Ayurvedic Tips for Safe and Healthy Travel Through India & Asia | Dylan Smith #136

Curious about how to maintain your health while exploring the rich cultures of India and Asia? Whether you're worried about catching "Delhi belly" or blending safely with the local customs, this episode is packed with practical advice and Ayurvedic wisdom to ensure a smooth journey. 

In this episode, we'll uncover the Ayurvedic principles that support better food combinations and highlight common pitfalls to avoid. We'll also discuss the importance of some refined hygiene practices, to keep you healthy on the go. 

We also delve into Ayurvedic remedies tailored for travelers, ensuring you're well-prepared for any health challenges you might encounter.  You'll learn about Ayurvedic remedies that can bolster your health and keep you resilient during your travels.

Traveling in Asia is a feast for the senses, but it requires mindful preparation. This episode covers everything from modest dress and respecting local customs to choosing reputable accommodations. Discover the benefits of maintaining a healthy microbiome and how it can enhance your culinary experiences in diverse regions. 

Don't miss out on these invaluable tips for a safe, healthy, and enriching journey through India and Asia.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

This fortnight on the Vital Beta podcast. If you're planning on traveling India or Asia, you've got to listen to this episode. This is to avoid getting those parasites getting the runs, getting the deli belly, getting the barley belly. These tips are designed for foreigners, including, in our eyes, non-residential Indians. The reality is, our microbiome is so foreign to the local land as much as you've been there. There are a few Ayurvedic remedies that you can travel with, but there's one which is like what I call the Ayurvedic first aid kit.

Speaker 1: 0:34

As an Ayurvedic health practitioner and seasoned traveler in India, I used to keep thinking I'm strong, I'm so used to it, I've got a strong immune system, but still it took me multiple, multiple times to learn my lessons. Welcome to the Vital Vader Show. I'm your host, dylan Smith. I'm an aortic practitioner and holistic health educator and someone who has a heart in India and Asia, and I have spent a lot of time there and I probably spent a few lives. There is what many people tell me, but the reality is, if you're joining me now, it's because you're maybe traveling to India, you're traveling to Asia, you're going to these countries maybe for the first time. Maybe you're a bit nervous because you don't want to get quote-unquote barley belly or deli belly in any of these Asian countries, which is very common, especially for foreigners, and these travel-related illnesses can be avoided and you can have an enriching and unforgettable experience. So, as an Ayurvedic practitioner, holistic health educator, I've compiled these guidelines for you to enjoy your trip, to help you enjoy your trip without the discomfort of digestive disorders. And I myself thought I was accustomed to Indian food and the environment. I mean, I've got a good digestion, I've got a good immune system At least I think I do, and I've been there so much and I'm really into the local. I don't go to the touristy spots, I'm local but still I kept getting parasites. And although the parasites severity was becoming less and I I didn't get as bad of a reaction was, I still had to be diligent. The more diligent I got, the less severity they got. But still there were things which I was doing and I'm probably still learning and experimenting and dancing with this. But there's a lot of things I've learned and I'm going to hit you up with the essential guidelines. And I want to first say that in Ayurveda we're a lot about detecting disease early, detecting the imbalance before it's really manifested, and this can be slight digestive discomfort.

Speaker 1: 2:40

Tuning into intuition and your feeling in your belly. Did you eat something not good? And if that's the case, then definitely do not continue to eat heavy foods or risky foods, which we'll talk about in a bit. Rather, be more towards a fasting diet, especially if your appetite is not hungry. On your appetite, drink some things. We're going to talk about these. So a few principles. I want to just list them out. By the way, as all these podcast episodes, we have show notes. The show notes are going to be helpful because they're going to be a list of these guidelines for safe eating and drinking and in the end, I'm just going to chuck in a few little guidelines on safe travel, not related to food or digestion, but related to blending in, particularly with Indian culture and also avoiding some potentially dangerous circumstances.

