Your summer calendar probably includes at least one of these events: a barbecue, a beach getaway, a wedding, a birthday, a vacation, or a concert.

These events have two things in common: good (but heavy) food and refreshing (but often regretted) alcoholic drinks. It's easy to forget how they can affect your digestion.

For most women, this type of food and drink often leads to stomach aches, constipation, bloating, and feeling sick. But how can you avoid all the belly pains and still enjoy the long-awaited events?

Let’s dive into what may cause digestive issues and how to prevent them with these 7 smart tips.

1. Hydration, hydration, and hydration!

The key to good digestion is water. Spending the majority of your day in the sun, sipping alcoholic drinks, and indulging in salty snacks dehydrates your body and may cause constipation and bloating. 

Water keeps things moving smoothly in your digestive tract and prevents your belly from turning into a balloon.

Keep a water bottle with you at all times, and try to track your water intake to ensure you’re hydrated. Aim for at least 8 glasses a day (or 2 litres), or even more if you feel thirsty!

2. Eat mindfully

Picnics, parties, and other foodie events are full of tasty snacks and hard-to-skip foods. Of course you can have a bite of everything but try to avoid eating too much.

Overeating can lead to digestive discomfort and make you feel sick. Practice mindful eating by savouring every bite you take, eating slowly, and listening to your body’s fullness signals. Eating multiple smaller meals instead of just a few of big ones can make a really big difference, too!

Allow your digestive tract to fully digest all the delicious food and avoid belly pain and constipation.

3. Check water safety

When planning a vacation and packing all the essentials, always check the water safety in your destination. In some locations (not necessarily the whole country), tap water might be unsafe to drink.

Stick to bottled water, and use it for brushing your teeth as well. 

Avoid ice cubes in your drinks unless you’re sure they’re made from purified water (always ask the bartender), and order bottled drinks.

4. Be cautious with seafood

Can you imagine a day at the seaside without a dinner full of mussels, shrimp, clams, and scallops? Seafood is a must when on vacation.

But things can take a turn for the worse very fast. If you haven’t already experienced seafood poisoning, consider yourself lucky.

Sadly, you can’t tell if your food is contaminated by simply looking at it, but you can smell it on certain fish or shells. If your seafood has an unpleasant smell, don’t eat it. 

Make sure you eat seafood from reputable sources, as improperly stored or undercooked seafood can lead to vomiting, diarrhoea, and stomach pain. It’s best to check the reviews of a restaurant on Google, TripAdvisor, or TikTok before deciding to have dinner there.

5. Stay active

Although you reserve your vacation days to relax mentally and physically, a brisk daily walk can do wonders for your digestion.

We all know how hotel food can make us constipated and bloated. This is because our guts are not used to the specific bread, cheese, jam, or even meat they serve at the hotel. Usually, this type of food is packed with heavy fats, salt, sugars, and flavour enhancers.

Daily physical activity stimulates the digestive tract and prevents constipation. If this doesn’t get you going, drink a cup of black coffee after breakfast! To avoid feeling bloated right after breakfast, take a short daily walk (or swim) every morning. This way, you can enjoy the beautiful scenery at your destination.

6. Limit alcohol intake

While finishing the day off with a glass of wine is perfectly fine, know that too much alcohol can cause chaos in your digestion.

Alcohol disrupts your gut balance, irritates the stomach lining, kills off healthy gut bacteria, and interferes with the absorption of nutrients. As a result, you can suffer from inflammation, acid reflux, and diarrhoea. 

To save yourself from this situation, limit yourself to only a few drinks per occasion and drink water in between. This way, you can be free of a headache the following day, too!

7. Probiotics for digestion to the rescue

Save your summer days from being ruined by your gut and protect it from within. Probiotics are your gut’s best friend, especially during summertime activities.

Good Gut supplement is full of prebiotics and probiotics for digestion health. Probiotics support your gut by balancing the flora, aiding digestion, and preventing bloating and discomfort, while prebiotics lower inflammation in the body, improve metabolism, and keep your toilet visits regular.

If you still get unlucky and have to face food or water poisoning, Good Gut can help your gut recover faster.

Each capsule of Good Gut is packed with 11 probiotic strains with prebiotic action that are really efficient in restoring and maintaining the natural balance of your gut flora. 

The 11 probiotic strains in Good Gut are highly stable and potent, which means they'll actually get where they are needed most - in your gut!