Who hasn’t heard of Montezuma’s revenge or even experienced it first hand? Additionally, a “sun allergy” can happen when on holiday due to the sudden increase in sunlight. However, with a few simple tricks you can avoid these two unpleasant situations.
No chance for diarrhea while traveling
If you have sunny sights in mind, such as the Caribbean, Thailand, or Brazil, you should consider modifying your consumption and hygiene routines. Specifically, you should follow the proven adage, “Cook it, boil it, peel it, or forget it”. Above all, make sure you don’t use ice cubes. In addition, regular hand washing can help you avoid many unwanted germs.
Before you start your holiday, you should strengthen your digestive system.
In order to avoid diarrhea when you are on holiday, boost your digestive system beforehand. With the help of reproducible bifido and lacto germs, the intestine can be protected from undesirable pathogens. These options can colonize the intestines naturally and strengthen the intestinal mucosa.
This can also help you avoid bikini-unfriendly bloating. In addition, the digestive tract can also be prepared ahead of time for a more exotic diet and the often inferior drinking water quality with mucosal protective B vitamins and the amino acid L-Glutamine.
Itching from sudden heightened sun exposure
In the winter months our skin does not get enough sun, which usually causes a vitamin D deficiency and also triggers a sensitive reaction to sudden sunlight. The sunrays in exotic holiday destinations can cause a polymorphic light dermatosis in light-skinned and sensitive persons, which is often mistakenly called sun allergy.
The symptoms are usually reddened skin, rashes, wheals or blisters that are indicated by itching in typical areas such as shoulders, décolleté, neck or face. The first signs often appear immediately or a few hours after sunbathing.
Through solar radiation, the skin cells release histamine.
These unpleasant symptoms are caused by UVA rays. By the action of the radiation, the skin cells release histamines. In order to counteract or prevent the symptoms, people affected in sunny climates should pay particular attention to a diet rich in vitamin C, since vitamin C is responsible for the breakdown of histamines. Fruits such as mango, pineapple, papaya, kiwis and guava should be on your plate. In addition, vitamin C together with beta-carotene and vitamin E is an important free radical and protects the skin from sun damage. A cup of green tea daily supports this process with valuable bioactive plant substances.
Calcium is also used prophylactically with regard to sun-induced skin irritations. However, it is not yet sufficiently proven whether the application is really relevant regarding strong skin reactions to sunlight. Nevertheless, there are some that swear by calcium treatments before prolonged sun exposure. Calcium can be found in many tropical delicacies, such as coconuts, fresh figs or pak choi.
The pros and cons of sun protection
For those whose skin is particularly sensitive to the sun, it is recommended to avoid direct sunlight and to slowly acclimate to the sun. Above all, you should invest in a quality sun cream with a high sun protection factor before your holiday.
As a result, however, sun cream slows the production of vitamin D, which also has its disadvantages. Natural sun protection like coconut oil usually gives the skin lower levels of protection.