Speaker 1: 3:29

But first of all, with the guidelines for safe Indian drinking, the really important thing. Number one water. Of course, bottled water. This is a known, pretty common but really important to check that the bottle of water you're purchasing has not been tampered with. Sometimes they fill it up and tamper the seals and don't seal the lid properly or the cap. So that's what you want, to make sure. But even instead of the small selling the water bottles or the one liter or the half liter water bottles, which are good, they're safe, but then you risk the microplastic absorption, just like in the West and other countries. Microplastic absorption, just like in the West and other countries. So you're better off going for the 15 liter large water bottles that are delivered into local houses, because even a lot of locals these days they're drinking filtered spring water or filtered reverse osmosis water. So just check. This is also going to reduce your risk of contamination. Also, ensure the restaurants that you're eating at is cooking with clean water. They're not going to reduce your risk of contamination. Also, ensure the restaurants that you're eating at is cooking with clean water. They're not going to be necessarily cooking with the 15 liter deliveries of water, but at least they have a good reverse osmosis system. That's very common in India to use reverse osmosis. Although it strips the nutrients, it strips a lot of the pathogens, so and it's not that expensive compared to other filters. So that's common what they use. I'd even add in to make sure that you brush your teeth and rinse your mouth with this bottled water.

Speaker 1: 4:53

Second principle is consume hot food. Food should be steaming hot. This will kill any potential bacteria. Prevent food poisoning, so especially rice. This can harm bacteria when left out too long and because rice is so common in India, you want to get the rice that is steaming hot. Make sure your food's hot, freshly cooked. Third point is choose high quality restaurants. While dining at reputable establishments can reduce the risk, it's still not foolproof method. Okay, you've got to follow the other safety guidelines I'm talking about in this, but if it's possible for your budget and your means of travel, do choose the higher quality restaurants.

Speaker 1: 5:37

On that note, I want to talk about street food. It's definitely something to be cautious about. I know it's very tempting, but I would say it's also probably the main area, definitely the main area. I would say in my experience that people are picking up parasites and pathogens. You know, only after covid 2019 or whenever that thing started. We I was seeing a lot of patients when they got back to travel and they were kind of nervous and I was doing consultations just for advice to how to travel India and how to be safe with their digestion and with viruses and things. But street food is a big common place.

Speaker 1: 6:16

If you're going to eat street food, make sure the vendor is very busy. This is indicating that the food is fresh and the food is hot. That includes chai wallahs, like the, the stores that are serving chai. They should be high turnover. This is ensuring the milk is fresh and it's not left out for long periods. Again getting that bacteria.

Speaker 1: 6:33

The last time I got a parasite, which you know was minor, but I was fever for a few days. I couldn't go out explore. I was only in a town doing a pilgrimage for a short time and I got it from a chai. And this was recently and I really thought and I did have good health. But it just shows how sensitive we can be when you're not growing up. And, as I said, even Indians are becoming sensitive because they're becoming habituated to the West or to the ways that the West doing it, or they're traveling in the West a lot, or living in the west they go back to india. They also cannot deal with this microbiome.

Speaker 1: 7:12

So with fruits, you want to ensure that they're peeled properly. Okay, so get fruits that you fully peel or fruits that have a hard skin that you're not doing it. In relation to that, fruit juices, smoothies, sugar cane, sugar cane juice Sugar cane juice is tasty, it's cheap. In India it's so good, but really that's another common place. People can pick up parasites. You need to be very careful with sugar cane juice and with all fruit juices. The problem is the water they use to wash the fruits probably tap water. You're better off washing your own fruit. On sugar cane juice, called ik ras in Hindi, it requires a lot of washing before juicing it and some vendors are not washing it enough, so be careful with that, please. And of course, these are principles, but what also helps is when you have a good digestion and good immune system particularly a good digestion and that we speak about in other episodes. Or if you want to do a consultation to optimize your own digestion, you can book a consultation with me, a health consultation at vitalvatorcomau. Forward slash bookings, but it does help to be more resilient and have the remedies which we're going to speak to about in a bit.

Speaker 1: 8:24

Some more principles, though Avoid ice and also cold dairy. The ice can be made from contaminated water in most of the situations. Better to avoid it. You may not know they're using ice. Think about the fruit juices they're making, the sodas, the ice cream. There's a lot of this contaminated ice around India and probably around the rest of Asia. So be careful with that, and same with the cold dairy products. They can harbor harmful bacteria.

Speaker 1: 8:49

Another principle is an Ayurvedic principle and that is to avoid incompatible food combinations. Food, any cuisine, any culture, and be able to apply the principles of Ayurveda, which are principles of nature, in order to approach that food in a way that it's going to digest, the best for you, that it's going to suit you, how to use that food as medicine. This is what we could do, the essence of Ayurveda nutrition. And there's one component on what we call virudhana, which means incompatible food combinations. There's a bunch and again it's principles, but I'm going to share with you one principle of virudhana which is very commonly abused in India One food combination which is abused and it's become incompatible.

