Well in today’s blog we are going to cover, what is Bali belly, what are the symptoms, how you can avoid it, and what you can do to treat it, if you are unlucky enough to get it.

What is Bali Belly?

Bali belly is basically traveller’s diarrhoea from a bacteria and is usually picked up from food and water.

The symptoms of Bali belly can vary from person to person, but the signs to watch out for are:

• Loss of appetite
• Abdominal cramping and pain
• Urgency to go to the toilet with diarrhoea
• General fatigue
• High temperature

The great thing is that Bali belly is largely avoidable. If you are looking to prevent this type of traveller’s diarrhoea next time you’re in Bali, then make sure you follow our tips to prevent it.

Top Tips to Prevent Bali Belly

1. Take the Right Probiotic

Did you know that there are many different types of probiotic strains and not every one has been clinically trialled to reduce the risk of traveller’s diarrhoea?

One of the best probiotics for preventing travellers diarrhoea is Saccharomyces Boulardii which is actually a beneficial yeast. This strain has been clinically trialled to both prevent and treat traveller’s diarrhoea.

Recommended dose: Start by taking 1 capsule per day before breakfast, 5 days before your Bali holiday and increase to 1 capsule twice daily before food, whilst on your holiday. An example brand that contains this probiotic strain and at the right dose, is the Ethical Nutrients Travel Bug.

If you are really prone to Bali Belly, this probiotic strain may not be enough. We’d then recommend seeing a Naturopath who can give you a tailored herbal formula containing ingredients like oregano, wormwood, black walnut and phellodendron which are natural anti-bacterial herbs to eradicate bad bacteria and reduce the incidence of traveller’s diarrhoea.

2. Wash Your Hands Thoroughly

This one sounds self explanatory but we’re going to include it because it’s essential!

When you’re on holiday, it’s often easy to get complacent and do a quick hand rinse instead of a thorough hand wash. To reduce the risk of passing on infections to yourself, aim to wash your hands for at least 15 seconds after going to the bathroom and before eating (especially if you’ve just handled money!).

This does not necessarily need to be with antibacterial soap as research has shown that there was no difference between normal soap and antibacterial soap to reduce bacteria on the hands, so plain soap and water is enough.

Next time you’re in Bali, practice good sanitation by properly washing your hands before eating and every time after you go to the bathroom.

3. Drink Bottled Water

Our third tip is to ensure that you only drink bottled water, not tap water. Even if you think the restaurant or hotel is clean enough.

Some restaurants wash their vegetables with bottled water, and some state it on their menus, so make sure you ask before you take the risk to eat fresh salads.

Also if you are unsure of the type of water the restaurants and cafes are using, skip the ice in your drinks (unless you know it’s definitely filtered, clean water), and beware of salads that may have been washed in tap water.

Lastly, when you are brushing your teeth it’s very easy to automatically rinse your tooth brush and mouth out with tap water. Most hotels will provide complimentary bottled water, so ensure you are brushing and rinsing your mouth with bottled water only.

4. Ensure Your Meat Is Well Cooked

Check your meat is well cooked before you eat it, particularly chicken. Bali belly is often transferred through faecal, oral route which means someone hasn’t washed their hands before preparing your food.

Ensuring your food is well cooked means this bacteria is less likely to be passed on and it will safeguard you against other types of food poisoning such as salmonella and shigella.

Tips to Manage Bali Belly if you are Unlucky to Get It

If you are unlucky enough to contract Bali belly, don’t worry we’ve also got you covered. Make sure you follow these tips to alleviate your symptoms and help you recover as quickly as possible.

1. Increase your probiotics (Saccharomyces Boulardii) to two capsules twice daily (this equates to 20 billion per day). This will alleviate diarrhoea by getting rid of the bad bacteria that’s causing you grief, it will also cut down the total days you are unwell.

2. Keep your fluid intake up by drinking an electrolyte formula from the chemist to ensure you are staying hydrated.

3. Avoid coconut water because it can act as a laxative when consumed in excess amounts, making your symptoms worse.

4. Eat easily digestible foods – like soups, stews, potatoes, and fruit.

If things get really bad like vomiting and diarrhoea (which could be food poisoning and not Bali belly) seek the help of a medical doctor. There are plenty around that can come to your villa or hotel on short notice.

We hope that this information will help you avoid Bali belly at all costs so that you can enjoy your Bali adventure to its full potential.

Question of the Day

Is there anything you have done to prevent Bali belly that you want to share?

Let us know below, or tag us on instagram, facebook or comment on our youtube video.

If you watched our video on ‘Gut and Anxiety Explained’ then you will understand how long term stress creates inflammation in the digestive lining.

This can lead to symptoms of cramping, diarrhoea or alternating constipation, reflux, ulceration and even contribute to Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

Managing stress long term is absolutely essential to reduce the negative consequences of stress on your gut health, but it’s also important to address the inflammation in your gut directly.

Simple Gut Soothing Tea Recipe

This simple gut soothing tea contains a natural ingredient called slippery elm bark which aids to soothe the mucosal lining of the digestive system making it perfect for gastritis, ulceration, and colitis.

Slippery elm also acts as a bulking agent, due to its high fibre content, helping those suffering with Irritable Bowel Syndrome or diarrhoea.

The insoluble fibre portion of slippery elm powder also acts as a prebiotic, meaning it provides food for your good gut bugs in the large intestine. This will increase the populations of good bacteria in your digestive system protecting against inflammation for the long run.

