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Nadia’s Top 8 Travel Tips

Summer’s finally here, and those who are lucky—or brave—enough to embrace travel’s new normal may be feeling a little uneasy. 

Nadia checks in to give us her Top 8 Tips to prepare for travelling, avoiding nasties like water retention, jet lag, dry skin and constipation.  And the good news is, it involves chocolate!

WHAT JETLAG?

If you land in the daytime, as soon as you arrive, get outside, go for a walk and get some sun. Try earthing – Walk barefoot on grass or outdoors.  Making contact with the earth helps regulate physiological changes. If it’s at night, try to go straight to sleep and wake up at a normal time the next day—this helps regulate your circadian rhythms.  Use natural supplementation like magnesium and melatonin to help ease into your sleep cycle.

WATER RETENTION 

Avoid excessive table salt, and opt for mineralized salts like Himalayan pink salt or sea salt.   It’s wise to avoid alcohol and caffeine in the air.  Opt for lemon water and a pinch of pink salt to boost hydration with the added benefit of trace minerals.  Pink salt also prevents dehydration and low blood pressure and can help relax tense muscles.

HYDRATION & CONSTIPATION

To stay hydrated drink at least 3 litres of water pre-flight day and add hydration drinks like coconut water before you take off.  On the plane, add an electrolyte sachet to a 1 litre water bottle and sip throughout.  Make sure you drink lots of water, especially on long haul flights.  To prevent bloating or constipation, avoid foods that make you feel bloated before you leave. If you’re not sure, skip the most common offenders: wheat/flour products, cruciferous vegetables like kale, dairy products and beans. Try adding Magnesium Citrate if constipated during your travels. 

IN-FLIGHT NUTRITION

No matter how easy it is, avoid eating junk food.  Pack healthy snacks and fruit and opt for the salad wherever you’re eating. If possible bring your own snacks, avoid in-flight food as it is heavily laden with table salt.  Try an intermittent fast for the duration of the flight!  This will assist your jet lag adjustment.  For kids; pack homemade muffins or Hu Kitchen chocolates for a little treat—buy some Hu on iherb.ae stat.

DRY AIR = DRY SKIN & NASAL PASSAGES

Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise!  Your skin and nasal passages dry up on the plane – a nice natural lotion for your skin is all you need, and a quick spritz of a nasal mist will moisturise the mucus membranes in your nose. Misting the nose’s membranes combats onboard pathogens.  And most importantly, drink water!

STAYING ACTIVE

Before you fly, get in a good workout for circulation and to help you sleep, especially if you’re going on a night flight. You need to rock those compression socks. They’re inexpensive and keep you warm while generating pressure to prevent fluid retention, pulmonary embolisms and blood clots which happen because of reduced circulation.  Get up every 30 mins to an hour and walk around when on a day flight.  If unable to because of in-flight movement restrictions, stand up and do some calf raises, circle your ankles in each direction and try a few squats.

TRAVEL SUPPLEMENTED
Stay supplemented with these essentials:

• Vitamin C. Up your dose before/while you travel to anywhere from 4,000 – 5,000mg. Liposomal Vitamin C is best because it absorbs more readily. 
• Vitamin D3/K2
• Probiotics
• Zinc
• Copper
• Magnesium
• Omega 3s
• Digestive Enzymes

In case anyone gets sick, it’s good to have the following on hand:

• Colloidal Silver with a nebuliser
• Oil of Oregano
• Grapefruit Seed Extract for stomach bugs and sinus infections

As usual, quality matters, so do your research before purchasing the first brand you see.

MAKE ROOM FOR MELATONIN 

Your body already produces melatonin to manage your sleep cycle. But if you’re trying to fall asleep at a different hour than you’re used to, supplementing with some OTC melatonin will support better sleep on your flight.