Speaker 1: 9:48

It is incompatible and it is particularly related with parasites, and that food combination is mixing cow's milk with salt. Why is this so common? Look at meals like drinking a masala chai with your samosa or your dosa for breakfast the samosa or dosa has salt and the chai is cow's milk. Or even after a meal after lunch, people having chai as if it's a dessert Very, very common in India. After a meal after lunch, people having chai as if it's a dessert Very, very common in India. So this combination of milk and salt creates quite an ideal breeding ground for parasites and this is one food combination you want to avoid, even though many people do it. It is not good for health on many ways, particularly if you're being sensitive. In India and we do it in the West as well we have our cow's milk coffee with our avocado toast and salt on the toast. So we want to really avoid that in general. So these are some principles on the food.

Speaker 1: 10:47

Some extra things is the utensils that are used, even people themselves in India, because India is actually a very clean country in certain ways. They're very clean people as a culture. They purify things before using it. They have a good cleanliness due to the purity that they want to embody. When they visit a temple, for example, they actually wash things a lot. I've seen a lot of Indians where I lived in South India. In the neighborhood it's common for people to clean their car every day. They sweep their floor every day at the front of their house. They clean their house every day. In the West we get to clean it once a week, once a fortnight, do a vacuum and mop that bed sheets once a week. Indians have a refined sense of cleanliness in a way, and I guess some of them have to be when you're living in such overpopulated and polluted country in certain parts of the country. And one thing which they'd sometimes do when they would sit at a restaurant is clean their utensil themselves. So this can be simply pouring some water on the plate and washing it and rinsing it. You can even carry your own utensil, you can clean it yourself, you can wipe it with tissue.

Speaker 1: 12:00

Eating on a banana leaf is very good because that's fresh, mostly always fresh and not being used before, so it has good energetics. But still the banana leaf, due to dust and transportation, should be cleaned with water. But still the banana leaf, due to dust and transportation, should be cleaned with water. And you'll see in the temple, if you'll serve the prashad, the holy food, the blessed food on banana leaves a common thing they'll, after they give you your leaf, they'll pour some water on it for you to clean your own leaf before they serve. So it's a good habit to clean your plate before receiving food.

Speaker 1: 12:32

And with the water bottles, carry your own water bottle is ideal if, especially if it has a built-in filter or a built-in restructuring system or you have some portable restructuring unit that you can travel around. I highly recommend that. In india I travel around with this awesome unit. It looks like a funnel. It's from natural action technology, which is one of my favorite, if not my favorite water restructuring uh systems, and what it does is it's a funnel and it literally just goes in and out the other other end and it's got vortex technology and it's got certain materials in it which spins the water and allows that dead water, especially from reverse osmosis, to be restructured into a more lively, prana, life force filled state, more sacred geometrical state, more energy and more structured water. We're restructuring that water back to how it should be and how it was. So that's a good thing to carry around. There's a thousand and one ways to restructure your water, but you can check out natural action technology and it's a company in the us. They ship around the world. We also have a discount code with them. If you mention vital beta, they'll give you a discount. Great product lifetime warranty because, or 20 years or something, because you don't have to replace like a filter, it just restructures anyway. Good to good to also have your own water bottle or your own water system, even if you're getting the filtered water to, to refine that, of course.

Speaker 1: 14:00

Another thing is wash your hands regularly. It's simple, it's obvious, but really do it more regularly. Be like the indians who, who, who, clean themselves a lot before toilet, after toilet, especially when, before eating or touching your face, please don't forget to wash your hands and if you do find some issues are occurring, seek medical advice. There's plenty of Ayurvedic doctors around India, physicians who can help you. And, yes, consult a healthcare provider, for personalized advice is always important.

Speaker 1: 14:31

Now, ayurvedic remedies to travel with is going to help you. So one of the things definitely is the number one herbal formula that I prescribe, the number one herbal formula that we dispense at Vital Veda, and that's a herbal formula called Shodhanavati, and I could talk a lot about this, but I'll just say it does many things, one being ensuring your body is regularly detoxifying, and that is ensuring regular detoxification through the bowels, through the urine, through the sweat and even other waste products like pus or wax in the ears or mucus and blood, menstrual blood. It ensures the body is regularly detoxifying and it's supporting the body's natural cleansing processes. So that should be taken in general, but especially if you're traveling to one of these places. Ideally you take it before and during. You're ensuring that during your travel you're regularly detoxifying.

