How to Avoid—and Fix—Digestive Issues While You’re Traveling

When your routines, diet, and physical activity levels—which all impact gut health—are disrupted, your digestive system can become imbalanced. That’s why any kind of travel—whether it’s for a night or a week—can feel like a big disruption. “Then you get a little bloated, abdominal distension, cramping, constipation, or diarrhea,” says Elizabeth Sharp, MD, IFMCP, a functional and board-certified internal medicine physician. “None of that is fun—not at any time, but especially when you’re on the move.”

Sharp recommends doing six things to help maintain a healthy gut while you’re traveling. As always, talk with your doctor about any gut health concerns and seek emergency care when needed.

1

Eat a balanced diet, with peelable fruits and cooked vegetables.

“One of the biggest issues that people experience as they travel is that they’re eating different foods than they do in their day-to-day lives,” says Sharp. Of course, trying new foods is a key part of the travel experience. To help stabilize your gut, Sharp suggests incorporating fruits and vegetables as much as possible—the fiber helps regulate the gut.
As an extra precaution, she recommends eating fruits that you must peel to eat (e.g., bananas, oranges, and avocados) and cooked vegetables. This helps reduce exposure, as much as possible, to microbes that could cause traveler’s diarrhea.

2

Get enough pre- and probiotics.

Prebiotics balance out gut microbiota by providing food sources for healthy gut bacteria and inhibit the overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria. When you’re on the go, Sharp says that unripe bananas (they contain the prebiotic inulin and prebiotic-like starches that aren’t found in ripe bananas), flaxseed, and oatmeal (the less processed, the better) are some convenient ways to get them.

Generally, research shows that prebiotics like inulin, fructooligosaccharides (FOS), and galactooligosaccharides (GOS) can help prevent and improve gut imbalances like constipation and diarrhea.

For probiotic foods, Sharp says that kimchi and yogurt are great sources to incorporate into your meals whenever you can. When you’re supplementing with probiotics, research shows that Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces boulardii, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Lactobacillus fermentum may be effective in preventing and treating traveler’s diarrhea, with Saccharomyces boulardii playing a key role.

For constipation, studies suggest that an array of probiotics can help, including Bifidobacterium bifidum, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus paracasei, Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium lactis, Lactobacillus casei, and Bifidobacterium animalis. And for abdominal bloating and distension (and other symptoms of IBS), the research is less clear, but Escherichia, Lactobacillus, and Bifidobacterium strains may help.

Choosing a probiotic with as many of these strains as possible can increase your chances of the supplement addressing various gut imbalances.

3

Space out your meals.

Giving yourself time between meals helps your body move food through the digestive tract and regulates your gut, Sharp says. It allows the migrating motor complex (MMC)—a pattern of gut movement that’s designed to propel food down the small and large intestines—to activate.

About two hours after a meal, the MMC is triggered, and it reengages every 90 to 120 minutes until you eat again. But it activates only between meals—when you’re not eating or drinking (except for noncaloric beverages like water, plain coffee, or tea). That means if your meals aren’t spaced at least three to four hours apart, you can increase your chances of constipation.

4

Stay hydrated.

Staying hydrated helps keep all your bodily functions flowing, including your digestive system. Sharp says that in addition to getting plenty of water, adding electrolytes like magnesium, potassium, and calcium can help you rehydrate.

5

Move your body.

“Exercise is one of the best ways to help in terms of keeping some regularity with digestion,” says Sharp. Research shows that it increases metabolism and acutely modifies gut microbiota activity to optimize digestive health. And it can improve mood by regulating the gut-brain axis.

Sharp says that it doesn’t have to be an intense gym workout: “If you walk, especially while you’re exploring a new city, you could get up to anywhere from four to six miles a day without even realizing it.”

6

Create a five-minute nighttime routine.

Sharp says that having a routine can indirectly help with digestive health—it sends a message to our brain that we’re winding down for the night, which triggers our mind and body to relax. This improves digestion and sets us up for a better night’s sleep, which is when our MMC is activated and digestive repair occurs.

To start, she recommends avoiding food a few hours before bedtime—it allows your blood sugar levels to return to baseline, which helps your body relax. When you get closer to bedtime, she says to take at least five minutes to wind down before bed by doing a short meditation, listening to calming music, or putting away your phone and other electronics. “Whatever works best for you,” says Sharp. The goal is to take a relaxing moment before going to bed to prepare for a more restorative sleep.

This article is for informational purposes only, even if and regardless of whether it features the advice of physicians and medical practitioners. This article is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and should never be relied upon for specific medical advice. The views expressed in this article are the views of the expert and do not necessarily represent the views of goop.