What isn’t there to like about this herb!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon slippery elm powder

1/4 teaspoon honey (optional)

200 ml of hot water

Directions

1. Add hot water to a mug.
2. Stir the tablespoon of slippery elm powder into the mug vigorously to dissolve and prevent clumps from forming.
3. Lastly add the 1/4 teaspoon of honey to the tea.
4. Drink as soon as you’ve finished stirring (if left too long, it will start to clump)

Incorporating purple, red and brown plants foods which are naturally rich in polyphenols will help to feed your beneficial bacteria, creating a healthier gut.

This simple recipe is full of polyphenol rich foods and fibre that will nourish your digestive system.

If you aren’t a big fan of beetroot, don’t stress because you can barely taste it in this recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup water

1 banana

1/2 cup fresh beetroot (peeled and diced)

1/2 cup frozen raspberries (we like the OOB organic berries)

1 tablespoon flaxseed meal

Directions

1. Grab a fresh beetroot bulb, peel the outside and then dice.
2. Add all ingredients together and pop in a high speed blender such as a Vitamix, Thermomix or Nutribullet.
3. Enjoy upon wakening to cleanse the digestive system, as a part of your breakfast or as a nourishing, gut friendly snack throughout the day.

Maybe you get home from work and feel like collapsing on the couch and ordering takeaway?

If your low energy levels are not being fixed with a good nights sleep and you are experiencing low energy consistently. Then it’s probably time for you to do a little digging, and suss out what is driving your lack of energy.

Discovering the underlying cause to your low energy levels is really important, as sometimes if left untouched, it could lead to a more serious condition that could have been prevented.

Three Common Causes to Low Energy in Women

1. Subclinical Hypothyroidism

Your thyroid is a gland that plays an important role in your metabolism, this means it controls the way your body uses energy. When your thyroid isn’t working optimally, this function can be compromised causing you to feel fatigued.

Subclinical hypothyroidism is where your laboratory results show your peripheral thyroid hormonal levels to be with in the normal reference range, but your thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) is elevated. This condition occurs in 3% – 8% of the general population, affecting more women than men.

Elevated TSH can be an early indicator that your thyroid may not be functioning optimally (if there is no virus or infection present). When elevated long term, it can lead to reduced production of Thyroxine (T4) and then Triiodothyronine (T3) which is your active thyroid hormone.

Addressing the root cause of your subclinical hypothyroidism early on can help to prevent it from transitioning into clinical hypothyroidism.

Triggers and contributing factors to subclinical hypothyroidism may include:

• Long term stress
• Mineral deficiencies which are required as building blocks to make healthy thyroid hormones
• Digestive infections
• Insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome
• Inflammation
• Leaky gut syndrome

Common symptoms associated with subclinical hypothyroidism include:

• Feelings of exhaustion and sluggishness most of the day
• Frequently feeling cold
• Cold hands and feet
• Hair loss and/or dry hair
• Loss of hair on the outer eyebrow
• Constipation
• Dry skin on your shins
• Fluid retention in your feet and ankles

To assess the adequate functioning of your thyroid, a full thyroid panel may be recommend to include your TSH, T4, T3, reverse T3 and antibodies.

2. Irregular Blood Sugar Levels

Waking up with coffee, skipping breakfast, eating pasta or a sandwich for lunch, followed by chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate when 3 pm hits, is a recipe for disaster and shocking blood sugar levels.

The above may be a regular habit for you or it might be a little exaggerated. Whichever the case may be, if you aren’t eating every 2 hours or so with a balanced portion of low GI carbohydrates, proteins and fats you will be more prone to irregular blood sugar levels.

Your blood sugar levels are directly associated with your energy levels. High releases of sugar in the bloodstream (like when you’ve eaten a bar of chocolate or a bowl of pasta) will often follow with you crashing and feeling tired an hour or so later.

If you eat high carbohydrate or sugary foods several times a day without enough protein, your energy levels will be on a roller coaster ride leading to fatigue and sluggishness.

Check out these signs that may be a hint your blood sugar levels could be affecting your energy:

• Cravings for sugar and chocolate
• Your energy improves after eating something sweet
• Light headedness
• Poor concentration, or a feeling of fogginess
• Nervousness, anxiety
• Shakiness

To determine if poor blood sugar regulation is an issue, I may recommend we do some blood testing to assess your fasting glucose level and insulin. This will help determine exactly how well your body processors sugar for energy production.

3. Long Standing Iron Deficiency

Iron deficiency is one of the most common causes to low energy in women, but it can often be overlooked even when regular blood tests are being taken. 

The reference range for ferritin (iron storage) in women is between 30 – 200 which is a very broad reference range. If your levels are within range you may not necessarily be recommended an iron supplement (even if it’s on the lower end!). For optimal energy production I like to see these levels between 75 – 100 in menstruating women.

To maintain healthy iron levels, eating a palm portion size of red meat twice weekly should help to maintain healthy iron storage. If you are doing this and you are still regularly low on iron (possibly to the extent of requiring annual iron infusions) then asking the question ‘Why are you low in iron?’ is important. That’s because it could be a tell tale sign that something is going a miss.

A few contributing factors (apart from lack of iron consumption through your diet) that may cause long term iron deficiency is:

• Parasitic infection with Blastocystis hominis or Dientamoeba fragilis
• Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth can inhibit absorption of not only iron but other minerals through the small intestine
• Heavy menstrual periods: Painful periods with flooding and/or large blood clots is not normal and can indicate a hormonal imbalance or an underlying condition that has not been diagnosed, such as endometriosis. This will greatly increase blood and iron loss.

If you find dark blood in your bowel motion it could potentially be life threating. This should be discussed with your Doctor for further investigations.

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I hope that this information has given you more insight into the cause of  your low energy levels so that you can get to the bottom of it for good!

If you’d like to make an appointment to find the root cause of your lack of energy, then please make a booking through here.