That's Fit

There is little in the world worse than experiencing motion sickness, especially if you're in a situation you can't escape.

I've mostly experienced it in a boat when I'm way off shore (and trapped), but it's also horrible if you're in a car and you know you have hours before you reach your destination. Minutes begin to feel like hours, and by the time you get where you're going, you're barely able to stand up.

Fortunately, our friends at FitSugar came up with six ways to fend off car sickness, so you can take that summer road trip without worry. Check them out in our gallery!

Each week, we'll be naming a Super Food and offering unique ways to use those Super Foods that pack nutritional power. After all, you are what you eat -- make it count!

Peppermint is a flavour we see in abundance: In candies, ice cream, gum, even our Grande Mochas at Starbucks. But peppermint is more than just a sweet treat; It's an effective cure for a variety of ailments, and a healthy flavour to add to your everyday diet.

First and foremost, peppermint has long been believed to be good for your stomach woes, from gas to nausea to gallbladder disease and even stomach cancer. And today, it's more than a just a belief -- According to this article from the Harvard School of Medicine, peppermint is an effective natural treatment for the symptoms of Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS,) including pain, cramping, bloating and diarrhea. In fact, in studies, 75% of participants with IBS saw a major reduction in symptoms when they took peppermint capsules daily.Pretty impressive, huh?

Each week, we'll be naming a Super Food and offering unique ways to use those Super Foods that pack nutritional power. After all, you are what you eat -- make it count!

When I feel sick, when I feel nauseated, when my stomach hurts, I hit the bottle -- of ginger ale, that is. My mama always told me that ginger would make me feel better, and it does. It's not just all in my head either -- it's a well-known fact that ginger can provide relief to nausea, ulcers and other digestive issues. But that's not all -- in addition to spicing up your food and adding a one-of-a-kind flavour, ginger has lots of great health benefits.

In studies, ginger has been shown to alleviate many common ailments, including pain, swelling, inflammation and even the common cold. Got menstrual cramps? Have some ginger. Headache? Grab some ginger. Gas? Yep, you guessed it -- ginger will help. It can reduce your fever and reduce your LDL (bad) cholesterol. It's also widely believed to help slow down or even stop the spread of some cancers. Pretty impressive, huh?

A little over a week ago I took my son out for a celebration of sorts. I brought him to one of those video game/pizza places. He'd been begging to go for months and I kept putting it off by saying "that's not an every day place -- that's a special occasion place." So, when a special occasion rolled around I couldn't exactly get out of it.

My son had a blast. And I'm glad. I, on the other hand, didn't enjoy it at all. I was troubled when I picked up our food tray and it was sticky. I was bothered by the station with puddles of spilled soda. And our pizza ... well, it looked good and smelled good, but some smarter part of my brain told me that something wasn't right. Unfortunately, my stomach spoke louder than my brain on that day, and I ate the pizza. And later on, well ... let's just say I wish I had listened to my brain.

Food poisoning, a type of gastroenteritis, is a pretty common affliction. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle aches, shivering, and fatigue. Food poisoning is caused by improperly cooked food, spoiled food, or food prepared in unsanitary conditions. There are steps you can take to avoid food poisoning, however.

Did you drink too much green beer over the weekend? If so, I have a sneaking suspicion that you're not alone. You've probably heard of some crazy hangover "cures" at one time or another. A University of Michigan doctor has laid down the truth about hangover cures:

• Soda. Kind of true. The sugar and caffeine in soda may give you a temporary jolt of energy, but beware the later sugar crash.
• Greasy food. False. If eaten before drinking, food will act as a "soaker" and delay the absorption of alcohol. But as a hangover cure it doesn't do much of anything except maybe restore some of the salt and blood sugar you lost (but you can also restore that by much healthier means).
  
• Sports drinks. True. Electrolytes can be depleted by drinking alcohol so sports drinks are quite likely to make you feel a bit better.
• Ibuprofen. True. Be sure to take any painkiller with food and it's best not to take them with alcohol. The day after, ibuprofen or Tylenol may help your achy head and muscles.
  
• Coffee. False. Not the best idea, the caffeine will alleviate some symptoms but will make you more dehydrated.
• Orange juice. False. The sugar will temporarily boost your energy, but the vitamin C doesn't seem to have any effect on a hangover.
• Activated calcium carbonate. True. Found in Tums and some OTC hangover remedies, this will help neutralize stomach acids.
• Burnt toast. False. It's a complete old wives' tale. This will do nothing more than make your kitchen smell like burnt toast.
• Bananas. True. Eating a banana will help you restore some of the potassium you lost.
• Drinking more alcohol. False. It only delays the inevitable hangover.
• Water. True. Alcohol dehydrates you. Drinking water will help replenish your fluids.

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Hi Fitz, Why is that we feel like puking or vomiting during intense workouts? Is it a bad indication or health threat? I saw on the Biggest Loser that there were those who puked. However, I felt it just recently on my 20 minute incline treadmill workout and it gave me the creeps. Did I do something wrong? Am I supposed to have myself checked with a doctor? Thanks, Kassy

A. Hi Kassy. Thanks for the great question. There are a bunch of possible causes for your nausea, and most are not worthy of worry. Vigorous exercise takes it's toll on all the different parts of our body; not just our legs, arms and abs. It effects our respiratory, cardiovascular, nervous, and digestive systems (amongst others) as well. Most of the effects of challenging exercise are great, some of the effects though are temporarily not-so-great. I found a study by Dr. R. Rafoth, M.D., The Athlete and the G.I. Tract which describes the causes of exercise induced nausea and other G.I. symptoms which I summarize below.

