I love sun! I would much rather be too hot than too cold any day of the week. That is why I always take my vacation in the winter so that I can go somewhere warm.

One question that I get often when patients are travelling down south is about the vaccines recommended for travellers.

I haven’t used any of those vaccines myself but I do take my own remedies to make sure I also don’t get any nasty bugs when I’m away either. The great thing is that I can take them preventatively and in the unlikely case that I do get sick I can use them to treat myself as well. I’ve only had to do this once because I forgot and brushed my teeth with tap water. Luckily, I didn’t miss out on any fun in the sun because I was prepared with remedies on hand.

Here are my top 3 recommendations to take when travelling to a foreign country:

1. Shelf stable probiotic: Probiotic 7-in-1 by BioMed

This probiotic is one that can be kept out of the fridge because it is shelf stable. Probiotics are the good bugs in your gut that help keep the bad guys out. If travelling take 1 cap a day starting 1 week before you leave. If you feel any digestive discomfort, loose stool or diarrhea increase the dose to 3X a day.

2. Saccharomyces boulardi: SaccroB by CytoMatrix

This is a beneficial yeast that is specific to treat traveller’s diarrhea. I will often give this to anyone who needs something a little stronger than just a probiotic. If you have a tendency to traveller’s diarrhea I would combine this with a probiotic. Again, start taking 1 week before your trip 1 cap 1X a day and if you start to get symptoms increase to 3X a day.

3. Anti-parasitic formula: Anti-MFP by Douglas Labs

This is the strongest formula out of the 3 because it has anti-parasitic herbs in it. They work to kill any parasites present in the intestines versus just trying to crowd them out. The dosage would be the same if you have no symptoms (1 cap 1X a day). Depending on the severity if you do get symptoms the dose can range from 1-2 caps 3X a day. The more severe the symptoms, the higher the dose should be.

Now I would love to hear from you! What is one travel tip that works great for you. Leave a comment below and I'll be back next week with another edition of Doctor as Teacher Tuesday. 

We carry all of these products at the office but if you would like to order any of the above products online, feel free to use our on-line dispensary Health Wave here: