Food poisoning is a common foodborne illness. A person gets food poisoning as a result of consuming contaminated food or drinks. Anyone can get food poisoning, and it is estimated that about 600 million people around the world tend to fall ill from food poisoning every year. The most common symptoms of food poisoning include diarrhoea, nausea, and vomiting. In most cases, it is mild and short-lived that resolves quickly in a day or two. However, in some cases, severe symptoms may arise that need urgent immediate help. Homoeopathic medicine for food poisoning helps control the symptoms of food poisoning and speed up the recovery process.
Food Poisoning: Symptoms
The symptoms of food poisoning can appear within hours of eating contaminated food, or they may develop after a few days or weeks. The incubation period of the infectious agents varies, which decides when the symptoms will appear (following the consumption of contaminated food). The typical symptoms of food poisoning include vomiting, nausea, diarrhoea (loose stool), abdominal cramps, mild fever, and weakness.
How Does Food Get Contaminated?
Food can become contaminated by any of the following means:
- Washing fruits or vegetables with water contaminated by human sewage.
- Not cooking food thoroughly.
- Not heating the previously prepared food enough.
- Improper storing of food.
- Contamination of meat and poultry during slaughter.
- Handling of food by a person having an infectious disease without thorough washing of the hands.
- Transfer infectious agents to food by using kitchen tools like a knife, cutting board or any utensil that is already contaminated.
Common foods that can cause food poisoning include:
- Raw or undercooked meat and poultry
- Fish and shellfish
- Unpasteurized milk
- Ice cream
- Leafy green like spinach, cabbage, and lettuce
- Cheese
- Deli meat
- Fruits such as melons, berries
- Raw sprouts
Food Poisoning: Causes
The main cause of food poisoning is the consumption of food or drinks that have been contaminated by infectious agents. The infectious agents can be bacterial, parasitic or viral. Among them, food poisoning from bacterial agents is the most common.
Homoeopathic remedies for food poisoning
Here are some homoeopathic remedies to consider for food poisoning or similar gastrointestinal complaints.
Arsenicum: Bad effects of spoiled fish, meat and bad water. Burning pain in the abdomen, the person feels chilly, restless, anxious, and thirsty for sips of water. Vomiting and diarrhoea at the same time. Better for warmth and warm drinks, worse for cold drinks and sight or smell of food.
Lycopodium: Bad effects on shellfish especially oysters.
Pulsatilla: Stomach disorders from eating cakes, rich foods, ice cream, spoiled meats and rotten fish.
Nux Vomica: Bad effects of overindulgence in food and wine, fatty foods, spicy foods and alcohol. Symptoms of cramps, hangovers, wind, pressure, and vomiting which do not relieve.
Urtica Urens: Ailments from eating shellfish with an allergic skin reaction.
China: This is an excellent remedy to help promote recovery after fluid loss which has arisen because of symptoms such as persistent sweating, vomiting, and diarrhoea causing exhaustion and dehydration.
Rehydration is essential to replace the enormous amounts of fluids lost during food poisoning.
NB: Food poisoning can be potentially life-threatening so seek medical assistance if symptoms still persist after 24 hours or you experience continued abdominal pain, blood in the stools, difficulty focusing, double vision, convulsion or paralysis and severe dehydration.
A well-selected homoeopathic remedy can help speed up the recovery process aiding the body in ejecting the poisons as well as helping with the recuperation of exhaustion and rehydration.
