India- Is Delhi Belly avoidable?

jonniebgood1

Have a trip booked to India for 2 weeks at end of January. A kind of tour. I will be visiting Delhi and a few places around it. I have been reading a bit about how common sickness is for people not used to the Indian cuisine and how to avoid unbottled water, ice cubes, etc. Given that the tour involves moving quite a few times getting sick is not going to be good. Can anyone on this forum who has travelled in India let me know what the chances are of staying bug free and also if there are any other tips RE north india precautions?

dory

Start taking multivitamins, I've always found them helpful. You basically have two choices; be boring a most likely not get sick. Or be adventurous, eat what the locals eat and possibly get sick. I definitely wouldn't say it's inevitable. I eat a lot of Subway/McDonalds/sandwiches when I'm travelling in India and need to not get sick. Other than that I order vegetarian dishes like veg fried rice and that. The sickness I've got in the past have mostly been from dehydration. I think a lot of the Delly Belly stuff is exaggerated, but that's not to say it's not there at all.

schemingbohemia

A bunch of us were in India earlier this year for the cricket world cup, I think only one of us got sick and that was probably his own fault.

I'm vegetarian anyway but a few of the others went veggie to minimise risk but the ones who ate meat whilst there also had no tummy problems.

The only time I've ever had delhi belly was my first time in India, hadn't had a problem all trip so decided I was bullet proof, foolishly got some street food on the last day that made the flight home pretty horrific!

Valda

+1 on the advice above! I'd advise you to stock up on immodium, just as a precaution. I'm a vegetarian, and have never had problems with sickness, however, friends that ate fish while away from the coast have had awful trots! Not very nice, especially when you are in some small village and you have to use local toilets, (stock up on tissues...) but I guess it's part and parcel of travel in India! You'll have a great time, it is such a fantastic country!

gman2k

Don't eat meat and only drink bottled water.
Never accept a drink with ice in it, and brush your teeth with with bottled water also.

Galadriel

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

Have a trip booked to India for 2 weeks at end of January. A kind of tour. I will be visiting Delhi and a few places around it. I have been reading a bit about how common sickness is for people not used to the Indian cuisine and how to avoid unbottled water, ice cubes, etc. Given that the tour involves moving quite a few times getting sick is not going to be good. Can anyone on this forum who has travelled in India let me know what the chances are of staying bug free and also if there are any other tips RE north india precautions?

I did the Rickshaw Rally up through the whole of India in April, we didn't get sick once, we ate from street vendors every day and also ate meat (the food is amazing!)

Just use bottled water for brushing your teeth and as already said bring immodium.

Rezident

I'm going in February and also interested in avoiding his. Will do all of the above and things like don't open your mouth in the shower but does anyone know if any of the pharmacy stuff work?

US sites claim Dukoral can reduce your overall risk of getting sick by about 30%. (Dukoral seems to be a cholera vaccine) anyone know if something like that is worth taking?

They also say pepto bismal (active ingredient: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bismuth_subsalicylate) can reduce the risk anyone know if it helps?

I plan on submerging myself in the local culture as always so would like to stack the odds in my favour.

NomadicMe

I go to Indian every year and I love all the food on offer- I do not eat meat unless I am absolutely sure it's safe and fresh- with such a variety of veg dishes, why not eat those anyway?!

The street vendors offer some amazing options- stick to the hot foods though as the likelihood of infection is lower. Obviously unbottled water, ice cubes, salad should be avoided.

Delhi has a lot of great places- go to Dilli Haat- because of the number of food stalls there and footfall, the food is almost always safe and it offers cuisines from different parts of the country with a lot of handicraft stalls for nick nacks and souvenirs!

Safe travels- enjoy the beauty and chaos that is India!

EDIT: Indians often eat these mint capsules when the stomach is queasy and since they are herbal, I usually pop two a day to avoid any issues and so far, not fallen sick (touch wood!).

meg3178

jonniebgood1 wrote: »

Have a trip booked to India for 2 weeks at end of January. A kind of tour. I will be visiting Delhi and a few places around it. I have been reading a bit about how common sickness is for people not used to the Indian cuisine and how to avoid unbottled water, ice cubes, etc. Given that the tour involves moving quite a few times getting sick is not going to be good. Can anyone on this forum who has travelled in India let me know what the chances are of staying bug free and also if there are any other tips RE north india precautions?

Bring a few packs of immodium instants and sachets of dioralyte with you. Stick to vegetarian food for the first week and have peppermint tea. Keep some cinnamon and turmeric with you and put 1/2 teaspoon of each into warm milk, it will prevent inflammation in the gut.
Take some sandwich bags and paper towels so that when you're travelling soak the paper towels in water, place in the sandwich bags and then into the fridge in the room overnight until you are leaving. They're great for cooling and can be thrown away at the end of the day.
Make sure you keep your toothbrush in a case.
You will have a wonderful time in India, the media highlight the slum areas, but it is a beautiful country with fantastic people.
Enjoy your trip.

Rezident

Just saw this on lonely planet forum, psyllium husks, apparently:

Stomach problems are a regular feature of travellers' experience in summer.

To help avoid this, go to your local Pakistani supermarket before leaving home and ask for Sat Isabgol (psyllium husk). Stir a dessertspoonful of this into your breakfast youghurt just before you go on a trip, and then at least two-three times a week over the time you're there. You can also put it into water, where it looks a little like wallpaper paste but has no taste at all.
BTW - NEVER take it dry - it could swell up in your throat and choke you!

If you can't find it where you are, get psyllium husk from a health food store - but when you buy it there it's cut by one-two thirds (so you'll need to take correspondingly more) and costs the earth.

PS - I learned about this 'miracle' cure in Lahore, where I was suffering after drinking the local water. Felt washed-out for several days and nothing restored my energy until someone told me about this.
They say it prevents and cures constipation AND diahorrea both, putting a lining on the stomach.
I gave some to a guy who was trekking the less-known parts of the Ural mountains: he was the only one on his trek not to get ill.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1793594

I might give them a go and report back.