Different causes of food poisoning result in different symptoms. There is no fixed set of symptoms that can define the illness. Symptoms usually occur within hours of consuming contaminated food, but sometimes can even take days to manifest.
This can lead to misdiagnosis, especially because you may not be able to identify the offending foodstuff.

The typical symptoms of food poisoning are:
• Nausea
• Stomach cramps
• Diarrhea
• Fever

~ In severe cases, there might be blood in the stools and dehydration as a result of fluid loss.
~ Some exceptions like botulism (an acute paralytic disease caused by the neurotoxin, botulin, especially in food), might be present with nerve symptoms, like weakness and difficulty swallowing rather than digestive system problems.

Generally, symptoms resolve by themselves without any specific treatment, except in severe cases.
Keep yourself hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids. Watch out for warning signs.

Food poisoning often needs no hospitalisation. But do seek medical attention if you have one or more of the following:

• High fever
• Blood in the stools
• Prolonged vomitting (which can eventually cause dehydration)
• Signs of dehydration, including a decrease in urination, a dry mouth and throat, and dizziness
• Darrhoea that lasts more than three days

Your doctor will narrow down the diagnosis by asking you what you ate. And if others who ate the same food suffered from the same symptoms.

Sometimes, food allergies and infections can mimic the symptoms of food poisoning. In some cases, stool samples might be taken to detect the organism that caused the disease.

Once the diagnosis is confirmed, mild illnesses can be treated by increasing fluid intake, either orally or intravenously.

Bismuth subsalicylate preparations can decrease the severity of the diarrhoea.
However, avoid taking anti-diarrhoeal medications if there is high fever or blood is present in the stools because they can worsen the illness.

Do not be surprised if you are not prescribed antibiotics. Most cases are caused by viruses and will improve in two or three days.

Antibiotics do not work on viruses anyway. Mild bacterial infections too do not merit antibiotic therapy.

Complications include kidney damage due to dehydration. This is extremely rare in cases that are picked up early.

If this occurs, dialysis might be needed until the kidneys can function normally again.

In the case of food poisoning, prevention is certainly better than cure. Here is the list how one can prevent food poisoning:

i. Always wash your hands before touching food.
Always wash your hands after using the restroom, changing diapers or handling pets as well as after handling raw meat, poultry, seafood or eggs.
ii. Prevent cross-contamination via cutting boards, knives, sponges and countertops by keeping these clean and dry.
Also make sure you clean surfaces thoroughly before preparing food on them.
iii. Wash all produce well before cooking.
Rinse fruits and vegetables in running water to remove dirt and grime. Never defrost food at room temperature. Use the refrigerator, running water or the microwave oven.
iv. Cook food to the right temperature to ensure that illness-causing bacteria are killed.
Put cooked meat on a clean platter rather than back on one that held the raw meat.
v. Cook eggs till the yolk is firm.
You have another reason to do this: avidin, a component in raw eggs can also prevent the absorption of biotin, an important B Vitamin.
vi. Refrigerate leftovers promptly.
Avoid letting prepared food stand at room temperature for more than two hours.
vii. Do not pack your refrigerator.
Cool air must circulate within to keep the temperature right and your food safe.
viii. Avoid cooking for others if you have a diarrhoeal illness.
ix. Packaged foods often have expiration dates. Check them before you eat something.
x. While eating out, make sure the food is hot.
As far as possible, avoid eating foods that have not been freshly prepared.
xi. Look at what you are eating and smell it! Your sense of smell might not be the best in the animal kingdom but, most often, it is sharp enough to check if something has gone bad.
xii. Don’t drink unpasteurised fluids or untreated surface water.
xiii. It might be a good idea to follow the policy, ‘When in doubt, discard’.

Now that you have read this, you could also educate others and give them some tips on preventing food poisoning!

You go out to the local pizza parlor, order two slices with extra cheese, sit down at the booth with your pizza in one hand and coke in the other and chow down. A few hours later after you’ve arrived back home just in time to watch your favorite TV show, suddenly your stomach feels like it’s about to erupt like a volcano. You run like a madman to the bathroom just in time to experience what seems to be the complete emptying of your insides.

Welcome to the world of food allergies and intolerances.

In the case of the runs after eating a couple of slices of pizza most likely you’re lactose intolerant which is just one type of food allergy. Technically, you can be allergic to just about any kind of food but there are some that seem to be more common that others.

Before we go any further let’s define exactly what a food allergy is. Food allergies can be broken down into 2 categories. The first one is hypersensitivity. This is an adverse reaction of the immune system itself and is unrelated to any actual physical effect of the food or food additive. These reactions are caused by immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies.

The second category is food intolerance. This is actually caused by the food itself and is not a function of the immune system itself overreacting to the food or food additive. The symptoms of an intolerance may be very similar to those of an actual immune symptom reaction but the causes are quite different.

Of the two, actual immune system reactions are the more common, though it does appear that a trend to intolerances, such as lactose intolerance, is on the rise. What actually happens with food allergies is that people with allergies produce IgE antibodies to specific epitopes in the food allergen. These antibodies bind to IgE receptors on the mast cells of tissue that are on the skin, digestive tract and respiratory system. The exposure of these antigens causes the release of histamines. This ultimately results in mucus secretion and muscle contraction which then leads to a wide range of symptoms which can range from unpleasant to serious or even severe. How severe?

Allergic reactions to food can be fatal almost immediately following the ingestion of food. Probably one of the most prevalent and dangerous of these food allergies are people who are allergic to peanuts. Just recently, as of this writing, a girl died simply from kissing someone who had recently eaten peanuts. That is how dangerous these allergies can be.

Less severe reactions to food allergies are oropharyngeal pruritus, angioedema, stridor, cough, dyspnea, wheezing, and dysphonia.

Aside from peanuts, the most common foods that people are allergic to are tree nuts, and shellfish.

Unfortunately the best way to avoid food allergies is to have a food allergy test done and then to avoid the foods that show positive on the test.

One of the major concerns today is deficiency in pregnant women that is leading to children with lowered IQ, low attention span (no substantial proof yet that it is connected to Attention Deficit Disorder, but it is being explored) and also a risk to the operation of their Thyroid Glands. In years gone by a child received this naturally from the mother whilst in the womb, from breast feeding and later when drinking milk. Most mothers today are so deficient themselves that they have none to pass on to their child and as we have already pointed out our milk no longer provides it.

What’s the Solution?

So what is the answer? Here I resist the urge to point you to some Iodine supplement and pick up a commission for sending you there because it is far simpler than that. The answer is to throw away the salt that you use to cook and season your food and replace it with Iodinised Salt (it tastes the same and costs just a few cents more). Yes it is truly as simple as that. You don’t need to increase your intake of salt because salt is still a cause of high blood pressure, you just need to continue using salt in the same safe manner that you use it now, just replace normal salt with Iodinised salt. End of problem.

Our bodies require very little Iodine, in fact about 1 teaspoon throughout our entire life is enough. That doesn’t mean you can take it in one hit because that figure is spread over your lifespan.

So how is it possible that intake was sufficient ten years ago but is insufficient today?
The major reason is that most nations have stopped using Iodine solution to sterilize milk containers before bottling; today they use a Chlorine solution. The old system used to leave a beneficial contamination of Iodine that mixed with the milk when it was bottled. This amount was sufficient to fulfill the needs of our bodies.