Blog from Memorial Day 2010 re: Intestinal Health/Risks with Summer - Remember to be Safe this Summer!

I happened to have Dr Oz on today and thought this was something worth bringing up before the Memorial Day weekend here in the US.  He had lots of good information about drowning prevention and that is obviously an important topic -- don't forget your lifejackets and think about safey this weekend and every day.  I encourage people to take CPR and First Aid courses AND do the simplest of things; always put on your seat belt.  Our local area has a campaign now because last year everyone who died in car crashes did NOT have seat belts on.  So that tells you how important they are in saving your life.  In my youth I didn't use a seat belt on a day when I was involved in a crash and so learned to appreciate them at high speeds and then in my early 20s when riding just a couple of blocks to run an errand I again was in a crash which I believe caused the disk injury in my neck which has become quite an issue as time has gone on.  I knew better, I just was in a hurry and we were only going a short distance in the middle of the day and in our neighborhood.  

So today I think I need to do better about food handling.  I've become more aware recently about my lack of compliance with food handling because Pablo Blanco is quite a stickler about it due to having a background with not only meat judging but getting extremely ill in the past ten years when traveling.  It seems we get serious about things we've had personal experience about, but wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if we got more compliant about the things we know but haven't had life's reality teacher upon us?  

So here are the highlights (and I'll give the link to Dr. Oz at the end of this for you to follow for further information). 

More cases of food poisoning occur in the summer because bacteria grow fastests at temperatures above 90 degrees F, and people are doing more outdoor eating such as picnics and BBQs.  There are several different categories of bacteria to differentiate with symptoms.  

Vomiting within 6-12 hours, watery diarrhea and abdominal pain can occur from Staphylococcus, which like sweet and salty foods (even cakes, Dr. Oz said). I'd heard once that it's as much the carbohydrates in potato or macaroni salads that cause them to be foods to be cautious of as much as that they contain mayonnaise. The staph forms in the foods and then multiplies, and it can multiply in the refrigerator as well.  Sometimes you will have major symptoms very fast.  Foods that are made by hand and unrefrigerated for a while are the ones to be most concerned of.  (And think of foods you purchase, that someone's hands made it and infection control and good hand washing and safety protocols are hopefully followed seriously.) 

Symptoms in 12-24 hours  of watery diarrhea, sometimes blood, and rarely vomiting is from E Coli.  For example, if it is growing on produce / greens, the E. Coli gets down into the intestines and your body tries to remove the bacteria and actually causes some holes in the intestine which causes the bleeding and also can cause you to get sepsis (bodywide infection). 

24+ hours - Salmonella, found in uncooked eggs and chicken.  It can even transfer to grow in your gall bladder and is dangerous if you are immune compromised.  Severe stomach pain is a symptom.  You'll have the toxins getting into the bloodstream because the bacteria.

I know that this spring I had friends who asked me for advise when traveling to Mexico for a few months of camping and the holistic, integrative suggestion I was given by a naturopath was to do your best to get your intestinal health up and keep it that way prior to and during the trip.  Probiotics (such as Pearls which are coated so they make it through the stomach to the intestine prior to disbursing) are discussed in many areas of Lumigrate.com (I'll put a link to the Gut Forum).  Naturally, having a balanced lifestyle with restful sleep, good exercise and other activities which enhance your immune system can make a difference to how YOUR BODY is prepared.  

And to conclude and return to what Dr. Oz's show suggests for food safety: 

LIFO .... Last in First Out (related to what you put in the cooler).  Put cooler in the shade or dug into the sand/dirt.

Colored cutting boards and different ones for meat and vegetables. Washing them well and sanitizing appropriately.  

Use a clean plate or platter when bringing foods from the grill than the one you used for the raw meat.

Wash the hands, really using soap and water.  (In health care, they taught us to wash for 20 seconds with soap, which is the amount of time it takes to sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat .... no kidding!  See, if you make things FUN it helps!)

Cook Meats  to safe temperatures -- 160 for beef, 165 degrees for chicken (Farenheit).  There are lots of information out there about that, but I do also want to interject that providers who believe our rampant hypothyroid issues have to do with our eating such cooked meats (the heat kills the iodine that is in meat) gives us some 'food for thought' and hopefully invites further discussion and learning from our medical providers at Lumigrate.com. 

Mostly this Thursday before Memorial Day weekend here in the US, I hope we all spend some quality time thinking about the summer ahead and set some goals for our health.  And since it is 'MEMORIAL DAY', I do hope we remember those around us, past and present, and do our best for the present and head into the future ..... Happy Summer, Everyone!  ~~ Mardy

Lumigrate Forum on GI Issues/Solutions: "The Gut of Things":

www.lumigrate.com/forums/health-issuesdis-eases/gastrointestinal-gi-issues-and-solutions-gut-things

Lumigrate Forum on Colds and Flu and Stomach Flu and 'Bugs':

www.lumigrate.com/forums/health-issuesdis-eases/colds-flu-bugs-sinusallergies-alternatives-immunizations/colds-and-flu

And naturally, Dr. Oz' website, which I highly encourage you to go to and then Search on whatever words you're interested in learning more about, as they have quite a comprehensive and complex website now:  www.doctoroz.com  AND from their ER physician and contributing Dr Oz Expert, Leigh Vinocur who was on today's show I just reported about here.