Ep 73: How to Avoid Travel Bloating and Constipation

Episode Transcript

Dr. Heather Finley (00:03):
Welcome to the Love Your Gut Podcast.
I'm your host, Dr.
Heather Finley, registereddietitian and gut health
specialist.
I understand the frustration ofdealing with GI issues because
I've been there and I spent overtwo decades searching for
answers for my own gut issues ofconstipation, bloating, and
stomach pain.
I've dedicated my life tounderstanding and solving my own

(00:24):
gut issues.
And now I'm here to guide you.
On this podcast, I'll help youidentify the true root causes of
your discomfort.
So you can finally ditch yoursymptoms for good.
My goal is to empower you withthe knowledge and tools you need
so that you can love your gutand it will love you right back.
So if you're ready to learn alot, gain a deeper understanding

(00:46):
of your gut and find lastingrelief.
You are in the right place.
Welcome to the love your gutpodcast.
Hello, and welcome back to thenext episode of the Love Your
Gut podcast.
I am joining you a couple weeksaway from my own vacation, so I
thought that this would be avery timely episode because if

(01:08):
you were anything like me in thepast, I used to actually just
dread traveling because of my GIissues, and I no longer do.
And so I wanna share with you.
Some of the top tips to avoidbloating and constipation and
diarrhea and all the veryunwelcome vacation issues,, so

(01:29):
that you can really enjoy yourvacation and not stress about
it.
So let's just go ahead and setthe scene.
Maybe you finally made it toyour vacation spot.
You're ready to relax, maybeenjoy a cute outfit, a good
meal, and then you're so bloatedby dinner, you can't even button
your pants.
Or maybe worse.
You haven't pooped in severaldays and you're afraid to eat

(01:53):
anything because you feel soconstipated.
Um, if you've ever been there, Isee you because I have been you.
Like I said, that scenario thatI just explained has happened to
me so many times, more than Ican even count and.
Has really ruined a lot ofvacations because I was so
focused on my stomach and notfocused on the actual vacation.

(02:16):
So one of my earliest and reallymost cringey memories is being
on vacation as a teenager.
With my family and I was somiserable.
I probably hadn't gone to thebathroom in like seven days.
And we were at a restaurant andI was so constipated I couldn't
even eat.
Like just physically was souncomfortable.

(02:36):
I sat there so miserable and mydad asked me, Heather, what are
you gonna order?
And I just.
Burst into tears like I can'teat, I'm so constipated, I need
to poop.
And my mom like drug me out ofthe restaurant and took me to go
find something to help me poop.
You've probably heard this storybefore'cause I've shared it
before, but this was supposed tobe a super fun memory.

(02:57):
My family and I were travelingto San Francisco.
We were then gonna go see mygrandparents and instead all I
could think about was howuncomfortable I felt.
And that moment has liketraumatized me for the rest of
my life.
So.
constipation and bloating.
Can totally hijack your trip,but it really doesn't have to.
So I wanna share with youeverything I've learned, both

(03:19):
personally and from hundreds ofclients, about how to avoid gut
issues while traveling.
We're gonna cover hydration,digestion, routines, alcohol,
and how to navigate your nervoussystem, which plays a bigger
role than you probably eventhink.
I'm also gonna get, share acouple client stories that just
give me chills, because it's.
Such a perfect example of what'spossible when you go into travel

(03:43):
prepared instead of scared.
And selfishly, like I said, I'vebeen thinking about this a lot
lately because I have someupcoming travel.
We traveled to California everysummer.
I'm from California.
I grew up Southern Californiaand.
I cannot stand the heat inTexas.
About mid-July, I start losingit, which actually this summer

(04:04):
has been way more mild than anysummer I could ever remember,
which I'm so grateful for.
Um, but I've been so lookingforward to the cool mornings and
the beach walks and fish tacosand just feeling good while
enjoying making memories with mykids.
And so let's just jump rightinto it.
And first let's talk about whytravel wrecks, digestion.

