A BANANA A DAY...If your diet is poor or limited in variety, if you're travelling hard and fast and there­fore missing meals or if you simply lose your appetite, you can soon start to lose weight and place your health at risk.Make sure your diet is well balanced. Cooked eggs, tofu, beans, lentils and nuts are all safe ways to get protein. Fruit you can peel (bananas, oranges or mandarins, for example) Is usually safe and a good source of vitamins. Melons can harbour bacteria in their flesh and are best avoided. Try to eat plenty of grains (Including rice) and bread. Remember that although food is generally safer if it is well cooked, over­cooked food loses much of its nutritional value. If your diet isn't well balanced or if your food Intake is insufficient it's a good idea to take vitamin and Iron pills.In hot climates make sure you drink enough - don't rely on feeling thirsty to indicate when you should drink. Not need­ing to urinate or voiding small amounts; of very dark yellow urine is a danger sign. Always carry a water bottle with you on long trips. See below for Information on heat exhaustion.  FoodThere is an old adage that says 'If you can cook it, boil it or peel it you can eat it.. .other­wise forget it'. Vegetables and fruit should be washed with purified water or peeled where possible. Beware of ice cream that is sold in the street or anywhere it might have been melted and refrozen; if there's any doubt (eg a power cut in the last day or two), steer well clear. Shellfish such as mus­sels, oysters and clams should be avoided, as should undercooked meat, particularly in the form of mince. Steaming does not make shellfish safe for eating.If a place looks clean and well run and the vendor also looks clean and healthy, then the food is probably safe. In general, places that are packed with travelers or lo­cals will be fine, while empty restaurants might be empty for a reason. The food in busy restaurants is cooked and eaten quite quickly with little standing around and ii probably not reheatedHeat ExhaustionDehydration and salt deficiency can caust heat exhaustion. Take time to acclimatist to high temperatures, drink sufficient li­quids and do not do anything too physically demanding. Salt deficiency is characterised by fatigue: lethargy, headaches, giddiness and muscli cramps; salt tablets may help, but adding extra salt to your food is better.Anhidrotic heat exhaustion is a rare font of heat exhaustion that is caused by an ina bility to sweat. It tends to affect people who have been in a hot climate for some time rather than newcomers. It can progress to heatstroke. Treatment involves removal to a cooler climate or immediate cold showers and wet sheets.HeatstrokeThis serious, occasionally fatal condition can occur if the body's heat-regulating mech­anism breaks down, causing the body tem­perature to rise to dangerous levels. Long, continuous periods of exposure to high tem­peratures and insufficient fluids can leave you vulnerable to heatstroke.The symptoms are feeling unwell, not sweating very much (or at all) and a high body temperature (39°C to 41°C, or 102°F to 106°F). Where sweating has ceased, the skin becomes flushed and red. Severe, throbbing headaches and lack of coordina­tion will also occur, and the sufferer may be confused or aggressive. Eventually the victim will become delirious or convulse. Hospitalisation is essential, but in the in­terim get victims out of the sun, remove their clothing, cover them with a wet sheet or towel and then fan continually. Give flu­ids if they are conscious.Insect Bites & StingsBedbugs live in various places, but par­ticularly in dirty mattresses and bedding, evidenced by spots of blood on bedclothes or on the wall. Bedbugs leave itchy bites in neat rows. Calamine lotion or Stingose spray may help.All lice cause itching and discomfort. They make themselves at home in your hair (head lice), your clothing (body lice) or in your pubic hair (crabs). You catch lice through direct contact with infected people or by sharing combs, clothing and the like. Powder or shampoo treatment will kill the lice, and infected clothing should be washed in very hot, soapy water and left to dry in the sun. Bee and wasp stings are usually painful rather than dangerous. However, in people who are allergic to them, severe breathing difficulties may occur and urgent medical care is then required. Calamine lotion or Stingose spray will relieve itching, and ice packs will reduce the pain and swelling. . Avoid contact with jeHyfish, which have stinging tentacles - seek