Ep. 118: Why Travel Makes You Constipated (and Why It Sometimes You Feel Better)

Think about the last trip you took. Were you actually there for it, or were you running a quiet background math equation the whole time, tracking what you ate and wondering if you'd be too bloated for dinner?

For a lot of people with gut issues, travel is something to survive rather than enjoy. But here's what's interesting: some of the women Dr. Heather works with who struggle the most at home actually feel better on vacation. They eat foods they normally avoid, skip their usual protocol, and come back more regular and less bloated than they've felt in months.

In this episode, Heather breaks down the actual physiology behind both experiences, why travel throws your gut off and why it sometimes fixes it, and gives you a practical plan for your next trip so you can be present instead of managing symptoms the whole time.

Resources Mentioned

• Download Dr. Heather's free mineral guide for travel-friendly electrolyte support
• Travel" resources on the blog for more tips and resources

Want to make sure you are on the list for the Christmas in July HTMA Bundle sale? 

🎄 On July 25th we are opening 30 spots in our HTMA Bundle (first 10 get $50 off, next 20 get $30 off!) 

Click Here 

Connect + Next Steps

Want daily education, stories, and gut-friendly support?
Follow Dr. Heather on Instagram

Ready for personalized 1:1 support and a clear plan?
Apply for gutTogether®

Want a chance to win a free HTMA Bundle? Leave a rating & review and email it to happygut@drheatherfinley.co with [PODCAST REVIEW] in the subject line! We choose a new winner every month! 

Transcript

Dr. Heather Finley 0:03

Welcome to the Love Your Gut Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Heather Finley, registered dietitian and gut health specialist. I understand the frustration of dealing with GI issues because I've been there and I spent over two decades searching for answers for my own gut issues of constipation, bloating, and stomach pain. I've dedicated my life to understanding and solving my own gut issues. And now I'm here to guide you. On this podcast, I'll help you identify the true root causes of your discomfort. So you can finally ditch your symptoms for good. My goal is to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need so that you can love your gut and it will love you right back. So if you're ready to learn a lot, gain a deeper understanding of your gut and find lasting relief. You are in the right place. Welcome to the love your gut podcast.

