Naturalpath

A meal in the outdoors is something special. Even ordinary fare can taste sublime at day's end in a natural setting.

But nothing will ruin your magical, great outdoor experience quicker than food poisoning. Avoid this summer tragedy by following a few simple food safety camping tips and principles.

Summertime camping brings a heightened risk of food poisoning not only because bacteria grow fastest in warm, humid weather, but also because when we camp, picnic or barbeque we abandon safe kitchen routines. So adopt a new food safety camping routine.

Somehow after the lovely family BBQ we had on Memorial Day I got terribly sick from what I suspect was food poisoning. The nausea was horrid, but later, in addition to severe intestinal cramping, I developed such severe shoulder pain that I was considering going to the local ER -- baffled by the strange combination of symptoms. 

A friend stopped by and told me first to try large doses of probiotics (acidophilus, etc.) in juice.   Though he's not a doctor, he mentioned this had worked for him before in a case of severe food poisoning.  He said he had learned that the shoulder is on the gut meridian in Chinese medicine and my severe shoulder pain could be caused by a sudden build-up of lactic acid.  So, rather than spend hours in the ER, I thought I'd give his advice a try since it probably would do no harm.  True to his word, two hours and four large doses of probiotics later, I felt near perfect again. Unbelievable. Had to share.