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4 • FEBRUARY 2023 THE NATION
THETRUCKER.COM
Follow these tips to help avoid
tummy troubles while on the road
MIND OVER
MATTER
HOPE ZVARA
If you travel for a living, nobody knows the
woes of a grumpy gut like you do. You got that
right: We are talking specifically about truck
drivers’ health issues today.
So, what should you do when you’re bothered
by an upset stomach while you’re en route
to a new destination? Better yet, how can you
avoid tummy troubles while travelling?
Here are six tips that can help you enjoy
the journey and travel tummy-trouble free.
1. Don’t overeat.
It can be hard to resist all any new restaurants
and cuisines you could be trying out, but
that’s a fatal mistake. Overeating can cause
painful cramps, gas and bloating, making it
difficult to drive. Next time, try drinking water
30 minutes before you eat. You’ll hydrate
yourself and feel less full. Second, set your fork
or food down between bites, and try to chew
it completely. Don’t swallow your food whole.
2. Eat a high-fiber diet.
Fiber regulates your bowel movements,
so enrich your diet with fruits, vegetables and
whole grains. Wheat products are a good example
of high-fiber foods. Also, make sure to
wash your food and eat safe meals to avoid
getting sick easily. Fiber will save you from uncomfortable
constipation, so don’t underestimate
the importance of a fiber-enriched diet
in truck driver health.
3. Hydrate, hydrate and hydrate!
Dehydration causes constipation, muscle
spasms and unnecessary tummy troubles.
Try to limit your intake of beverages with alcohol,
caffeine and high sugar content Some
of these can actually dehydrate you, and others
can cause blood-sugar spikes that make
you want to grab for unhealthy food choices.
In addition, these beverages can easily upset
your stomach, even though they taste great on
the drive.
4. Use the bathroom when you have to.
All of us know the discomfort of using a
public restroom or a bathroom in a shared
hotel room. But research showed that not using
the restroom when you need to can cause
bowel discomfort and possibly constipation
amongst many other truck driver health issues.
Not only that, but it can also lead to diarrhea.
You should go whenever you have to.
5. Take a daily probiotic.
In today’s fast-paced world, filled with fast
foods and processed meals, gut disorders are
common — and sadly almost becoming the
norm. But not all probiotics are created equal.
The next time you stop to shop for a probiotic,
look for spore-based probiotics, why? Spores
are a great choice because of their colonizing
habits, resilience to stomach acid and resistance
to heat and light. Most over-the-counter
probiotics never make it past the gut (or even
TO the gut) before they break down and lose
their potency. Spore-based probiotics, on the
other hand, stay in the gut 21 to 28 days and
then exit through your feces, helping you at
every stop when it comes to gut health. Plus,
with spore-based probiotics, you get the support
you need for your stomach lining. This
helps you reduce inflammation that can cause
“leaky gut.”
6. Stay clean.
Stomach bugs can be easily transmitted
through unclean surfaces. The only way to
truly solve this issue is to ensure you keep
your hands and utensils free from as much
contamination as possible. Wash your hands
as per the recommended method, keep your
utensils in a safe place, and wash your fruits
and vegetables. Ditch the chemical cleaners;
consider making your own using water,
vinegar and lemon essential oil. Try this: Fill
a spray bottle with water and then add a few
tablespoons vinegar and one to four drops
of lemon essential oil. Keep it packed in your
truck for easy cleaning.
Traveling is not fun if your tummy has other
plans. But with a little preparation and willingness
to try something new, you can be on
your way being tummy trouble free the next
time you hit the road.
Hope Zvara is the CEO of Mother Trucker
Yoga, a company devoted to improving truck
drivers’ fitness and wellness standards. She has
been featured in Forbes and Yahoo News, and is
a regular guest on SiriusXM Radio. Her practical
strategies show drivers how they can go from unhealthy
and out of options to feeling good again.
Find out more at www.mothertruckeryoga.
com. 8
Expect traffic snarls on I-15 in Vegas
during 18-month-long construction project
THE TRUCKER NEWS STAFF
LAS VEGAS — An 18-month-long construction
project that began on Jan. 17 will
snarl traffic on Interstate 15 while crews
raise and widen a key interchange serving
the Las Vegas Strip, state transportation officials
said.
The $305 million project has been
dubbed “Dropicana” by the Nevada Department
of Transportation (NDOT). That’s a
reference to the scheduled demolition of
the Tropicana Avenue overpass so it can be
rebuilt wider for traffic and safer for pedestrians
near some of the city’s biggest casino-hotels
and venues, including Allegiant
Stadium and T-Mobile Arena.
Work will require several multiday closures
of all lanes of I-15. For travelers and
truckers, that will cause detours and delays
on the main route between Los Angeles and
Salt Lake City. The stretch of interstate is
the busiest highway in Nevada.
“Today we sort of ease into it,” said department
spokesman Justin Hopkins as
construction began. He pointed to the closures
of an exit ramp to westbound Tropicana
Avenue, for nine months, and an eastbound
flyover toward the Strip, until mid-
2025.
The closures are being labeled as a “regional
traffic event,” and officials are warning
commuters about months of congestion
on side streets where interstate motorists
and trucks will be detoured. Department
data shows I-15 near Tropicana Avenue
handles 300,000 or more vehicles per day.
NDOT pointed in a statement to holiday
weekends that draw as many as 300,000 visitors
to the city. It said widening the Tropicana
Avenue interchange “will add capacity,
improve accessibility to the Strip and
allow for the future widening of I-15.”
Federal funds will pay almost $160 million
of the cost of the project, including a
$50 million Infrastructure for Rebuilding
America grant awarded by the U.S. Department
of Transportation in 2020, the Las Vegas
Sun reported. State gas tax money will
fund the remainder of the cost. 8
iStock Photo
An 18-month-long construction project that began in mid-
January will snarl traffic on Interstate 15 while crews raise and
widen a key interchange serving the Las Vegas Strip.
USPS 972
VOLUME 36, NUMBER 2
FEBRUARY 2023
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