(04:26):
So.
In our program, we teach clientsthat there are five systems that
need to be working together forsmooth digestion.
It's really easy to think like,oh, it's just about taking more
magnesium, or eating more fiber,drinking more water.
But the reality is these fivesystems have to be working and
travel can actually throw offall five of them.

(04:47):
So the first one is hydrationand minerals between flying,
walking, more, sweating, maybehaving more alcohol than you're
used to.
Your body is losing mineralsfaster, especially if you're
eating differently or your sleepis off, or maybe it's a
stressful trip, with lots offamily or whatever it is.
The second system is motility,so.

(05:09):
We need our motility to beworking to clear our bowels.
You might be sitting more, maybeyou're sitting on a plane or in
a car.
Maybe you're skipping yournormal movement.
maybe you're avoiding publicbathrooms.
I've had many vacations likethat where I was like, I'm just
gonna hold it until I get backto the hotel or get back to the
Airbnb or whatever the nextsystem is.

(05:31):
Digestion.
Maybe you're eating differentfoods, you're rushing through
meals.
Maybe you're.
Meal timing is different.
Different portion sizes.
It's a lot for your gut to keepup with.
the next one is microbiome.
So the bacteria in your gut jetlag, stress, unfamiliar water,

(05:51):
different food, lack of fiber,so many things can shake up your
gut flora.
And then last one is mindset andnervous system.
It's really easy to shut downwhen I bring this up, but it's a
really important piece and Iwanna show you throughout this
episode how this can actually bereally manageable.
And it doesn't have to bestressful, but travel stress,

(06:12):
even the good kind, even if it'sstress of like, I'm so excited
about this trip, keeps your bodya little bit more in fight or
flight, not rest and digestmode.
And so.
Your body doesn't really knowyou're on vacation.
It just knows that it's out ofrhythm.
So let's help it stay supportedwhile you go and live your best
beach life or European summer,whatever it is.

(06:34):
So let's talk first abouthydration and mineral support.
This one is a huge, huge piece,a big game changer when it comes
to travel.
And here's the truth.
Water alone isn't going to saveyou if you're downing a bottle
of plain water, but you're stilltired, puffy, constipated.
It's because you're missingminerals.

(06:55):
And when we travel, we lose alot more minerals, especially
being like in an airplanethrough sweating, having air
conditioning, in a car, sittingin the sun.
Without those minerals, yourbody does not hold on to
hydration the way it needs to.
You can think of this likeraisins to grapes.
I often describe how mineralsmake our cells plump and

(07:19):
hydrated just like grapes, andif we're dehydrated, our cells
are, I.
Like raisins, which we do notwant.
So there's lots of differentminerals that you can pack
depending on what your needsare.
If you're gonna be in hotterenvironments, perhaps you need
something that's higher insodium, like Redmond, relight or
LM and T.
Um, even like adrenal cocktail.

(07:41):
The new gravy, adrenal mocktailis a good option.
if you're gonna be more stressedor more active, maybe you need
more potassium.
So like the potassium cocktail.
Um, there's lots of differentoptions there.
You can even just bring thoselike little mini Redmond, salt
shakers and add salt to yourfood...
if you're not getting enoughsalt.

(08:02):
most restaurants.
Use more salt.
but if you're like staying at anAirbnb or, eating perhaps less
sodium than you normally do orneed more because you're
sweating more, even like coconutwater, getting that from the
grocery store or a pinch ofcream of tartar, you could bring
this like in a little baggiejust for some potassium on the
go.

(08:22):
If you're like me, you get alittle weird about hotel tap
water or.
Drinking fountains.
I love our clearly filteredwater bottles.
They have a built-in filter, soyou can bring one of these on a
plane and you can get water fromthe tap and it will actually
filter it for you, which is soawesome.
So I love traveling with this.

(08:44):
I also just love traveling witha water bottle because it's very
easy to get dehydrated if youjust.
Don't have access.
So I bring water bottles foreverybody, myself, my kids, my
husband, all of that.
Well, he brings his own, but.
You get what I mean?
bring a water bottle because ifyou have a water bottle, you're
way more likely to fill it up.

