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Stick to Carbonated Water
Traveler's diarrhea, which can afflict up to 70 percent of tourists in some foreign countries, is most often caused by bacteria, which may be present in tap water. "When I'm on a trip, I drink only bottled beverages with an intact seal," says Herbert DuPont, MD, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health. "Carbonated ones are the safest." That's because carbonation kills intestinal pathogens by reducing the water's pH level, according to a report in the journal Clinical Microbiology Reviews.

Try This!
One way to make sure you don't drink tap water or use it to brush your teeth while you're in a foreign country: Tie a ribbon around the faucet as a quick reminder.
From the July 2016 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine
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