Traveling is one of my favorite things– it’s why Zack and I live nomadically! You get to take a break from your every day routine to experience gorgeous places, incredible cultures, and delicious, new foods. Beyond all of the greatness that comes with it, staying healthy while traveling can be tricky–especially with the GI issues that ~always~ pop up on vacation like constipation, nausea, and bloating. I’ve got your back with the five, science backed tricks I swear by to support my gut health and regularity while traveling!
Travel has always been something that I’ve needed in my life. How about you?
We’ve officially moved to Vancouver, and we are LOVING all of the nature and culture that’s here! There’s something so exciting about being in a new place, you just want to taste every freshly baked croissant that you pass on the street. Am I right? You’ve probably heard me say, “Your body is for LIVING, not for looking”, so you can count on me to fully embrace our new city through my taste buds first. And thankfully, because we’ve done so much traveling, I’ve learned a thing or two about how to keep my gut healthy and stay regular while being out of routine.
Consider this your ultimate guide to relieve your vacation constipation.
- Go on a low FODMAP diet for 24-48 hours before flying: this will help with gas and bloating that happens when we go in the air. Just like you see your water bottles or contact solution fill with air during a flight, the same happens inside our bodies since we’re full of water. You only need to do this for a day or two, and then reintroduce those foods after your flight! You can google a list of low FODMAP foods, and learn all about smart gut health hacks on my Healthier Together Podcast episode below.
Podcast pairing: Gut Health Hacks with Dr. Megan Rossi - Meditate every day: this isn’t just for anxiety! I sneak in a five to ten minute daily mediation to help with travel-induced stress that can have a negative impact on the gut microbiome! I listen to a sound bath on my favorite meditation app Insight Timer (it’s free!!) on my noise cancelling headphones, which make it easy to do even on a loud plane or the subway.
Podcast pairing: How to Hack Your Focus with Dr. Amishi Jha - Drink my electrolyte chia fresca: this is the perfect on the go drink for constipation! It’s magically effective, tastes delicious, and the ingredients are very road friendly with no refrigeration required! You just need chia seeds, filtered water, and electrolyte powder! My favorite brands are Drink LMNT, Ultima, Nuun, and Liquid IV.
Get my full recipe here. - Take a daily synbiotic: I am always obsessed with Seed’s DS-01™ Daily Synbiotic but am especially grateful for it when I travel. It has both prebiotics AND probiotics, including two specific strains, Lactobacillus plantarum SD-LP1-IT and Bifidobacterium breve SD-BR3-IT, which are studied for their support of bowel movement regularity, stool consistency, ease of expulsion, bowel movement comfort, and bloating. Oh, and listen to my podcast episode where Seed’s cofounder, Ara Kats, answers all of your questions on the gut micriobiome!
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Podcast pairing: How to Optimize Your Gut Microbiome to Heal Your Whole Body - Put ginger tincture in your water: If you get nauseous on transportation or you find yourself feeling queasy after eating unfamiliar food, ginger tincture is your new best friend. You can get ginger tincture at most natural food stores or online and just add a dropper full to water. Sip on it and get ready to instantly feel better!! I also love the digestive bitters from Urban Moonshine and Scrappy’s. You can also use it to make delicious mocktails instead of drinking alcohol every day on vacation.
Get my favorite summer mocktail recipes here.
Healthy travel guides
I hope this list of ideas for staying healthy while traveling helps! If you try any of them on your travels, please tag me (@lizmoody)–I can’t wait to see where you adventure! Please share your favorite healthy travel tips in the comments. I would love to hear what you do so we can all help each other.
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