Food Pyramid to Improve Your Diet

Food poisoning is a term which is used for health problems arising from eating contaminated food. It is often seen that food gets contaminated by bacteria, viruses, environmental toxins, or toxins present within the food itself. Sometimes, some mushrooms or certain seafood consist of poisonous ingredients. There are some food-borne toxins that can also affect the nervous system.

This form of poisoning comes from eating foods that contain germs like bad bacteria or toxins, which are considered poisonous. Bacteria are all around us, thus these days, mild cases of food poisoning are very common. You may have sometimes experienced mild food poisoning with diarrhea and an upset stomach.

Symptoms

The symptoms range from

• upset stomach
• diarrhea
• fever
• vomiting
• abdominal cramps and dehydration
• more severe illness such as paralysis and meningitis.

The diagnosis is usually done by testing the stool.

Most of the effects on body clear up in a few days on their own. In case of continued illness, surely seek medical advice. Children, elders, pregnant women and people who use antacids are at more risk of getting food poisoning.

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Causes

This usually occurs when an individual consumes food that has been contaminated by a poisoning agent. These agents include toxins, bacteria, viruses, or parasites. There are almost more than 250 known agents that have the ability to cause this problem. Poisoning from a bacterial agent is a very common occurrence. The most common types of food-borne bacteria are E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella, Bacillus cereus, Campylobacter, and Shigella. The symptoms for this problem may not manifest until 12 to 72 hours after eating the contaminated food.

Food usually becomes contaminated from poor sanitation. Food handlers who do not wash their hands or have infections themselves often cause contamination. Doctors also claim that improperly packaged food stored at the wrong temperature also promotes contamination.

Treatment

Usually, the symptoms of this problem disappear without the need for treatment. If symptoms are severe, or they continue for more than 3-4 days, consult your doctor. If either an elderly person or a child is affected by food poisoning, you need to talk to a doctor immediately. You can also keep a sample of any remaining food, which can be tested for the presence of infectious microorganisms. If the cause is non-infectious, then you should be treated urgently to eliminate the poison from your body.

Treatment of food poisoning is generally aimed at preventing dehydration. In severe cases, it is possible that the affected person is admitted in hospital. Usually, doctors prescribe antibiotics only if specific bacteria get identified. Patients usually recover quite rapidly from an attack of this problem and rarely experience longlasting health consequences. In very rare cases, a risk of septicemia persists if bacteria spreads into the blood stream. Experts believe that both dehydration and septicemia can cause shock.

So, now you know almost everything about food poisoning. If you ever face any problem related to this, it can be guaranteed that you will surely be able to manage the situation on your own.