Speaker 1: 15:29

Shodhana Vati is very easy. It literally means purification tablet. Shodhana means purification, vati means tablet. You take three to five tablets before dinner, or even two to five tablets before dinner, and that dose you can adjust according to your ability to detox. If you're more on the runny, loose stool side, then you peel back to one or two before dinner. If you're feeling constipated or you're not having a good complete bowel motion in the morning, first thing then have maybe three or four or five Shodha Navati. You can dance with that and learn that herb.

Speaker 1: 16:08

Another remedy to travel with, really important for India, is called Nasika, and these are medicated nasal drops, and what they path your nasal channel, your nostrils, enhances their capacity to filter pollution. And this is especially important for whether it's in a polluted Indian city or it is a mountain town or high up in the Himalayas, where the oxygen is altered and it's lower, you want to enhance your ability to intake prana and filter pollution. This herbal infused oil is a great way to protect your respiratory system from airborne viruses, particularly that are entering through the nose. So those are the two which I will say for general. Definitely to travel with. Shodanavati tablets before dinner and Nasaga nose drops drops then I'm going to now talk about herbs to have on hand in case any symptoms manifest and I'm talking we want to detect earlier, not feeling quite right.

Speaker 1: 17:13

Take the herbs, there's no harm. Every herbs are like food, at least the ones we prescribe. Some people are doing extracts. That's another conversation, but these whole herbs you can take. Okay, the number one ayurveda first aid kit absolutely essential is called prana drops, this small bottle of liquid. It's a small bottle, 15 milliliters, the same size as the nasal drops. You just carry it around with you everywhere. It helps with parasites, fever, cold, cold congestion, pain, virus, diarrhea, nausea, insect bites, much more. All you do is you put a drop of this in hot water, inhale the steam and drink it. It helps. It's a lifesaver. Many people call it a lifesaver. That is the number one first aid kit.

Speaker 1: 18:00

Second important thing to travel with is called Shulagna Vati. Shula means pain in Ayurveda, shulagna means removes the pain, shulagna Vati. But it does much more than removing pain. This formula is particularly for parasites, fever and viruses, also for headaches, pain, diarrhea, but it's again very small tablets, a small bottle, easy to travel with, and that's again. Feeling any fever, feeling any parasites coming, you feel that you're developing, then take that as need and the dose is different for according to the situation. You can learn about that on Vidalaveda, these formulas, but one I remember once I traveled on a pilgrimage going to this was kind of in my early days of traveling around india and my teacher told me to take this as a preventative. And now I've not learned.

Speaker 1: 18:55

People can take it as a preventative. If you feel vulnerable, you can take it, but it's not really needed. It's if your gut feels vulnerable or if you're in a place where the food is very foreign to you, you're eating local food, you feel a bit unsure. Then you can take this tablet four times a day, four tablets four times a day, the tiny little tablets, as a preventative for parasites. Those two are kind of the main, really crucial first aid kind of kits for particularly parasites.

Speaker 1: 19:26

There's another one for parasites which is a bit stronger, a bit more specific for parasites, whether the shalagna does fevers and and pain and so many things. The other form is called akrimi and that's a vital beta formula specific for parasites and it's good to take, especially if you're with a group of people and you want just that extra extinction of unwanted parasites. You can take half a teaspoon of Acrimi for adults twice a day, whether with hot water or with honey. Milavati is another tablet. This is not so much for parasites, it's more for colds and flus and nasal congestion and viruses and it acts kind of like an antibiotic, but more on that upper respiratory system, even also the lungs. But rather than a parasite it's more of a respiratory viral illness or cold. And the last one is an easy herb you can get from India. The rest of the herbs are vital beta formulas, but the last one is a classical formula and it's called Amrit Arishta. Amrit means immortality and Arishta is a wine. So this is a fermented beverage which promotes immortality. But what it's also really good at amongst many of its karmas, amongst many of its actions, amrit Arishta is very good for fevers and you take for adults 25 milliliters twice a day after food. That is the general dose and that can be attained from most Ayurveda pharmacies. So that's it for the digestion part.

