From travel anxiety to tummy troubles: the gut health habits that could transform your next vacation experience

We asked Dr Megan Rossi, a.k.a. the Gut Health Doctor, to help us embrace the body-brain connection and discover how looking after your gut can lead to a happier overall trip!

Words: Sally Saunders. Images: Shutterstock

Vacations are something many of us look forward to all year long, but when the time comes it’s natural to feel a few butterflies in your stomach. However, if your anxiety goes deeper than that — or if it feels like you’ve got more than just butterflies churning up in there, it might be time to consider how your gut health is impacting how you feel before you set off, both physically and mentally.

‘Travel can be a really good thing for the gut, but it can also be a really bad thing,’ explains Dr Megan Rossi, aka The Gut Health Doctor. ‘When we talk about the gut, we’re specifically focusing on those trillions of bacteria called our gut microbiome.

‘And stress can really impact that microbiome. We see through the studies that if you are stressed it can really strangle your gut and have a negative impact on your overall health. We find that all the time with gut disorders, for example, we know that if you go through chronic trauma or stress, you’ve got a much higher risk of getting irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

‘Now, one of the benefits of travel is that stress can can be reduced. So if you are going somewhere and getting to actually relax and put your emails away, then the reduction in stress and cortisol, stress hormone can have a really positive impact on your gut.

‘Another way to lower your stress is doing diaphragmatic breathing can really reduce the stress between the gut and the brain. So if you are in a very stressy headspace, taking some really deep breaths right into your belly can really help relax the gut and fizzle out some of that stress.’ 

Of course, one of the most impactful ways we can impact our gut health is by looking at our diet — and this can also affect our mind, Dr Rossi explains. ‘How you feed your gut microbiome can really impact your mental health.

‘One of the key things to think of is that there are six different plant based food groups. I call them the Super Six. So your whole grains (wheat, quinoa, buckwheat, oats etc). Then you’ve got your fruit, your veggies, your nuts and seeds, your legumes (chickpeas, lentils, butter beans etc) and your herbs and your spices.

‘Each category contains different fertilizers to feed different microbes. So typically, we recommend people try get something from the Super Six each day. So instead of there being like one miracle food, actually, what we’re seeing is is diversity is really key. So you fertilizing all the different microbes, instead of just like over feeding one type of bacteria.

‘So I would say when you go overseas, think to yourself, “Where can I get something from the Super Six most days?”

‘And particularly leading up to when you’re traveling, when you are very much in control, really focusing on plant diversity should really help mentally and emotionally, while also protecting your gut and all-round health.’

Dr Rossi’s golden rules for a smoother vacation transition

1. Taking a specific probiotic could be a game-changer

Starting Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) two days before travelling and for the duration of your vacations can help those with sensitive stomachs stay symptom-free.

2. ’Eat to your vacation’ for smoother digestion

Just like you, your gut has a circadian rhythm. So shifting mealtimes to match the time zone of your destination before travelling can help your gut adapt to a different time zone.

3. Slow and steady

Go easy on any new foods for the first two days upon arrival at your destination and ease your gut into the experience…don’t go from nought to 100, especially with street food.

Dr Megan Rossi (PhD, RD is an award-winning gut health scientist and registered dietitian. She founded The Gut Health Doctor to empower everyone to take control of their own health and wellbeing. theguthealthdoctor.com