Common symptoms and treatment methods of food poisoning

Food poisoning is indigestion caused by the consuming of poor quality or toxic foods and drinks. Well known typical symptoms of poisoning are diarrhea (watery stools, fetid with undigested food leftovers), severe nausea, repeated vomiting. Food poisoning is also often accompanied by weakness, dizziness, fever, chills, painful cramps in the stomach, bloating and excessive salivation.

However disease is not appearing each and every time when such products are consumed. Some people are more resistant to toxic food but others are easier to become infected and they get sick immediately. There are easy solutions how to treat food poisoning and how to protect our body from it. Most of the treatments are possible to be performed at home. However you should consult your doctor if symptoms of food poisoning are not disappearing within a week.

Contents

1. The first method: First aid
2. The second method: Homemade remedies
3. The third method: Prevention
4. The fourth method: How to treat fish poisoning
5. Video

The first method: First aid

It is quite embarrassing and horrifying to face such situation when you or your relative is feeling extremely sick after a meal in Chinese restaurant and you do not know how to help and it is a holiday so you cannot reach doctor even by phone. We should learn simplest rules of behavior in order to provide first needed help and support in case of food poisoning.

First steps in case of food poisoning

1. As soon as you realized that it is poisoning you should immediately perform gastric lavage to the struggling person. For this purpose you should use boiled water; weak mixture of permanganate or baking soda with water. Gastric lavage should be continued until the moment when the water which is coming will get clean and without any color.
2. Immediately after gastric lavage patient should consume 2-3 pills of charcoal every fifteen minutes during one hour. That means in total patient should consume 8-12 pills of charcoal within one hour. Pills should be consumed with proper amount of boiled water (not hot).
3. We should prevent dehydration as we are dealing with fluid loss (because of repeating vomiting and stools). For this purpose patient should drink plenty of fluids. It is highly recommended to drink boiled water, weak sweet tea, fruit drinks etc. Avoid carbonated beverages. Alcohol of course in this case is unacceptable.
4. During first day after the disaster and till the moment all symptoms will disappear we should provide complete comfort and rest to the patient. In case patient feels cold you should provide him with heaters and warm cover.
5. After food poisoning patient should avoid food during first day. Starting from second day food can be gradually introduced. You should start eating with rice soups.
6. Avoid following food for the first week after the disaster: spicy, pickled, salted and smoked. It is better to avoid this list of food until symptoms will disappear completely.

Usually symptoms are disappearing almost completely within one week. In case you experience additional symptoms and you are afraid to visit a doctor you should act smart and do not risk your health. Medical help the sooner the better helps in case of such diseases.

Strictly forbidden in case of food poisoning to take without a prescription

• Antibiotics.
• Sulfa drugs.
• Biologics.
• Antiemetic and antidiarrheal medicines.
• Alcohol and alcohol solutions.

In case you will end up in hospital there will be carried out further measures to eliminate toxins from the body. Doctors will fight the infection, dehydration and possible damage to the nervous system. In case treatment will be performed on time as soon as disease happened we can expect complete disappearance of all the consequences in 3-7 days.

Warning: Immediately visit doctor in case of mushroom poisoning; in case botulism is suspected and in case the patient is child or very old person. Also you should search for doctor’s help in case within 1-2 days vomiting is not stopping and diarrhea is bothering you 2 days in a row.

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The second method: Homemade remedies

Homemade folk remedies are usually preferred by older people. The reason of such choice is quite simple: older people are more experienced and they know for sure that medicine from pharmacy sometimes can cause more harm than help and they always prefer “granny’s recipes”.

Infusion of cinnamon

1. Put half teaspoon of cinnamon (cinnamon should be in powder) into boiled water and mix.
2. Let mixture to stay for fifteen minutes and filter it.
3. Drink it warm during the whole day.
4. Liquid should be consumed in small sips.
5. Total amount of cinnamon liquid which should be consumed as 1 and a half liters per day.

Cinnamon is known as a natural antispasmodic and natural sorbent. Cinnamon is known to be used against poisoning for more than one hundred years.

Roots, flowers and leaves of marshmallow (althea)

1. Roots of althea should be crushed (cut into small pieces) and poured with half cup of hot water.
2. Let them stay for 30 minutes.
3. Strain the infusion and add some honey (amount should be determined individually upon your taste).
4. Drink one tablespoon of roots infusion four times a day.
5. Flowers of althea together with leaves can be used for healing tea preparation.
6. Pour two tablespoon of leaves and flowers with two glasses of hot boiled water.
7. Let tea to stay for four hours. Althea should stay in water that long in order to get all the qualities we need.
8. Drink liquid as a tea three times a day (half cup each time).

Althea is known as an excellent tool to speed up the process of recovery from food poisoning. This is immediately giving us a tip that we can consume few homemade remedies at the same time and help our body to get healthy quicker.

Dill with honey against food poisoning

1. One teaspoon of dill (fennel) seeds pour with one and a half glass of boiled hot water.
2. Let seeds to stay in the hot water for few minutes.
3. Boil the water with seeds for 2 minutes.
4. Filter the water and dissolve in it one teaspoon of honey.
5. Consume this heeling remedy in the amount of one liter every day.

