Fall is almost in the air, with the season comes cooler weather, football, and unfortunately the cold and flu season. If you travel frequently you get the double whammy of spending a lot of time in airplanes, airports, and hotels. Travel can take a toll on your health in many ways. Dehydration, poor nutrition, poor sleep are just a few things that come to mind right out of the gate. With a little preparation on the front end of travel with some easy travel hacks, you can limit the damage and maintain your health despite a busy travel schedule. Typically, the night before travel, I make a stop at one of the local health food grocery stores such as whole foods, Sprouts to stock up before traveling.
Food: this is an area that can get you into trouble if you are left at the mercy of airport and restaurant foods. I always pack healthy snacks when traveling. Organic nuts, trail mix, and protein bars are my go tos. I will also throw in some single size servings of protein powders for a quick protein drink if I am short on time.
Hydration: Travel requires more hydration that normal. Just being on a plane tends to dehydrate us. Add in the disruption of your normal schedule and staying in hotels and you have a perfect recipe for dehydration. I always make it a point, regardless of how brief a flight, to grab a large bottled water before boarding a plane. Avoiding caffeine during longer flights is another good way to prevent dehydration. Picking up a few large bottles of water to keep in your hotel room will help keep you hydrated in the mornings and evenings if there is not already bottled water in your room.
Supplements: I am now that guy that travels with a pill case. I used to bring all of the bottles with me but the pill case is much easier and takes up less space in my carry on. I keep waiting for TSA to question me about all of the pills I am traveling with but so far I have managed to slip through without attracting too much attention with a carry on full of food and supplements. Regardless of the supplements you take, don’t leave them at home when traveling as that is one of the times that you need them the most. The supplements described below also double as immune boosters during acute illness such as cold and flu. A few recommendations to consider for travel that everyone can benefit from are:
Magnesium: This one is a no brainer, it is one of my top 5 supplements and is one of the most recommended supplements for my patients. Magnesium is involved in over 300 biochemical pathways in our bodies. It is a natural muscle relaxer and it suppresses cortisol, the stress hormone. This combination makes it a very simple but effective sleep aid for many of my patients. It also helps with regularity which many people struggle with during travel. Make sure it is a chelated version of magnesium (magnesium citrate or glycinate are good examples) Take 400 – 600 mg before bedtime. Taking too much magnesium can cause loose stools so if a certain dose causes loose stools, just back off the dose to find what dose works for you.
Vitamin D3: Much of the population is actually deficient in D3. This comes with a lot of health implications as vitamin D3 is very active in boosting the immune system and helping our bodies fight off infection and disease. 1000 – 2000 IU is a typical daily dose but many of my patients take 5000 IU daily as a maintenance dose. It is OK to take bigger doses 5000 – 10,000 IU daily for shorter amounts of time when traveling and when sick to help prevent illness. During acute illness, a dose of 50,000 IU can be administered for a huge immune boost of this infection fighting supplement.
Zinc: zinc is another great supplement to take during travel for preventing illness and shortening the duration of common colds. Studies show that zinc slows down viral replication. It is the main ingredient in otc products such as Zycam and Airborne and it is likely the ingredient that has the biggest impact. A cheaper way to get it is to just buy a bottle of plain zinc 50 – 100 mg daily or twice daily during acute illness or travel.
There are others you could consider but these are good ones to start with, especially when traveling during the upcoming cold and flu season.
There are others you could consider but these are good ones to start with, especially when traveling during the upcoming cold and flu season. Many of our patients come in for a nutritional IV with large dose of vitamin C and an injection of vitamin D3 before travel to boost the immune system along with a combination of oral supplement to take while traveling.
We now carry a proprietary immune boosting pack in our office that contains Vitamin C, Vitamin D3, Zinc, and Glutamine in individually wrapped daily packs that are great for travel. We will also be adding soon to our menu of IVs, a quick IV push of high dose vitamin C that takes less than 10 minutes to administer.
There are many health hacks out there to help you optimize your health which ultimately will help you to perform at your physical and mental best. We are here to keep you informed of the most up to date and cutting edge hacks available.
Until next time, Stay Healthy and Live Well my friends.
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