Always wash your hands and make sure they are also free of tap water before touching anything related to food.

The ozonizer and induction cooker are somewhat inhibiting while trying to enjoy a holiday. So I might prefer to take a chance rather than follow them. But if you really need to "avoid the Delhi belly", then I recommend using them.

Answer 9

Always wash your hands after handling money. Of course if you don't trust the water this is best done using some kind of hand sanitizer.

Why You Shouldn't Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is (Wall Street Journal article)

Answer 10

I've been to China, Egypt, and Peru without any digestive upset. This advice is specialized for the type of travel I go on, tours organized by a competent tour company, and won't work for other situations:

Eat and drink only what is offered at the hotels, on the bus, on the boat, or at restaurants recommended by the tour director. This meant no street food in China :-(

Drink only the water that is handed out on the bus, placed in the hotel rooms and cabins, or on the tables at meals. Don't drink even apparently bottled water not from those sources.

Use hand sanitizer after each restroom visit and before each meal.

Tooth brushing took some care, using bottled water to moisten my toothbrush etc.

Answer 11

Assuming you're already infected and have the signs of a stomach disease, you may attempt to reduce the intensity of the symptoms. One recommendation I've heard from a couple of people is to take psyllium (Metamucil) supplements. Psyllium is basically soluble fiber and helps both with constipation and with diarrhea. It should also reduce other symptoms, such as excessive gas formation.

However it doesn't treat the underlying cause and shouldn't be considered a replacement for proper medicine, if it's needed for the particular disease one might be having. But it's nevertheless a good thing to have in your first-aid kit when traveling.

Answer 12

I've been in a lot of places, ate everything in every condition, in Indonesia even forgot about not drinking tap water, never ever done something listed in these answers, and never ever ever had a single problem.

The only way to avoid Delhi Belly: improve yourself. Seriously, we as human being have a great potential for adaptation, we have huge resistances and can easily override most basic viruses like those that cause the problem listed above. But...we destroy all of this by never using our body; it's like a training, so to say.

So, I'm not suggesting to go eat poison or drink spoiled water, but at least let your body use its potential. Seriously, from some of the other answers: "never eat street food". Well, no. Eat only street food. You'll have your hell belly ONCE, your body will strenghten, and the next travel in a totally different country you'll eat stones without problems.

Human body has been engineered to highest level to allow us to do lot of things, but all answers above just put people in a cage that will shrink day after day, to the point that even eating spicy cooked at their home will hurt their stomach. Let your body do its magic, for god sake.