Summertime Travel Kits :: Health and Disease

Summertime Travel Kits

Summer holidays are finally here again! Whether you’re planning to lounge on the decks of an Alaskan cruise ship or hike the West Coast trail, you’re going to need a basic travel kit.

Selecting natural-source items is better for you and the environment.

Here’s a short list of some of the most popular products your local health store offers to help make your trip a safer, healthier, and more enjoyable one.

Sun Protection Habits

Nothing says “ouch” like a sunburn! To prevent needless pain and skin damage, start by wearing a wide-brim hat that shades your face. Reduce body exposure by wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and light-coloured pants. Slip on your fitted sunglasses that provide full-spectrum sun protection. And use sunscreen.

Choose your level of protection (SPF) based upon your exposure tolerance. Children’s sunscreen needs are at a maximum SPF level due to the sensitivity of their skin. A good rule of thumb when choosing sunscreen is to choose unscented products that are formulated with natural sun blocking ingredients such as the mineral compounds titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.

Soothing, moisturizing, and protective ingredients including aloe vera, evening primrose, green tea, and other antioxidants are welcome additions, but avoid essential oils that can intensify the effects of the sun on your skin.

Tackle Tummy Troubles

Travellers know that a change in food and water can lead to tummy troubles, while air and water travel can cause motion sickness. Gas and bloating, diarrhea, constipation, indigestion, and nausea can make a trip memorable–for all the wrong reasons.

Make sure your travel kit includes ginger capsules or tea bags to settle your sensitive tummy and allay motion sickness. Prior to going to a foreign country, it is wise to build up the healthy bacteria in your intestinal tract by taking a regular dose of acidophilus several weeks in advance of your departure. While travelling, keep taking your acidophilus to decrease your risk of gastrointestinal upset. To combat parasites, keep grapefruit seed extract and oregano oil on hand.

Sleep Well

Changing time zones and sleeping away from your own cozy bed can make it hard to get a good night’s sleep when you travel. Natural sleeping aids are always important to have on hand.

Many people marvel at the sleep-inducing effects of herbal remedies based on valerian root extract. Melatonin is an effective solution for adults with jet lag. Children respond especially well to homeopathic and flower essence sleep remedies. Chewable calcium and magnesium tablets taken at bedtime not only help build strong bones, but they can also soothe and relax tired muscles and nerves enough to promote a deeper sleep.

Buzz Off

Last, but not least, pack a nonaerosol container of nontoxic insect repellant. Citronella-based products are a tried and true natural way to keep mosquitoes and flies at bay.

Wise shoppers always read labels. For an up-to-date list of ingredients used in cosmetics, body care products, and sunscreens go to safecosmetics.org.

Source: alive #310, August 2008

Sleeping Well Naturally
Nothing is more effective than a good night's sleep to restore body and soul. The trouble for many is that sound, uninterrupted sleep remains an elusive dream.

Homeopathy's Top 10 for Travellers
Checking in at the airport seems to take forever. Taking a train or bus might take even longer. You're irritated, frustrated and already tired. Homeopathic remedies offer an excellent way to help your travel blue.

Sleep Matters
If you don't snooze, you lose. The alarm buzzes. A hand emerges from a heap of blankets to slap blindly at the sound-again and again. Finally, you rouse yourself to squint at the dial. With a groan, you realize you've slept in for the second time this week. What's worse, you're still tired.

Children's Health: Sleeping Soundly
Are you feeling frustrated with your efforts to settle your children at night? Is your child waking more frequently? Sleeping difficulties in children are one of the most common concerns raised by parents.

Safe Sun Tanning
Walk into a room in shorts and a T-shirt showing off a glowing tan and chances are someone will say, "Hey, you look great! Getting a tan is a preoccupation for North Americans.

Taking the Bite out of Mosquitoes
Last summer, when we camping near Shuswap Lake, my family and I were invited for dinner in my cousin Ron's motor home parked at a nearby campsite.

Travel Tips
Most of us suffer jet lag on long-haul flights, even experienced flight professional.

Dangerous Insects, Safe Repellents
"When insects take over the world, quips the comic Bill Vaughan, "we hope they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics.

Sunscreen on Your Plate
There are ways to protect your skin without spending all of your time hiding in your air-conditioned house. Nothing says "alive to me quite like the kiss of the warm sunshine on my winter-weary skin.

Forever Young
All of us want to have longer and healthier lives, and while some of us are dealt a better hand than others in life's genetic lottery, there are many ways we can maximize the potential we are born with.

