Pack your probiotis when you travel. Because the high-risk countries of the developing world have not sufficiently addressed the problem of their unhygienic environment, those who travel to such countries run the risk of coming down with traveler’s diarrhea. The usual incidence of travel related diarrhea is 15 to 56 percent, a wide variation, of course, due to different factors depending on which regions are visited.

Studies have demonstrated that probiotics can provide substantial protection against traveler’s diarrhea, most often related to ingestion of pathogens to which our bodies are unaccustomed. In a study, two capsules of DDS® probiotics from UAS Laboratories before breakfast each day (starting one week before departure and throughout the trip) helped to markedly reduce incidence of diarrhea amongst travelers with only three of approximately eighty individuals coming down with traveler’s-related diarrhea.

In a 1997 study, researchers noted that a study among New York travelers who briefly visited developing countries for one to three weeks revealed encouraging data that probiotics were effective in preventing traveler’s diarrhea.

In a placebo-controlled study involving travelers, a most extensively studied lactobacillus strain decreased the incidence of traveler’s diarrhea among 820 persons traveling to two separate destinations in Turkey. One group received lactobacillus while the other received a placebo, both to be consumed throughout the duration of the trip. The incidence of diarrhea in the placebo group was 46.5 percent and only 41 percent in the lactobacillus group, indicating an overall protection of 11.8 percent. The lactobacillus was well tolerated, and suggests that it can be administered in healthy people to diminish the risk of traveler’s diarrhea.

How to Use Probiotics for Traveler’s Diarrhea

Be sure to choose a quality probiotic supplement containing lactobacillus and bifidus cultures fortified with FOS and take it with you when you travel. Be sure to follow the recommended label instructions and work with your physician to determine the optimal dosage. Do not discontinue medications unless advised to do so by your physician. Also, avoid consumption of non-bottled beverages and raw produce.