Read these 4 Tips to Avoid Digestive Problems in the Summer

Digestive problems are especially common during warmer weather. Read this article to learn how to avoid them.

Summer is the time of year to be aware of any potential digestive problems. Due to high temperatures, we need to be extra careful to stay healthy. In this article, we’re going to look at possible digestive problems that we may experience at this time of year and how to avoid them.

Although summer is over in the northern hemisphere, it doesn’t always mean that the high temperatures are over. Besides, in a few months, summer will begin in the southern hemisphere. It’s good to remember the steps that we need to take in order to care for our health during warmer months.  Special interest needs to be taken regarding digestive problems during the summer, particularly due to dehydration.

What are the most frequent digestive problems?

Firstly, we’ll look at the digestive problems that inconvenience us the most. Also, we need to know what the underlying causes are in order to avoid problems and treat them correctly.

Constipation due to hydration

One of the most frequent digestive problems is constipation. And, this can occur at any time during the year.  However, it’s more common during the summer because the higher temperatures cause us to perspire more.

While we perspire, we’re losing fluids that we use to cool the body and reduce body temperature. This causes us to have less fluid in our blood vessels.  

The digestive system is an area that contains a lot of fluid and the large intestine is where water is absorbed. The intestinal water needs to be absorbed so that feces have a solid consistency. If there’s too much water, it causes diarrhea. If not enough water is present, we become dehydrated. This means that feces will become difficult to expel, they’ll accumulate and this will then cause constipation.

Food poisoning

Due to high temperatures throughout the day, food is likely to deteriorate faster than in other seasons. Bad or rotten food is susceptible to provoke food poisoning. In fact, there are several levels of food poisoning. It can be mild poisoning or serious infections such as salmonella or listeria.

If we aren’t sure that our food is safe to eat, it’s better to throw it out. The symptoms of these infections can be very intense, including vomiting, and diarrhea with bleeding and even a fever. In some cases, hospitalization is necessary

Upset stomach or dyspepsia

These symptoms are also called postmeal pains or an upset stomach. They can result from ineffective digestion or slow digestion. This is due to the fact that the body needs to redistribute its metabolic use through the digestive system after eating.

In summer this can be very difficult since the body is already struggling to maintain the correct body temperature.  Because of this, it’s best to avoid eating heavy foods during hot days and opt for light foods and liquids.  

Four keys to avoid digestive problems

In this section, we’re going to give you several generalized tips to avoid digestive problems. Even though some are very obvious and basic, we should include them to emphasize their importance.

• We need to hydrate often, especially when we’re exercising. This is especially important during the hottest hours of the day. As we explained above, perspiring is a way of cooling the body. 

• Keeping food refrigerated. If we’re going to save prepared food, we should always keep it in the refrigerator or the freezer. However, we don’t recommend refreezing foods that have been thawed. This will help us to prevent food poisoning.
• If you go to the beach or the pool, we advise that you take food and drinks in hermetically sealed containers. At this time of year, insects are prolific and they can contaminate food with bacteria.
• Opt for cold and light foods. Gazpacho is a typical Spanish dish that’s easy to make, even if you don’t live in Spain. Besides being fresh and delicious, it contains the best properties of tomatoes and olive oil.  

In conclusion, these tips will make it easier for you to avoid digestive problems during the summer. We should remember that children and the elderly are especially susceptible to these problems and we need to be more careful in these cases.