Dill (fennel) is helping our body to eliminate toxins as soon as possible. Additionally this remedy is helping to deal with vomiting. Honey is helping to keep in the body minerals which are usually lost during vomiting and diarrhea.

Lemon juice against food poisoning

1. Squeeze juice of three lemons.
2. Add water and sugar (sugar can be added according to your taste; you can actually use honey instead of sugar). Amount of water should be nearly the same as amount juice.
3. Drink the liquid all at once.
4. Lemon juice is known as a remedy which prevents creation of new bacteria.

This remedy is forbidden to be used for patients with gastritis; patients with high acidity of stomach and other gastrointestinal diseases. You should definitely avoid this remedy if you are forbidden to consume sour foods at all.

Warning: Well-known fact is that homemade remedies are working and even sometimes recommended by doctors to be used together with medicines. Ask your doctor which homemade remedies you can implement in your case.

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The third method: Prevention

Every person who at least once in life was struggling from this unpleasant result of toxic food knows that it is better to be careful and never face that unpleasant experience again. Sometimes we forget simple rules we should follow on the everyday basis to prevent this unpleasant disease. At least we can try to reduce risk to minimum.

Basic rules helping to prevent food poisoning

• Wash hands before each and every meal.
• Keep your kitchen and all cooking supplies clean.
• Store food properly. Raw meat and prepared meals should not be stored on one shelf.
• Be very careful when you are buying meet or fish at the market.
• Do not drink water from the tap.
• Pay attention to color, smell and taste of food you consume. First indicators of spoiled food are change of foods texture and appearance of mucus on its surface.
• Do not overthink and immediately throw away any products covered with mold, spoiled fruits and vegetables even if they have just tiny rotten spot. Throw away immediately swollen cans and packages with dairy products or juices.
• Check the date of production and duration of possible consuming of each food you are buying.
• Do not buy ready salads in the markets. Such salads usually contain products (mayonnaise) which were spoiled or date was very close to the last day of consuming.
• Wash fruits, vegetables, dishes, cutlery and hands before every meal and food preparation.
• Before breaking an egg wash it with soap and warm water.
• Regularly change sponges for washing dishes as they accumulate harmful bacteria.
• Buy separate cutting boards for different products. Greens, vegetables and fruits, cheeses and sausages should not be cut on the same board where you previously cut raw meat, fish and bread.
• Do not cook a lot at once. Food in the refrigerator should not be stored longer than three days.

Be very careful when you eat outside. It doesn’t mean you should stop eating out at all; it means that you should be very picky when it comes to place and food you are ordering. Try to avoid drinks with ice as sometimes even in good restaurants they use tap water for preparation of the ice cubes.

Warning: It is always better not to be embraced and ask about every product even at the market. Better spend extra five minutes asking than the whole week on the sick leave.

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The fourth method: How to treat fish poisoning

If after vising sushi bar you feel nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea you can assume that you were poisoned by food there. Typically people are poisoned by bacteria in sushi bars because of not respecting basic hygiene rules and improper storage of food. However some types of fish become toxic under certain conditions by itself. During spawning season liver and caviar of some fish cause severe poisoning. Pike, perch and beluga are among that fish.

Symptoms of fish poisoning

• Redness, itching and swelling of face.
• Burning feeling in the mouth.
• Headache.
• Nausea and diarrhea.

Such symptoms, however, can be caused by histamine which in big amount comes into our body when we consume fish. This type of allergic reaction usually disappears after 7-8 hours as soon as histamine stops acting. But for your safety it is recommended to visit doctor because it is impossible to exclude chance of development of real allergic reaction to fish components.

How to choose fish and not get poisoned

• Be very careful when choosing fish: never buy fish which you never tried before. Better buy something you know and you can define by appearance on its freshness.
• It is strictly forbidden to buy fish with swollen belly and dull eyes. Pay attention to the scales. Check if fish has some bold spots and never buy such.
• Fish should be stored in the fridge at precise temperature 1 degrees Cesium. Usually refrigerators have special department for fish.
• Do not unfreeze fish if you are not sure you will be cooking it. Unfrozen fish very quickly begins to release dangerous toxins.

Fish poisoning is type of food poisoning which is one of most serious types. In almost all cases it requires professional medical care. However before arrival of doctors you can help patient and perform urgent measures to avoid death.

First help in case of fish poisoning

• Force person to vomit. Help him and make sure he is vomiting a lot.
• Patient should drink glass of clear water.
• In case you have laxative you should give it to patient.
• Excellent remedy for fish poisoning is anisette. However usual alcohol can be used instead. Alcohol or anisette is used for rubbing hands and legs.
• In case patient cannot start vomiting you should help him to do that. Vomiting can be caused by permanganate dissolved in water.

Any symptoms of fish poisoning will obviously lead to long-term treatment. As a rule after cleansing the stomach many patients experience itchy rash. As soon as doctors will arrive you should name all and every treatment you performed to the patient and let them do their work.

Warning: In case you feel a bit better after treatment it doesn’t mean you should visit fish restaurant next day. After the obligatory medical treatment it is very effective to continue treatment of the consequences with a special diet. Such diet will consist of eating only fresh foods of natural origin.
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Video

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