0:56

I want to start by asking you something. Think about the last trip that you took. Were you actually there for it? Like, actually there? Or were you half present running a quiet background math equation program the whole time, tracking what you ate, wondering why you hadn't gone to the bathroom yet, trying to figure out whether you could wear that outfit or if you'd be too bloated by dinner For a lot of people with gut issues, travel is something that they endure rather than enjoy. You might just pack your supplements, your safe foods, your backup plan, and get through it, but you don't ever fully enjoy it, and you're missing out on so much of your life because of these gut symptoms. You're physically there, but mentally you're not there. And I share this because I know that feeling, and I also know that it doesn't have to be that way. So here is something that surprises people. Some of the women that I work with who struggle the most at home actually feel better on vacation. They eat foods they normally avoid, they don't follow a protocol, and they come back more regular, less bloated, and more themselves than they have felt in months, and they have no idea why. So whether you are on one end of the spectrum where a vacation you dread, or you feel better on vacation, both of these experiences make complete sense once you understand what is actually going on in the body when you travel. And once you understand it, you can stop bracing for the worst and start actually showing up for your own life. And that is what today's episode is about. So before we get to tips, I want to get to the why, because when you understand what's going on, the strategies stop feeling like a checklist and start feeling like something that you actually want to do. So number one, your gut runs on a clock. This is the piece that most people don't understand. Your digestive tract actually has its own circadian rhythm. The enteric nervous system, roughly 500 million nerve cells that line your gut, they are synced to your daily schedule. So your gut knows when you usually wake up, when you usually eat, when motility, that muscular movement that pushes food through your digestive tract, is supposed to kick in. Your gut is incredibly routine dependent, so when you cross time zones, you eat at different hours, or you throw your whole schedule off for a few days, that internal clock can get confused. This doesn't mean that you're going to have symptoms, but digestive enzyme production shifts, your motility might be different, your bowel movement that normally happens at 7:00 AM, your body is still waiting for the cue that never came. This is the single biggest reason that people get constipated when they travel, and almost nobody talks about it. A few other things that are in the background is dehydration hits harder than most people realize airplane cabin air hovers around 10 to 20% humidity, so this is drier than most deserts. So the colon pulls water from your stool to compensate. So less water in, harder stool out, it compounds quickly. So also maybe sitting for hours, whether you're in the car, on a plane, your body needs movement to keep things moving. So whether it's a long flight or a road trip, that can work against it. And then there's also the stress response. So even just the excitement of travel activates the nervous system in a way that could impact your digestion. So blood flow can be moved away from the gut, enzyme production can drop. People who run anxious around travel in particular, can start having symptoms before the plane even takes off. So none of this is that your body is failing or broken. It's just your body responding how it is designed to respond So I wanna talk about the part that nobody talks about and why some people feel better on vacation, because it's so interesting and also instructive. For a meaningful number of people with GI issues, vacation becomes an accidental healing experiment. You might not plan it that way, but you just feel better and you don't know why. So let's talk about why. Your nervous system gets to exhale. When you truly disconnect from work, obligations, the mental load, your parasympathetic nervous system, that rest and digest branch, finally gets to run the show. So your digestive enzyme production improves, your motility can normalize, your body is not bracing itself for the worst. And so for someone whose gut has been operating under chronic low-grade stress, vacation can feel like a system reset. So this is not a secondary thing. The gut-brain axis is real, and the nervous system is part of everybody's picture. So stress is not a trigger for some people, but it is a driver for most. Also, another thing to note is maybe you've stopped restricting on vacation. A lot of people with gut issues are living on carefully controlled elimination diets. You might have cut out gluten and dairy or FODMAPs, whatever your last protocol told you to avoid. And then on vacation, you eat the bread, you have the gelato, and then nothing bad happens. And this is why this is so important. Food reactions are not always about the food. When your nervous system is dysregulated and your gut is in a hyperreactive state, things that would normally be tolerated aren't. So when we calm the system down, that threshold can shift. So this doesn't mean foods were never a problem. It means that the body's ability to handle the food changes based on your overall state. So if you're the person that comes home from vacation thinking, "I ate everything and was fine," what does that mean? It means that your nervous system was calmer than usual, and it's worth paying attention to your nervous system. Another thing that I'll add is that it could mean that you maybe are undereating when you're at home. If you're eating more on vacation and you feel better, perhaps you need to eat more on a day-to-day basis. Maybe you're undereating carbohydrates and your body doesn't have energy. So that can be a part of it as well. Another thing about vacation is you might be moving more than you think. So if you're walking around, it's very different than sitting at a desk. Movement is one of the most underrated tools for motility and transit time, especially if you're outside. This is gonna help to regulate that circadian rhythm. This is why that whole European vacation effect exists. So the takeaway here is if you feel better on vacation, that is not a mystery. It is a message from your body that your nervous system, possibly there's a food component, there is a movement component, a circadian rhythm component, and it shows you maybe what you need to bring into your day-to-day so that your gut always feels like it's on vacation. So here's the reframe that I want you to go into on every trip is your gut doesn't need to function identically on vacation to how it functions at home. Your needs might shift when you travel, your hydration needs, your movement needs, your nervous system needs, and just recognizing that is where it's really important. So we're not necessarily trying to keep everything the same when we're on vacation. You might have to learn what needs to be different about traveling versus when you're at home. You're learning to read what your body needs in a new context, and that's a completely different relationship with your gut than just, like, white-knuckling it through every trip and just hoping that nothing goes wrong. So I wanna give you a few tips to help you on your next trip and help you to plan out how you can be successful. Number one, try to anchor your timing and meals as much as you can. So eat meals close to local mealtimes from day one. This is the fastest way to help your gut recalibrate to a new time zone. You don't have to be rigid about it, but just have these anchor points for eating to help reset your motility. Number two, hydrate before you feel thirsty, and add minerals. If you don't have my mineral guide, it's in the show notes. Download it. There's lots of travel minerals that you can bring with you, especially on a plane or on a road trip. Plain water is not enough. If you are in the dr- a dry environment or a airplane or summer heat, you need minerals and electrolytes. So this will help your body to actually absorb the fluid. This is one of the simplest and highest impact things that you can do before you travel. Number three is start magnesium early if constipation is your pattern. So don't wait until you're already constipated. Magnesium glycinate or citrate, whatever type you use, can give your gut just a little head start. So maybe like a day or two before, slowly start adding it in until you're working up to a full dose on the day that you're traveling. This will help support your motility, your nervous system state, and both of those things can be helpful. Next would be give yourself permission to move differently and not necessarily less. So you don't have to do your normal workout routine. Maybe just a 20-minute walk in the morning does more for your gut than you realize, more than any supplement could. So if you're in a city, you're probably already moving a lot but if you're at a beach, maybe just get up every hour and take a couple steps. Walk in the morning on the beach. Something to get a little movement in. Another thing would be pack one thing that makes your nervous system feel safe. So this sounds really simple, but it's underrated. Maybe it's a sound machine or a specific tea or your journal or whatever. Your nervous system responds to things that are familiar. So if you just anchor habits of "Hey, we're okay, even if we're in an unfamiliar environment," will help calm your nervous system and mean a more functional gut. Next up is the dreaded traveler's diarrhea tip. So if you get traveler's diarrhea, don't panic. This is your immune system meeting new microbial exposure. So number one, hydrate. Number two, consider bringing a probiotic with you, like Saccharomyces boulardii. It has very good evidence for prevention and treatment of traveler's diarrhea. And then obviously seek medical care if you need to. But if you start taking this prior and during your trip, you will hopefully prevent any kind of traveler's diarrhea. I have lots of different lists and resources on my blog. So if you just go to the blog and you search travel, you will find some tips and tricks there. But I wanna leave you with this. Somewhere along the way, a lot of people with chronic gut issues start building their life around their symptoms. So maybe you're picking the restaurant with the safest menu, or you're booking the hotel room closest to the bathroom. You're saying no to a trip, or you go and you're just bracing yourself the entire time, and your world just gets smaller and smaller and smaller. That is not what your life is supposed to look like. Your gut reacting on a trip is not a character flaw. It's not a life sentence. It's just your body responding to change. And now that you know what those changes are and what to do about them, that's different, and you know what to do about it. So if you're the person that feels better on vacation, I actually want you to really sit with that because that's what your body is showing you on what it needs to feel good. Not saying that you can be on vacation 24/7, but like I said earlier, how can you bring some of that into your day-to-day? It's not a fluke. It's proof that healing is possible, not in just some kind of someday theory, and actually possible for you. So whether you are on one side of the coin or another, you deserve to be present on your trips, not managing, not surviving, and actually there in the moment, enjoying the meals, enjoying the place that you're visiting. That is what you are working towards, and I hope that some of these tips help you on your next upcoming summer travel, and I'll see you on the next episode of the Love Your Gut podcast.