(09:04):
And then just bring some mineralsupport with you, depending on
what you need.
some of my go-tos, like I said,adrenal cocktail, potassium
cocktail.
If you need more sodium element,T Redmond, relight.
and then a pro tip.
Just start your morning withminerals before coffee or
alcohol.
especially before alcohol.
Uh, that one shift has made ahuge difference for me and many

(09:25):
of my clients, especially onbeach days or just heavy travel
days when you're in the sun andwhen you're sweating more, it
can be just really draining.
So you can buy like theindividual sticks of a lot of
these things and it can bereally convenient for travel.
It's a little more expensive tobuy them in the little stick
packs, but it makes it great.
Um, and you could just bringthis with you.

(09:48):
Okay.
Let's talk about the next one,which, if you're not hydrated,
none of this is gonna work.
So step one, hydrate withminerals.
Step two, bowel movementsupport.
So the elephant in the room isvacation, constipation.
There are people that I knowthat never even have GI issues
in their normal life, and thenthey still get constipated when
they travel.

(10:08):
So if you have GI issues on aregular basis, this likely is
even worse for you.
So it's not just you and it'snot just the food either.
Most of the time it is becauseyou're out of routine.
You're not sleeping, you'reeating different foods.
or l you're eating less fiber.
So there is kind of more of likea fiber CFO component versus

(10:29):
like the food itself.
but it's because your motilityis.
Sluggish and then possibly thatyou're dehydrated and your
minerals are low as well.
So you may need a little morebowel movement support.
I rarely need bowel movementsupport on a day-to-day basis,
but I always keep gingercapsules in my suitcase because
I typically only need them whenI travel.

(10:50):
I know that if I take two gingercapsules before I go to bed,
that's really gonna help.
You can also bring ginger teapackets with you if you have
access to hot water.
At a lot of hotels, if you justcall and ask for hot water, they
will bring you hot water.
They'll bring you a tea kettleif you enjoy sipping tea before
bed.
if you really struggle withconstipation, you probably do

(11:11):
need some magnesium citrate andnot just glycinate.
We typically recommend three tofive times your body weight and
milligrams.
So for example, if you weigh 150pounds, that's around 450 to 750
milligrams per day, youdefinitely wanna make sure
you're pairing it with potassiumand.
Salt sodium for better results.

(11:31):
If you're high dosing magnesium,magnesium cannot work in
isolation and in fact, megadosing.
Magnesium is gonna tank all yourother minerals and make.
All the issues worse.
So you really need to use saltand sodium to help your cells
absorb.
And then you also need potassiumas well.

(11:51):
So if you are hitting that fivetimes your body weight in
milligrams and.
Still constipated.
Perhaps you need to look at yoursodium and your potassium.
I would also recommend packingsome fiber support, so whether
that's like sun fiber sticks,regular girl packets, you can
even bring like a little baggieof chia seeds to add to your

(12:12):
yogurt at the hotel or.
Top it, on something that you'reeating that day.
I like packing those creaturesof habit oatmeal packets.
They're protein packed oatmeal.
They're also higher in fiber, soI bring it for like hotel
breakfast or if I'm gonna haveaccess to hot water.
I recently discovered those inthe last, like six months and

(12:33):
have taken them on several tripsand it's really just.
Been a game changer.
I'll put the link in the shownotes if you wanna try them.
Also, bring snacks that supportfiber in blood sugar.
If you're bringing snacks thatdon't have a lot of fiber are
just empty carbohydrates, thisis gonna exacerbate the issue.
You're gonna feel more tired,more constipated.

(12:54):
So leverage some snacks to getsome fiber as well, especially
if you're eating out a lot andperhaps eating differently than
you do at home.
So pumpkin seed bars like the 88acres, ones almond butter
packets, cashews, trail mix, uh,dried fruit bars, those can be
helpful for supporting fiber.
And just making sure if you'rehaving like a dried fruit par,

(13:16):
have some nuts or something withit to support blood sugar.
Like I mentioned, gingercapsules can be extremely
helpful for getting your bowelsto move.
So ginger, ginger, tea, evendigestive bitters, they can be
really great not only forgetting your bowels to move, but
also for symptom management.
I.
If you eat out at a restaurantand you just don't feel good

(13:36):
after, you can take digestivebitters, even in between meals
as well as before meals to helpwith digestion.
And then if you don't reallyneed magnesium citrate
necessarily, but you havetrouble sleeping or whatever it
might be, you can even bringlike magnesium lotion or some
kind of cream spray, whatever,for just nightly magnesium

(13:58):
support.
So.
Here's the key.
Do not wait until day three whenyou're already miserable.
Give your body what you know itneeds from day one.
Even if you have to like do thiskind of preventatively, take
some ginger capsules just incase, increase your fiber just
in case.
Obviously don't overdo it.

