As someone who usually gets sick when visiting less-developed countries, this article from Budget Travel on how to avoid illness peaked my interest.

It provides the usual advice, like do not drink the water, eat only fully cooked foods, and stay away from raw vegetables.  But there are other suggestions as well:

• Eat probiotics, like yogurt, daily.
• Drink alcohol.  Although this is not a scientific preventative, I have friends that swear by it.  Even just a beer or glass of wine per day can help.
• If eating from a buffet or food cart, make sure counters and containers are clean and the food is piping hot.
• Take along Cipro, just in case.

Many of the article’s commenters balked at the suggestion of staying away from street food, believing that is part of the cultural travel experience and that being cautious takes the fun out of traveling.  My response to that is being sick and bedridden for days (or weeks) of your vacation also takes the fun out of travel (and I’m speaking from experience!).  Generally you know how strong your gastrointestinal system is so use common sense.  I get sick easily, while my husband has never gotten sick while traveling, so he can try things that I would not.

One more word of advice – don’t get complacent just because you’ve been in the country for a week or so and haven’t gotten sick.  It would be easy to think that since everything has been fine so far, it would be ok to try some exotic cut up fruit or forget about the ice cubes in your drink.  Stay vigilant and stay healthy.  And again speaking from experience, if you do get sick, cipro is valuable!

 

I chose not to purchase lunch from the food vendors while shopping at the outdoor markets in Buenos Aires. 

                                                

Food vendor at a flea market in Buenos Aires