Reducing Inflammation When Travelling by Air

There is no doubt about it, air travel is stressful on the body.  The food, air quality, light quality, exposure to germs and radiation, broken sleep, jet lag, and the plain emotional stress of it.  

It wasn’t always like this.  I remember loving air travel and people-watching in airports.  I even loved airplane food!  These days, things are different, and now I need to take steps to keep my inflammation low so I don’t spend days getting over my travel day.  

I have a long trip by air coming up so thought I would share some of my strategies with you while I am getting ready for my trip.

1. Don’t eat airplane or airport food. I either don’t eat at all (I am used to intermittent fasting so this is not as big a deal as it it sounds) or I pack my own food. If you are lucky enough to find an organic quality food restaurant at the airport, then you could give that a try, but I feel safer just eating my own food.

2. Avoid caffeine. If I want to have a hot drink, I bring along my own herbal tea bag. I avoid caffeine because it makes it more difficult for your body to recover from jet lag.

3. Drink lots of water. Water helps flush out toxins and, of course, water keeps you hydrated. I take along my own glass water bottle and fill it at a water station in the security area. It’s probably better than drinking water in plastic bottles.

4. Bring peaceful music and meditations. The background noise of the airplane engines is actually quite loud and stressful. Block it out wth peaceful sounds through your headphones and create your own inner peaceful world.

5. Bring a sleep mask. On the plane or while waiting in the airport, blocking out fluorescent light can help you sleep if you need to.

6. Wear blue-light blocking glasses. The florescent light in airplanes and airports is a sleep disruptor. It is also likely that you are looking at screens a lot when travelling and getting an extra dose of blue light. Wearing blue-light blocking glasses will help reduce the extra exposure to blue light - especially important at night.

7. Bring warm socks and a pashmina or blanket. I find airplanes are often cold and if I am cold, I can’t get comfortable and sleep. Solution: warm socks and a pashmina that can work as a blanket.

8. Move. Reduce the risk of blood clots by flexing your feet and stretching your feet while sitting. Stand up and walk around as much as possible. I haven’t tried compression socks but other people swear by them.

9. Be thankful. I try to get my mind into a state of gratitude by remembering that I am blessed to be able to travel such long distances so quickly.

10. Ground. Walking or standing barefoot on the ground as soon as possible after flying is a great way to discharge radiation or negative energy that has built up after air travel. It also helps recover to from jet lag.

I hope these tips help you on your next long day of travel by air so that you can have less inflammation and a more enjoyable trip.

Do you have your own strategies? Please share them in the comments below!

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