When you’re travelling abroad, you don’t want to suddenly shock your body with too many foreign substances. You’re already suffering a jolt to your circadian rhythms and sleep patterns from all that air travel, and the sheer stress of traveling combined with disrupted sleep is enough to weaken the immune system. This seems to leave people vulnerable to infections of the gut and drinking foreign water—especially in developing countries, is one of the surest ways to land yourself in the hospital. You can even get a deadly case of sepsis if you have an infection you let go too long, so get to a doctor right away if you have a fever, chills, diarrhea, and vomiting and you’ve been drinking water abroad. There are some easy ways to stay hydrated abroad and tips to protect you from getting sick or infected by dangerous water sources.   Limit Water Intake—and Ice—and Cooking With Tap Water, When Traveling When you are travelling abroad, the simplest trick is to limit water intake and to boil all water that you do drink. See, even bottled water can be dangerous to drink when abroad because in many countries, store owners simply refill plastic bottles with their own tap water. In countries like China, Taiwan, Mexico, India, African countries—any still developing nations and countries, you need to be careful with bottled water. Check those caps and make sure that your water is tightly sealed before you drink it. That’s one thing to keep in mind. The other thing is to avoid mixed drinks with ice—all drinks with ice, drinking beverages made from foreign tap water, and avoiding foods that may have been steamed or poached in toxic water. So, yes, this gets a little tricky. Some individuals stick solely to packaged foods when travelling. Also, be careful not to swallow when brushing your teeth or showering in foreign countries. All water can cause traveler’s diarrhea, which can ruin all your fun for days.   How to Know a Good Water Source from a Bad One With diseases ranging from typhoid, cholera, to Hepatitis A being caused by drinking dangerous tap water, you need to know how to tell a good water source from a bad one. Most countries in Asia, save some cities in Japan have unsafe water. Most all of the Europe has safe water but the attached countries like the Middle East and Russia do not. The United States and Canada have safe water but Mexico often does not, and even if the locals have adapted to it, most travelers get very sick drinking their water. In Africa and South America, there is no safe drinking water. In Australia, tap water is safe—New Zealand, no!   Great Ways to Ensure You Drink Safe Water Abroad There are two great ways to ensure you’re drinking safe water abroad—one, test all water before you drink it. Today, you can purchase great tap water testing kits that make this easy. These kits [...]