Some of the factors that can lead to exercise induced nausea are:

1. Presence of symptoms in a non exercising period, such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

2. Age. More symptoms occur in younger athletes.

3. Gender: Women are more likely to experience exercised induced nausea, completely unrelated to ones menstrual cycle.

4. Diet: There is an increased incidence of upper abdominal symptoms in athletes who consumed:

• too big a meal too close to exercise
• fats
• hyper-tonic drinks, glucose syrups, honey/maple syrups
• foods high in dietary fiber
• high protein diets

If you've dealt with, or are currently experiencing, a pregnancy where morning sickness is an issue you're probably thinking how on earth can nausea and vomiting be a good thing? Well a new study shows that women who suffer from morning sickness during pregnancy have a lower risk of getting breast cancer later in life. The study that found this connection looked at many pregnancy-related issues, but only nausea and vomiting seemed to have any connection to breast cancer risk -- even down to the severity of symptoms (the worse the sickness the lower the risk).

This was only one study, so experts say they don't really know what it means just yet. But it sounds promising! A sort of 'silver lining' to one of life's more unpleasant side-effects.

There is no question that getting drunk has risen in popularity on college campuses and also in high school. Teenage drinking is so common that over fifty percent of high school seniors reported drinking heavily. If you visit a college campus on Friday or Saturday night, you will find an assortment of drunks. If you attend some high school functions like ball games or dances, you will discover drinking in bathrooms, parking lots and cars. A typical example of Monday morning conversation among American teens and young adults includes these statements. "I got so drunk Friday night I blacked out." "You should have seen me Saturday night, I couldn't even walk." I put down a six-pack and three shots in a half an hour and then I puked my guts out" I got so drunk I didn't even know where I woke up but it was great."

Many people get drunk for the fun of it and many others get drunk in order to escape reality. They may have impressed their mates, but men may be in for some embarrassment in the bedroom after drinking ten beers. Researchers think they know why inebriated people sometimes pass out. When people stand up their blood pressure drops and a sober body responds by tightening blood vessels. After knocking back a few too many, this built in body system no longer works, which is why standing up to leave can induce a faint. Large quantities of drinking cause a similar effect to general anesthesia and can lead to lack of consciousness and even death. There are 155,000 alcohol related deaths annually. Is that really funny?

If you or a teen you love is having problems with drinking, a recovery center may be the solution. At Treatment Referral, there are specific programs tailored to special needs of an adolescent. Youth-tailored programs are more successful than general population treatment and show better long-term effectiveness of treatment.

Toxic shock syndrome is a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection that has been most often associated with the use of super absorbent tampons and occasionally with the use of contraceptive sponges. While the infection often occurs in menstruating women, it can also affect men, children and post menopausal women. Other risk factors for toxic shock syndrome include skin wounds and surgery. Signs and symptoms of toxic shock syndrome develop suddenly, and the disease can be fatal.

Can your child develop Toxic Shock Syndrome? Yes they can. A related infection, streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, or STSS, is caused by streptococcus bacteria. Most often STSS appears after streptococcus bacteria have invaded areas of injured skin, such as cuts and scrapes, surgical wounds, and even chickenpox blisters.

Sign of Toxic Shock Syndrome are signs of shock, cold hands and feet, a pulse that is fast and weak, confusion or other mental changes, their skin is pale and moist, shortness of breath or abnormally fast breathing, a fever, a rash that looks like sunburn, nausea and vomiting and watery diarrhea, decreased urination, and confusion or other mental changes.

Call your child's doctor or get them to an emergency quickly if they have these symptoms because the sooner they get attention the quicker they recover. Men can develop this infection also. Keeping your child's hands washed is a good way to fight the bacteria that can cause and spread this illness.

For millions of Americans that are lactose intolerance, how can you make sure that you get enough vitamin D and calcium in your diet needed to build strong bones and help ward off osteoporosis later in life. Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest significant amounts of lactose, the major sugar found in milk. Lactose intolerance is caused by a shortage of the enzyme lactase, which is produced by the cells that line the small intestine. Lactase breaks down milk sugar into two simpler forms of sugar called glucose and galactose, which are then absorbed into the bloodstream. People who do not have enough lactase to digest the amount of lactose they consume may feel very uncomfortable when they digest milk products. Common symptoms, which range from mild to severe, include nausea, cramps, bloating, gas, and diarrhea. Symptoms begin about 30 minutes to 2 hours after eating or drinking foods containing lactose.

Here are some foods to add to your daily diet when milk and dairy products are not an option. A 3-ounce serving size of canned Atlantic sardines contains 325 milligrams of calcium, compared with 336 milligrams for a 1.5-ounce serving of Swiss cheese. 1 Cup of fortified soymilk contains 200 milligrams of calcium. Sardines are an excellent calcium source because they contain soft bones. An orange has 48 milligrams of calcium. A cup of raw broccoli contains 43 milligrams, a cup of raw kale, 90 milligrams, and an artichoke delivers 56 milligrams of calcium. A 3-ounce serving of fish such as salmon, mackerel, and tuna has more natural vitamin D than a cup of milk. 1/2 cup of pinto beans contains 40 milligrams of calcium. Calcium supplements are helpful, especially for people who need more calcium or aren't able to get enough in their diet. But remember that getting calcium from food offers other benefits, such as fiber, antioxidants, and protein.