Holiday travel, bad eating: recipe for stomach trouble

Washington, Dec 30 (UNI) Travel compiled with poor eating may lead to stomach problems during the holidays, disrupting the internal body clock, experts suggests.

''Travelling can be very stressful and hard on gut too. People may tend to experience abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, diarrhea or a combination of any of those problems during travel,'' Washington Post quoted Sandra Hoogerwerf, assistant professor, University of Michigan Medical School as saying.

''The gut's rhythm gets thrown off when you travel, especially across time zones. So, suddenly, one is awake when he should be sleeping, and eating when one is suppose to be sleeping.

Essentially, the gut is jet-lagged, and that can cause a lot of gastrointestinal problems,'' Ms Hoogerwerf said.

It was suggested to give some time to the gut to catch up with the new schedule and re-establish its rhythm.

''If you respect your biological rhythms, you're going to feel less irritated, less tired, less fatigued, and your gut is going to feel a lot better,'' she stated.

Poor eating habits can aggravate travel-related stomach problems, Ms Hoogerwerf warned.

''When people travel, they drink lots of carbonated drinks, snack in between meals and often gulp down their meals because they're in a hurry to catch a plane. This eating behavior only worsens the gastrointestinal problems that we already experience due to travel,'' she explianed.

It was recommended to eat light and avoid stuff like caffeine and alcohol while travelling.

At times over-the-counter medications can also help ease travel-related stomach problems, she concluded.

UNI