The majority of us do not eat like we all need to. We really don’t give adequate consideration as to the food we cram into our bodies every day. Consequently, on more than one occasion in our lives we have thought of that we had food poisoning.  Which leaves us wondering… What must i do?? Actually, prior to the point where we can really go after the problem, we have to have a good understanding of exactly what we are dealing with.

In reality, food poisoning is just one form of gastroenteritis. It is routinely the result of eating and/or drinking something that contain some form of toxin or microbe.  It is relatively wide known that you may acquire food poisoning if you were to visit a hotel or a all-you-can eat buffet. Furthermore, wherever you eat food that has a reqular tendency to be undercooked or prepared in unsanitary conditions you increase your chances of picking up some form of food poisoning. Here are some of the most common types of Food Poisoning…

Bacterial Food Poisoning

• This becomes an issue when very small microbes, known as bacteria, contaminate the food via improper handling or poor cooking.  In fact, many types of food contain bacteria that are usually harmless because they are killed or rendered inactive by cooking the food to the proper temperatures.  Hence, if the food in not cooked the right way, then the bacteria that survived are ingested with the food and can lead to the symptoms that normally signify food poisoning.

Non-Bacterial Food Poisoning

• This is actually a reaction that your body makes to chemical (usually man-made) toxins that are present in the food.  Oftentimes, this occurs simply because the food you are served is not cleaned properly.  An examples is fertilizer and/or pesticides on fruits and vegetables, and if you ingest enough of these chemicals then you will get sick.  A lot of these problems can be avoided by thoroughly cleaning the fruits and/or vegetables before you eat them.

The food poisoning caused by bacteria has historically been more common in people.  As was mentioned before, not all bacteria the you come across is actually that harmful.    People take in large amounts of bacteria every day through the food that they east and even the water that they drink.  There are some types of bacteria that are actually harmful in very small quantities, but the most common bacteria requires very large doses in order to get someone sick.  Bacteria is introduced to the food in various stages of production, but it is most commonly picked up during the time where the food is actually being prepared for consumption.  This includes the food handling stage which might affect the amount of bacteria on your food if it occurs in relatively dirty conditions and/or if the person handling the food is sick and their “germs” onto the food.  This is more common than you think, and is the primary reason why there are signs in every restaurant bathroom, reminding employees to wash their hands.

The bacteria simply known as  Salmonella is probably the type of food poisoning that you are most familiar with.  And with good reason, as salmonela is the most common cause for bacterial induced food poisoning.  This type of bacteria usually originates is foods such as milk and eggs, and because these are common ingredients for the food we eat, Salmonela is most likely to appear.  If you were to ingest some salmonella, then you would more than likely experience some discomfort as the bacteria can lead to nausea, diarrhea, and fever.  The symptoms may be more extreme if you ingest large quantities on Salmonella, or if your body has difficulty fighting off this new invader.

Another type of food poisoning that you may be familiar with by this point is botulism.  This type of bacteria, although less common than salmonella, can be a threat to just about anyone who eats the types of food that they are usually associated with.  A few of the most common foods are pickles, canned fish, etc, and if you ingest enough of it to cause food poisoning the symptoms that follow my include numbness, weakness in  any of your joints, and sudden bouts with double vision.

In general, food poisoning, although extremely uncomfortable, is rarely life threatening.  The key is to try and take in as many liquids as possible (to prevent dehydration and too flush out your system much quicker) and watch the progression of the illness.  After a couple days and the symptoms appear to be getting worse instead of better, then it would be wise to see your doctor or go to the emergency room as soon as possible.  There may be a more serious condition that is preventing your body from fighting of the food poisoning on its own.