local advice on the safest swimming waters. Dousing in vin­egar will deactivate any stingers that have not 'fired'. Calamine lotion, antthistamines and analgesics may reduce the reaction and relieve the pain.Leeches may be present in damp rain­forest conditions; they attach themselves to your skin to suck your blood. Trekkers often get them on their legs or in their boots. Salt or a lighted cigarette end will make them fall off. Do not pull them off, as the bite is then more likely to become infected. Clean and apply pressure if the point of attachment is bleeding. An insect repellent may keep them away, and walkers in leech-infested areas should consider having their boots and trousers impregnated with benzyl ben-zoate and dibutylphthalate (available from pharmacies in Cambodia).You should always check all over your body if you have been walking through a potentially tick-infested area, as ticks can cause skin infections and other more ser­ious diseases. If a tick is found attached, press down around the tick's head with tweezers, grab the head and gently pull upwards. Try to avoid pulling the rear of the body as this may squeeze the tick's gut contents through the attached mouth parts into the skin, increasing the risk of infection and disease. Smearing chemicals on the tick will not make it let go and this is not recommended.To minimise your chances of being bit­ten by a snake, always wear boots, socks and long trousers when walking through under­growth where snakes may be present. Don't put your hands into holes and crevices, and be careful if collecting firewood.Snake bites do not cause instantaneous death and antivenins are usually available. Immediately wrap the bitten limb tightly, as you would for a sprained ankle, and then attach a splint to immobilise it. Keep the victim still and seek medical help, if pos­sible with the dead snake for identification. However, do not attempt to catch the snake if there is any possibility of being bitten. Tourniquets and sucking out the poison are now comprehensively discredited.Prickly HeatPrickly heat is an itchy rash caused by ex­cessive perspiration trapped under the skin. It usually strikes people who have just ar­rived in a hot climate. Keeping cool, bath­ing often, drying the skin and using a mild talcum or prickly heat powder, or resorting to the use of air-conditioning, may help.SunburnYou can get sunburnt surprisingly quickly, even through cloud. Use a sunscreen, a hat, and a barrier cream for your nose and lips. Calamine lotion or Stingose are good for mild sunburn. Protect your eyes with good-quality sunglasses.WaterThe number one rule is be careful of the water and ice, even though both are almost always factory-produced, a legacy of the French. If you don't know for certain that the water is safe, assume the worst. Repu­table brands of bottled water or soft drinks are generally fine, but you can't safely drink tap water. Only use water from containers with a serrated seal. Take care with fruit juice, particularly if water may have been added. Milk should be treated with suspi­cion, as it is often unpasteurised, though boiled milk is fine if it is kept hygienically. Tea and coffee should be OK, since the water should have been boiled.The simplest way of purifying water is to boil it thoroughly. Vigorous boiling should be satisfactory; however, at high altitude water boils at a lower temperature, so germs are less likely to be killed. Make sure you boil it for longer in these environments.Consider purchasing a water filter for a long trip. There are two main kinds of filter. Total filters take out all parasites, bacteria and viruses and make water safe to drink. They are often expensive, but they can be more cost effective than buying bottled water. Simple filters (which can even be a nylon mesh bag) take out dirt and larger foreign bodies from the water so that chem­ical solutions work much more effectively; if water is dirty, chemical solutions may not work at all. It's very important when buying a filter to read the specifications, so that you know exactly what it removes from the water and what it doesn't. Simple filtering will not remove all dangerous organisms, so if you cannot boil this water it should be treated chemically. Chlorine tablets (Puritabs, Steritabs or other brands) will kill many pathogens, but not some para­sites like giardia and amoebic cysts. Iodine is more effective in purifying water and is available in tablet form (such as Potable Aqua). Follow the directions carefully and remember that too much iodine can be harmful.