Sleep Revived
For millions of sleep-deprived Canadians, a restful eight hours of shut-eye has become a rare luxury. Sleep is the ultimate rejuvenation elixi.

Smart Fun in the Sun
All winter long you've waited for the sun, and here it is-but wait-aren't you supposed to avoid the sun? Instead of avoiding our largest source of energy, follow these friendly tips to help you enjoy this summer outside!

Are You a Tanner Kid?
Do you remember your first bad sunburn? I do. We spent a day on the beach in the Florida sun after a friend's mom doused my fair skin in baby oil, the same way she did her own olive-skinned daughters. They were tanned; I was red, blistered, and very unhappy. That early sunburn counts, as it turns out.

The Joy of Slumber
Do you think that sleep is a ho-hum activity? Do you squeak by on four hours of nightly rest, bouncing through your day wired on grandé Americanos? You're certainly not alone, but you're probably not functioning at your best, either.

Assessing Sleep Problems
Before you worry too much about the quality or quantity of your sleep, determine if you really have a problem! If you feel refreshed when you wake up, you have probably had enough sleep. Not everyone requires eight hours sleep. Some people require more.

Help for Travellers

Essential Oils for Travel
I can't go anywhere without essential oils! Even driving to work, 40 km down the South Klondike and Alaska Highway to Whitehorse, I have essential oils going in my handy plug-in car diffuser.

Sunscreen Savvy
What exactly is wrong with chemical sun protection products? They contain harmful chemicals and are made to be absorbed into the skin. Once these chemicals are absorbed, they transfer easily to other parts of the body.

Emergency Remedies for Sun Holidays
On her layover in Vancouver en route to Hawaii, my fair-skinned friend Jane, who lives on the Prairies and is used to a weaker sun, wanted to pick up some homeopathic remedies for her trip, in case she suffered overexposure to the sun. Here is what Jane took with her.

Fake-Don't Bake
We're all aware that baking in the sun can cause cancer and premature aging of skin. Tanning beds are no better. The safe answer for your lily-whites is to use a self-tanner. Sunless tanning products are available everywhere, including natural health stores.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream
In our fast-paced world, sleep has become a hot commodity. The number of adults who do not achieve seven hours of sleep per night has more than doubled since 1960. The cost of insomnia in North America, via lost productivity and accidents, is estimated to be over $100 billion per year.

Cosmetics Report Not Pretty

Apple Cheeks

Tips for a Million Dollar Smile

Fake 'n Bakes Unsafe

Make Your Own Lip Balm

After-sun Bronzing Oil

Fall/Winter Sun Advice

Good Day, Sunshine!
Have you been playing peek-a-boo with the sun? Reports of a disappearing ozone layer and increasing incidences of skin cancer conflict with concerns about vitamin D deficiencies, making the news on sun exposure completely confusing. What do you really need to know to be safe and happy in the summer sun?

Take to the Air
Do you remember when travelling by air was glamorous and sophisticated? The increase in availability of low-cost flights has made flying accessible to many, but the glamour is a faded memory for all but the elite who can afford to travel first class.

Sleepless in Seattle...or Anywhere Else?
Are you chronically tired? Are you having trouble getting through the day? The problem may be that you're sleep-deprived.

Antidepressants Linked to Sleep Disorders
We know that antidepressants can lift a person's mood, but some can also increase sleep disorders. Recent research from the Mayo Clinic suggests that people taking antidepressants may be affected by a sleep disorder that causes them to act out unpleasant and sometimes violent dreams.

Sun-Kissed Skin
The sun can be your skin's worst enemy. It can encourage premature aging and cause skin cancer, collectively the most common form of cancer in Canada. When it comes to sun exposure, the bottom line is this: protect yourself or pay the price.

Pillow Talk
Tired of waking up stiff and stuffy? Take a closer look at your pillow. If your nightly repose is disturbed by dust mites, synthetic allergens, or neck and back pain, a natural pillow may help in your quest for tranquil rest.

Homeopathic Remedies For Travel
A vacation getaway may be the fun-filled stress reliever you need this summer. But for those who don’t travel well, anxiety may override the holiday excitement.

Common Sun Sense
Somewhere between tanning with pure baby oil and slathering on the SPF 50+, appreciating sunshine got pretty complicated. With all the conflicting reports on sun benefits and risks and sunscreen confusion, what’s a sun worshipper to do?

Buzz Off
It’s the peak of camping season, and outdoor adventurers know that along with the pleasures of picnicking beside pristine lakes and sleeping under starry skies come swarms of blood-sucking insects.