For most of us, “food poisoning” is a term that requires no further explanation. This is because we already know intimately what it is and just how bad it feels. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that one out of every six people will get sick with food poisoning. But even worse than the 48 million or so who get food poisoning each year, nearly 130,000 land in the emergency room and about 3,000 of those don’t make it out again.

Because food poisoning is so common and yet so many myths persist about what causes food poisoning, how to ease symptoms and what promotes the fastest healing, we have compiled a comprehensive guide to help you recognize warning signs and move quickly to feel better.

Food Poisoning Symptoms, Signs and Remedies

Food Poisoning Causes

According to Healthline and the CDC, number of bacteria, parasites and viruses can cause food poisoning in humans. Bacteria is the most common cause of food poisoning.

What is less well recognized is that so-called “food” poisoning can also be called by drinking contaminated water. Technically, this means food poisoning should instead be called “food and water poisoning.”

• Examples of bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, Campylobacter, C. botulinum, Listeria, Shigella, Bacillus cereus.

• Examples of parasites: Toxoplasma gondii, Giardia, Entamoeba histolytica, cryptosporidium.

• Examples of viruses: Sapovirus, Rotavirus, Norovirus, Astrovirus, Hepatitis A.

How Food Poisoning Occurs

Food poisoning is incredibly easy to contract. All it takes is one sip of a contaminated beverage or one bite of contaminated food, which is why food poisoning is so common in virtually every part of the world today.

In fact, it doesn’t even take that much – you can simply handle contaminated food or liquids during preparation and that can transfer the germs the next time you rub your eyes, blow your nose or wipe your mouth.

Most Implicated Foods in Food Poisoning Cases

According to the CDC, certain foods are more likely to be carriers of bacteria, parasites and/or viruses known to cause food poisoning with examples as follows:

• Raw animal-based foods: ceviche, eggs, seafood and shellfish, unpasteurized dairy, uncooked meats.

• Raw plant-based foods: fruits and vegetables grown in contaminated soils or washed in unfiltered water, unpasteurized fruit juices.

• Raw doughs and foods: cookie dough, pie crust, home-made ice cream.

• Unfiltered water, water-based beverages such as iced tea/coffee and ice cubes.

Food Poisoning Warning Signs & Symptoms

The most commonly reported warning sign that food poisoning has occurred is diarrhea. This list represents those symptoms that most frequently co-occur with diarrhea:

• Stool that contains mucus or blood.

• Vomiting.

• Loose stools (in the latter stages).

• Dehydration.

• Weakness.

• Stomach cramping.

• Fever.

• Body aches and pains.

• Feeling dizzy, light-headed or faint.

• Headache.

• Loss of appetite.

In most cases, symptoms can begin to resolve in as little as a day or two. But in certain cases, symptoms may worsen, indicating a more severe case of food poisoning. This list represents worsening symptoms that may require further medical attention:

• Diarrhea that lasts longer than 72 hours.

• Fever in excess of 101°F (38.33°C).

• Blurred vision.

• Difficulty with speech.

• Dehydration (no or very little urination).

• Vomiting up water and fluids.

How to Avoid Food & Water Poisoning

Every year, millions of well-intentioned people, both at home and while traveling, unwittingly contract the germs that cause food poisoning. Unfortunately, there is no single thing you can do to completely eliminate the risk of coming down with food poisoning.

But these prevention tips from the Mayo Clinic can really help reduce the risk:

• Wash your hands thoroughly before eating.

• Keep your utensils, flatware, glasses and food preparation areas clean and sanitized.

• Never store raw and cooked foods near one another.

• Follow FoodSafety.gov’s guidelines for minimum safe cooking temperatures.

• Make sure perishable foods are frozen or refrigerated at once.

• Make sure to defrost frozen perishables in the refrigerator rather than out on the counter in open air.

• If you are not sure the food is still safe to eat, don’t eat it!

• If you do come down with food poisoning, practice safe hygiene to avoid passing the germs on to your loved ones.

Remedies for Food Poisoning

For most of us, once a case of food poisoning begins, there is just one thing on our minds: how to get it to stop as quickly as possible.

Here is what WebMD recommends for effective at-home treatment of food poisoning:

• Continue drinking plenty of water to avoid dehydration and flush the germs out of your system faster.

• Drink some rehydration/sports fluids after the first 24 hours.

• Eat only liquid nourishment (broth, tea, juice) until vomiting ceases.

• Eat only bland solid foods that can counteract diarrhea such as crackers, bananas, bread, gelatin and rice.

• Avoid caffeine, carbonation, sugar, alcohol, nicotine, greasy or fried foods, spicy foods.

• Rest as much as possible so your body can spend its available energy on healing.

• Ask your doctor before taking any anti-vomiting or anti-diarrhea medication, since some over-the-counter remedies may make your symptoms worse instead of better.

• If you have a fever, headache or body aches, you can take over-the-counter pain relievers to ease these symptoms so long as your doctor is in agreement.

• If necessary and your doctor agrees, you can make yourself vomit (see next section here) to expel the germs and recover more quickly from food poisoning.

Make Yourself Vomit: A How-To Guide

There is a reason your body reacts to the presence of bacteria, parasites, viruses and other germs that can cause food poisoning by throwing up. This is one of nature’s most effective defenses to get the germs out of your body as fast as possible.

But if you are like most people, you probably don’t know how to make vomiting happen on command when you need it most. Sometimes the body resists. Sometimes the mind resists as well – after all, the sensation of throwing up isn’t the most pleasant.

This how-to guide can teach you how to make yourself throw up safely if you find that you need to do so to recover from food poisoning. (Just be sure to check with your doctor before you do this if you have any pre-existing health or gastrointestinal issues.)

In addition to following any specific recommendations given by your doctor, be sure to follow these self-care tips to help your body recover quickly after induced vomiting:

• Gargle with pure water. This will rinse the bad taste and most of the corrosive stomach acids out of your mouth.

• Wait half an hour to brush. Let one-half hour go by before you brush to avoid weakening your tooth enamel, which will have become less hard due to contact with stomach acids.

• Sip water slowly. You will need to rehydrate your body after vomiting, since this will flush most of your ready water supplies out of your body along with the germs. But sip slowly or you may trigger another round of vomiting.

• Drink some herbal warm tea. Tea is not only comforting but can also ease nausea and body aches. Try ginger, chamomile, citrus and fennel.

• Eat small amounts of bland foods. Taking a bite of yogurt, sipping some warm soup broth or enjoying some gelatin will get you started back to eating without unnecessarily triggering your gag reflex.

• Rest, rest, rest. Finally, your body needs rest more than anything else (except water). The more you can rest, sleep and relax, the faster your body is likely to recover from food poisoning.

We hope you enjoyed this guide for understanding how to prevent or treat food poisoning. Most of all, we hope you will never have to use it, but that if you do, you will find fast relief using the methods outlined here!

We love to hear from you, so if you have found another remedy that works to help ease symptoms of food poisoning, you have a good tip to help travelers avoid getting sick or you just want to share your own personal story of recovering from food poisoning, please post your thoughts here in the comments section. Thanks for reading and stay well!