(14:19):
more is not better necessarily,but.
It's gonna be a lot harder tofind relief if you're on day
three versus if you startpreventatively doing this before
and like when you starttraveling.
So, pro tip, there.
Interrupting this episode reallyquick to let you know about my
new two day live trainingspecifically for practitioners.

(14:43):
Whether you are a registereddietician or in the health
related field and you seeclients with GI issues, I would
absolutely love for you to bethere.
This is a two day clinicaltraining for the overwhelmed
practitioner.
We will spend two hours each daytogether, from 11 to one central
time on.
August 21st and 22nd.

(15:06):
This new training is called TheGut Fix That sticks.
We are gonna be covering thefive system gut framework that I
use with all of my clients.
We will be covering casestudies.
You will learn a repeatableroadmap to build protocols with
less trial and error, and knowthe.
Number one thing to addressbefore really going into any

(15:28):
kind of gut protocol with yourclient and get clarity around
testing and just have confidencethat you can solve tough gut
cases without burning out.
So I will put the link in theshow notes.
I would absolutely love to seeyou there.
We are in early bird pricinguntil August 1st, so you can
grab this training for.
$49 up until August 1st, andthen it will increase to$69 from

(15:51):
there on out.
So go ahead and secure your spotfor$20 off and I will see you
there.
Next thing is routines.
So keep what you can.
Your gut loves a routine, andthat doesn't mean that you have
to be rigid.
vacation is all about relaxationmost of the time.
Vacation can honestly be theopposite of routine, so you

(16:13):
don't need to do everythingperfectly, but just keep a
couple things familiar, whetherthat's like taking a quick.
Morning walk.
If you normally walk for 30minutes, even just try to walk
for five.
So it's routine.
Stick to your coffee andbreakfast rhythm that you
normally do.
Bring your journal, even if youonly do it for two minutes.
Hydrate before you have coffee.

(16:35):
Try to keep some thingsfamiliar.
It takes some time to go to thebowel.
To go to the bathroom and have abowel movement you cannot
ignore.
The urge to go to the bathroomjust because you're not home.
So even if it takes a little bitlonger in a new space, just give
yourself the time.
A lot of times we find that ourclients do not go to the

(16:55):
bathroom while they're travelingbecause they literally just
haven't taken the time.
They're waiting for the urge,but they've been, go, go, go.
'cause they're trying to rushand get to the beach or get to
their activity or whatever.
And they haven't giventhemselves the time.
So keep the mindset of you don'tneed perfection, you just need
like little anchors of normalcyto help cue your body that like,

(17:18):
it's okay that we're gonna stickto a little bit of routine.
So this story that I'll sharewith you makes me smile every
time I had this client who cameto us.
She was so nervous.
Part of the reason that shestarted working with us is
because she did not wanna beconstipated on her honeymoon.
She was already reallystruggling with constipation on

(17:39):
her day to day.
And she really did not wannahave GI issues after, during her
wedding and of course aftertravel was always a huge trigger
for bloating and discomfort andjust made her feel panicked.
And her husband had tra hadplanned this like really
extravagant honeymoon and shewas afraid that this trip was
just not gonna be what he wantedit to be or what she wanted it

(18:02):
to be.
So we really worked on buildingher digestive support toolkit.
Of course, like.
What enzymes she needed,bitters, ginger, like getting
her bowels moving, et cetera.
And then creating just aflexible plan for meals that
maybe felt heavier or moreindulgent.
Like, okay, if you feel thisway, try some digestive bitters.

