Getting my stomach acclimated

It’s pretty much guaranteed that if you come to India and spend a significant amount of time here (read: more than a week), you’re going to get sick. I’m not talking a cold either – I mean the kind of sick that sends you running for the bathroom numerous times during the day. Some call it traveler’s diarrhea, others call it Delhi belly. Whatever the name, it can be a royal pain the ass (no pun intended!).

On my last trip to India, I came down with the dreaded illness about a week into my trip. It started out as more of an inconvenience than anything else, and having a stock of Immodium AD helped. By the second week, though, I got sick enough that I was in bed for a full day, feeling generally weak and eating nothing but Sprite, bananas, and plain chips. Even though I wasted a day when I could have been exploring Udaipur, in Rajasthan, at least the hotel room had a balcony overlooking the lake and the other side of the city.

This time around, I got Delhi belly out of the way early. By the second evening, my stomach wasn’t feeling too hot, and I spent the night doubled over in pain, feeling nauseous and running for the bathroom constantly. I knew what to do this time, though. I had a four-pill dose of antibiotics to be used for extreme traveler’s diarrhea. Basically, it’s a stomach bomb that wipes everything out of your system, good and bad bacteria alike. By the next morning, I felt reasonably better, though I still spent the day feeling weak and achy. I limited myself to plain ginger tea, white toast with just a little butter, and hot and sour soup (my cure-all for every ailment). I also chowed down on acidophilus tablets, which I had brought to help prevent stomach illnesses and was then hoping would help restore the good bacteria in my system.

What did I eat that made me sick? It’s hard to tell. I’m relatively cautious about what I eat and drink. I only brush or rinse with bottled water, and drink primarily bottled water, too. (Lately, though, I’ll take a sip or two of filtered water at restaurants, so I can get my gut flora familiar with whatever might be in the local water.) I avoid eating raw fruits and vegetables if I don’t trust how they’ve been washed or sliced – which means most of the time. And while I do eat some street food, I try to follow the rule of eating only foods that are freshly prepared and still hot.

As time goes on, though, I start to break that final rule. I’ve been known to eat street food that’s been sitting out all morning. Sometimes I’ll eat leftovers without reheating them. Especially after getting sick, my hope is that my body is beginning to adjust to whatever bacteria my stomach disagreed with in the first place. I’d hate to miss out on a terrific gastronomic experience because I was too afraid of how my stomach would react. So I’m cautious – but not overly paranoid.