Speaker 1: 21:10

Remember, this is all educational purposes only. This is not intended to diagnose, treat you or help you with your specific conditions. That requires a consultation with a quality health practitioner or a physician. This is just for educational purposes only, and it is always recommended to consult someone to be more specific to you. So a few other things I like to recommend to my friends and patients and people who I speak to about traveling to India.

Speaker 1: 21:40

Of course, dress modestly In many parts of Asia. Dress modestly In many parts of Asia. Dress modestly. It's not only a sign of respect, but it can also avoid unwanted attention, especially women. Women should consider covering their shoulders, their chest, their knees. Men should avoid wearing shorts in particularly specific cultural or religious sites. This is going to also help you have a better time because you'll be more respected. You will be more blending in, more treated like a local which is always nice while traveling, rather than being the tourist person who doesn't get to experience certain things.

Speaker 1: 22:15

Another fun one I like to recommend to women is, when you get to India, buy yourself a silver toe ring and put it on your second toe and let people see it. I mean, people will see it because you are mostly barefoot in India. A lot of places do not require shoes and either or you're wearing sandals and your toes are exposed. Wearing a silver toe ring on your second toe signifies that you are married and that may reduce a little bit the likelihood of receiving unwanted advances from men, which can be common in India, especially if you're a white woman that is in the ripe age of fertility, or any age you can definitely experience that, any age you can definitely experience that. But there's a whole other conversation around that and about confidence, and in fact you can listen to an episode we did with Luke Holloway and that is all about personal security and this goes through these circumstances and why it's on a podcast like this. It's not only about health, this podcast, but it's about your health, of your security, your health of your home, the health of your body.

Speaker 1: 23:29

Another thing is be aware of local customs, understand respecting local customs. This can help you enhance your travel experience. Like I said, it can prevent misunderstandings. An example is, instead of shaking hands with someone, we usually say namaskar or namaste, and that's a prayer gesture. So instead of shaking the other person's hand, you can keep your both hands to yourself at the chest in a prayer position and that way you can greet and attend to people. This is especially useful for when, for example, men are trying to shake the hand of a woman because they want to touch them, or anyone wants to shake the hand of a woman because they want to touch them, or anyone wants to shake the hand of a man because they want to touch them, just wanting to touch you. You may not want that for various reasons for energetic reasons, for hygiene reasons, it's all related. The best reflection you can do is namaste, because this indicates that this person is. It's almost a a different level of greetings, it's a higher level in in certain ways, and it almost snaps them out of if they were trying to touch you. For, you know, it doesn't have to be a strong desire to touch you, but even just they're getting a bit excited. It it actually creates that calmness and it invites that higher aspect of being into all circumstances. That's a great one.

Speaker 1: 24:57

So a couple others, very quick. Staying well-known accommodations definitely good. Definitely get to get reputable hotels or guest houses or someone you know, definitely some of them can be a bit corrupt, you can say, and sketchy, as we say in australia, and stay connected, have reliable means of communication. Get a local sim card or a roaming plan international, and you can keep so these ayurvedic remedies, these guidelines which I've shared with you today, you're going to significantly reduce your risk of contaminating foodborne illnesses so you can have a happier journey in asia. A little caution goes a long way. It's going to make your travel smoother, enjoyable, so I hope you do not experience a very gastronomic adventure, which many people do in india.

Speaker 1: 25:48

And if you do, well, here are some remedies. Another remedy which I didn't mention is better to fast and just drink cumin tea, or drink kanji, which is a rice gruel with cumin seeds and a dry seeds. These are things which you can get easily from places which you're at otherwise. Go find an ayurvedic clinic and take refuge there, or a panchakarma center or or an ashram, something which also caters to foreigners that know how to peel their vegetables, how to wash the vegetables properly in good quality water, using good quality water for cooking. This is why, in the accommodation aspect, it's good to or at least the restaurant aspect, to go to those places which understand this fact that the foreigner's microbiome is so foreign to the local environment.

Speaker 1: 26:40

And we need to, we can adapt, we can mingle with the microbiome in a beautiful dance and beautiful loving way and tasty way, but it is important to safeguard your health so that you can fully immerse yourself in the rich culinary landscape of these vibrant regions. So thank you for joining me. If you appreciate this, you can leave a review. If you want to go deeper into your health and travel more healthy, you can book consultation with me. You can see vitalvadacomau forward slash bookings and until next time, I really hope you travel smoothly and blissfully and while you travel, you radiate the bliss and joy to all those who see you.