(18:23):
Or if you're starting to feelconstipated, take some ginger
before bed.
Or like, here's kind of thedosing for magnesium, et cetera.
And we really went deep on hernervous system because this is a
huge.
Huge piece.
They say neurons that firetogether, wire together.
If you've ever heard thatsaying, basically like your body
remembers, your nervous systemremembers.

(18:45):
So if you've always had negativeexperiences traveling, that's
all your nervous systemremembers.
So what we told her was startjournaling about what it would
feel like to have a goodvacation.
What would it be like?
Visualize, you know, feelinglight, feeling comfortable,
feeling confident.
And she literally rewired herbrain before she got there.

(19:06):
She thought this whole thing washogwash.
I'll just, if you're sittinghere thinking like, yeah, right.
That is not how it works.
You have to have, you have toexpose your nervous system to
positive experiences if you'venever had one in order for that.
Script to flip, and that wastotally what happened with her.
Obviously, in addition to givingher the tools that she needed to

(19:28):
be successful, they went reallywell together.
She had the best strip, nobloating, no food issues.
Really enjoyed, I.
The beach and the experience.
And like I said, if your nervoussystem has only ever experienced
stress and constipation onvacation, you have to show it
what safety looks like.

(19:48):
You have to give it a newexperience to reference, and
that's how you create change,even if you're just visualizing
it and you haven't quiteexperienced it yet.
Next step is supportingdigestion while eating
differently.
This is a common question we getfrom our clients.
Like, okay, I normally eat,heavier foods on vacation, or I
eat more cheese or eat moregluten, or I have more alcohol.

(20:11):
You know, what do I need to do?
So vacation food is amazing, butof course it can be different.
And your bo, your body justmight not be used to rich sauces
or dairy, or more fat or lessfiber.
Which doesn't mean that youcan't enjoy it, it just means
that you need to support it andtry to keep some sense of
normalcy.
If you know you're going out todinner that night and you're

(20:31):
gonna get something that istypically harder for you to
digest, try to keep other thingsthroughout the day easier, just
as an act of self-care, knowingthat you wanna feel good going
into the meal.
So perhaps you need to bringdigestive enzymes, especially if
you've had your gallbladderremoved.
or you really struggle to digestcertain proteins, you might need

(20:53):
digestive support.
there's so many differentenzymes.
Work with the provider thatyou're working with to figure
out what would be best for you.
you can consider dairy or glutenspecific enzymes if, you know,
certain foods tend to causeissues.
In addition to Bitters, bringingalong digestive enzyme
supplements to support properbreakdown of meals, especially

(21:14):
if you're eating foods that yourbody isn't used to, could be
really helpful.
So a general digestive enzymethat includes.
Support for fat, carbs andproteins can be helpful.
But if you know that you'll beconsuming more dairy or gluten
than usual, you might wannainclude a targeted enzyme for
those foods.
Lactase helps to digest dairy.
You can get lactate over thecounter.

(21:36):
There are also several reallygreat formulated products that I
will link in a full script cart.
All you have to do to accessthat in the show notes is click
the link and you'll set up anaccount and you'll.
See all the differentrecommended products that I
have.
don't add all of the products toyour cart, just pick the ones
that you need, and that youwanna try.

(21:57):
But lactase can be reallyhelpful.
And then the DPP four enzymesupports gluten breakdown.
While these don't give you likefree reign to just ignore
symptoms, they make theseaccidental exposures more
manageable and can reduce gutsymptoms while you're away and
might just be worth trialing tosee if they help you, especially

(22:18):
if you're gonna be eating thingsthat you're not used to.
So, like I said, there will bethe full script link.
In the show notes, you'rewelcome to set up a free account
and explore some of theproducts, and then you can see
which ones might work for you inthat cart.
I have linked different fiberoptions.
I've linked different digestivesupport options, some digestive

(22:38):
bitters, some magnesium citrate,ginger.
So if you wanna just likepurchase everything that you
might need in one cart with oneshipping fee, you can look
there.
Um, and again, this is notmedical advice, so please
consult your practitioner.
And then most importantly, slow down.
Chew your food.
Take some deep breaths beforeyou eat.

