Traveling allows you to explore other cultures, visit historical landmarks, and open up your own world to others. Unfortunately, traveling is not as simple as stepping off the plane and going on a sightseeing adventure. New continents and new countries bring about their own set of challenges for the foreign stomach. Put simply: What your body may be accustomed to in your home may be a disaster for the stomach of another traveler and vice versa.
Travelers’ Diarrhea, also called Travelers’ Sickness, is the most common form of illness experienced by those looking to see the world. Let’s discover the causes behind Travelers’ Diarrhea and how you can prevent it so that it doesn’t ruin your next trip.
The health concern among individuals with regard to the safety of their food is on a high. People nowadays are not only looking for the nutritious effects of the contents of their diet but also the positive health benefits that they can render to them. Also, the major issue in that quest for functional foods is whether the food to be taken is synthetic or natural. People have preformed apprehensions regarding the administration of synthetic food with beneficial health effects.
The phytochemicals although possess less nutritive value but can be quite beneficial from the aspect of providing protective and beneficial effects to the hosts affected with diseased conditions. However, they are not required by the humans for the maintenance of normal physiological activities. The basic background of their utility comes from the fact that the plants can protect themselves to a large extent from the attack of various pathogenic and other foreign agents through the production of certain chemical compounds. Although the characterization of the chemical compounds at present is paltry but the ones which have been characterized suggest that they can have applications even against human diseases. Accordingly, some of the phytochemicals and their natural sources have been known by now like isoflavones (soy), flavanoids (fruits) and lycopene (tomatoes). But the major problem in their usage is the inability of the human body to derive the essential factors from them through the necessary breakdown of the compounds. Here, comes the role of the probiotics which can provide better utilization of the phytochemical potentials for our body. 
The beneficial effects rendered by the probiotics are now beyond doubt and most of the people around the world believe in their effectiveness and efficacy. Many of us take probiotic supplements through dietary intake as food products. A large number of our traditional foods are based on the fermentative capability of these probiotic bacterial strains and our forefathers were also in the habit of taking fermented milk and other foods although with little knowledge about the probiotic bacteria. The beneficial strains helped them maintain good health away from frequent encounters with disease manifestations.
Lipid metabolism is an important aspect for the production of energy and the maintenance of health of human beings. Breakdown of lipids is intricately associated with the carbohydrate metabolism and oxidation of fatty acid. Initially the lipid is hydrolyzed into long chain fatty acids and glycerol within the cytoplasm. However, there are several factors that may influence the ability of the lipid metabolism activity of the human system. A deviation from the balanced breakdown of these ingredients of diet may result in various side effects and often chronic health disorders. Since, the probiotics has beneficial effects on the gut microflora thereby modulating metabolism, its role in mediating the desired end to the fat intake has been contemplated. 
A high proportion of the probiotic microbial population is microaerophilic (requires very little oxygen for their growth) or even anaerobic (grows in absence of oxygen). Oxygen at higher concentration can be detrimental for the growth and proliferation of microorganisms. Excess of oxygen in the system will result in the formation of reactive oxygen species or high energy containing free radicals. These reactive oxygen agents can damage the membrane system and other organelles, creating ionic imbalance thereby killing the cells. In order to protect them from the damaging effects of oxygen, many bacteria possess oxygen scavenging enzymes that can neutralize the toxic effects of oxygen. However, most of the probiotic bacteria due to their origin in low oxygen content environment lack the enzymes or the basic mechanism to retaliate to such conditions. As such, the viable count of the probiotics seems to be highly compromised under packaged condition or in food products like yoghurt when exposed to oxygen. Since, the viability of the probiotics is an important issue in order for it to act effectively, methods should be devised to make them fight the menace of oxygen toxicity. Work on both natural and artificial ways of inhibiting it is in progress. 
According to the definition of WHO, the beneficial microbial strains in order to be called probiotics should be ‘live’. Therefore, the viability of the probiotics is an important issue which needs to be addressed so that they can render their beneficial effects. However, a number of factors compromise the viability of probiotic lives within the food and other supplementation products besides those faced during the gastrointestinal passage. The potentially beneficial but relatively susceptible weaker strains are prone to severe damage during the harsh conditions faced while processing and curing as well as in food products. Efforts are being carried out to improve the viability of the probiotic strains. But in order to make the process really effective, one should be fully aware of the various agents that are capable of challenging the survival of the probiotics in packaged food products. The major thrust would not only be on reducing these adverse affects but also to make the strains more resistant to them. 
There has been a great rise in interest about probiotics and related products with the wide range of benefits that it can render. However, research suggests that a minimum colony forming unit (CFU) of the probiotic strains is needed in order to provide the desired beneficial traits. The poor survival of the bacteria as indicated by several reports is a major question to that effect. Several environmental factors like the oxygen toxicity (as most of the probiotic strains are microaerophilic in nature) challenges its existence during processing and storage. Also, the passage through the gastro-intestinal tract offers a variety of extreme conditions like low pH that reduces a significant proportion of the probiotic population. So, efforts are being carried out to develop and design effective modes of administration of the probiotics to the recipients in forms that are resistant to the different survival challenges and increase its overall viability. Microencapsulation is one of the latest technologies that can increase the survival rate of the probiotic bacteria. 
Many types of probiotic products with desired traits are produced throughout the world and delivered to the target recipients. With the classical view in mind, the bacteria need to be live to exert their probiotic effects. Indeed, it is the case in most of the situations. Also, the regulatory guidelines of WHO state that the probiotics need to be administered at some minimum CFU. Wouldn’t it be fantastic then if the probiotics could be quantified? With the advancement in scientific technology it is now quite a reality to quantify the probiotic strains. The dairy products besides containing the useful microflora might contain many undesired fungi, bacteria and viruses. The quantification methods thus employed should be specific enough to distinguish between the useful and undesired bacterial cells and their strains. Refinements in the traditional methods of bacterial cell quantification has brought about a revolution in this field and one can understand what they are consuming as also their relative amounts to maintain the proper probiotic usage guidelines.