Christmas is Coming – Avoid Tummy Bugs with Ease

One of the least desirable conditions associated with special events such as Christmas is gastroenteritis, which is food poisoning caused by bacteria or a virus, causing the inflammation of the digestive tract and manifests with diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, fever, weight loss or even dehydration.

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Experts from tratamientoyenfermedades.com have provided a series of their top tips to avoid getting this disease after eating.

The first tip when eating out might seem obvious, and yet still ignored by many, do not eat in places with unhygienic aspects and reject food with odours and rancid flavours, these are the most obvious recommendations.

Products that have traditionally caused higher rates of gastroenteritis in dining are: lettuce (potential carrier of the famous bacteria E-coli), snacks (one of the most pollutant especially those that can hang around for a long time, be reused, or handled by many people), fried foods (the oil repeatedly reused exceeding health limits) or local specialties (these special dishes are prepared in advance with the anticipation of high demand, so they can become the focus for unwanted bacteria).

Meanwhile, there are also recommendations for preventing gastroenteritis at home:

1. thorough and frequent hand washing, both after the toilet as before and after cooking.
2. Avoid bulged cans of tinned food and those with expired dates.
3. Thaw food in the refrigerator.
4. Wash kitchen and bathroom furniture with hot water and bleach.
5. Separate cooked foods from raw to avoid cross contamination.
6. When finished cooking the food, it is essential to keep cold that will not be eaten at the time.
7. Wash household and cutlery used for eating and cooking.
8. Wash fruits and vegetables before ingestion.
9. Avoid drinking water from wells, rivers or wetlands that may be contaminated.
10. Avoid sharing food and utensils.

If you take on board what the experts suggest, then you can avoid several days of unpleasantness and, hopefully, have a very happy Christmas.