(22:59):
Try to eat in a relaxed state.
Don't multitask.
Enjoy it.
I'm dreaming of really sittingon a patio in California with a
fish taco in one hand andprobably a mocktail in the
other, and just enjoying everybite as much as I can with three
small kits.
It's amazing what chewing andtaking your time will do.

(23:21):
So don't discount.
Doing that.
It doesn't always have to betaking a pill or another
supplement.
Although those things can help.
And then alcohol.
So let's not pretend that for alot of people, alcohol is not a
part of most vacations.
It doesn't have to be, I'msomeone who really doesn't drink
alcohol very much.
but if you do enjoy a cocktailhere and there, alcohol will

(23:45):
impact your digestion.
It dehydrates you, it impactsyour gut lining.
If you are drinking, I wouldmatch each drink with a glass of
water or a mineral drink.
You can also bring things likeN-Acetyl Cysteine or NAC and
vitamin C, like in the adrenalcocktail sticks to support your
liver and metabolism of alcohol.

(24:06):
And then just check in withyourself.
You know, if you're waking up,feeling off scale back, also the
mindset of that you have to, youknow, if everybody else around
you is pressuring you, it's okayto say no.
it's okay to scale back as muchas you want.
So if food is different, just areminder like.
Journal about it.

(24:27):
Keep your nervous systemgrounded.
know that like this is, thisfeeling is not forever.
You have a toolkit that can getyou back on track, and that you
can feel good.
So.
Just to wrap it up, you don'thave to choose between enjoying
your trip and feelingcomfortable in your body.

(24:47):
You can support hydration withminerals.
You can keep your bowelmovements regular with fiber and
magnesium.
You can anchor your, yourroutine where you can.
You can bring your digestivetoolkit, you can let your
mindset lead, not your fear, andthen if something does pop up,
you're not starting over.
You're just supporting your bodythrough it.

(25:08):
Okay.
I'm feeling really gassy.
I'm feeling really bloated.
What can I do?
Okay.
I know Digestive Bitters canhelp with that.
I'm gonna take some digestivebitters.
I'm starting to feel a littleconstipated.
Okay, maybe I need to increasemy magnesium a little bit, or
I'm going to the bathroom, butit doesn't quite feel complete.
Maybe I need to take some gingerto help move things along, or,

(25:28):
huh.
Maybe the last couple meals I'vehad have not had very much
fiber.
I'm gonna take a fiber stick ortwo to help add some fiber to
keep things moving.
So, there's lots of ways tosupport your body through it.
Panicking about it is gonna makeit worse.
Reach out for support, to afriend or provider to kind of
chat through stuff.
So, if you've ever said, I willwait until after summer to get

(25:52):
support, I want to gently just.
Challenge that.
What if now is actually theperfect time to learn how to
navigate vacation and travelwith expert support?
I am heading to California soon.
Like I mentioned, I do all thediscovery calls for our program,
and so as a result, discoverycalls are gonna be limited, so

(26:14):
lab testing costs have gone uprecently.
Our program cost is going to beincreasing on August 1st.
So if you apply to got togetherand you book your call before
August 1st, you'll lock in thecurrent pricing even if you
start after.
so book your call now.

(26:34):
I'll put the link in the shownotes.
I'll also put a couple otherlinks in the show notes.
Just a full script travel cartof different enzymes and
products.
The clearly filtered waterbottle I talked about, and the
oatmeal link, et cetera.
So.
If you're looking to getsupport, just keep in mind,
because lab testing costs haveincreased significantly, our
program costs will be going up.

(26:56):
so definitely make sure that youapply so you can get support
before the fall.
we're only a couple months awayfrom holidays, which sounds kind
of crazy.
So let's get your body feelinggreat before the end of the
year.
but let's make your next trip anamazing one.
Thank you for listening, andI'll catch you on the next
episode.

(27:22):
As a reminder, this show is foreducational purposes only.
I am a registered dietician, butI am not your registered
dietician.
So although I may provide healthrelated advice on this show,
please consult your practitionerbefore trying anything new.