5 ways to eat healthier while traveling on a plane

Taking control of what you eat and drink during your next flight can help you arrive feeling refreshed. Here are some tips to consider for your next trip:

Eat on schedule
When a flight takes you across time zones, manage hunger by keeping to your usual meal schedule based on your point of origin. You’ll be less apt to skip or double up on breakfast, lunch or dinner. For the rest of your journey, adjust to local time and continue eating three evenly spaced meals and one or two snacks per day.

DIY inflight snacks
Airports are hardly the place to shop for healthy take-aboard meals and snacks, so to avoid the hassle just bring your own good stuff. Especially for long flights, choose foods that are compact, nutrient-dense and high in fiber. Fiber has zero calories and it digests slowly, which is why fiber-rich foods like fruits, vegetables and nuts are lighter and more filling than processed foods.

For a healthy and satisfying DIY snack try this tasty recipe for cinnamon roasted almonds.  

Drink more water
Flying dehydrates the body and so does drinking alcohol and caffeine, which are diuretics. Your best bet is to sip plenty of water inflight, which hydrates without calories. Bring an extra bottle or two because staying hydrated will help you arrive energized and avoid nasty symptoms of dehydration such as dry skin, fatigue, constipation and headache.

Choose hydrating foods
In addition to drinking water, choosing foods with high water content will also help keep you hydrated and feeling full longer. Fruits and vegetables are great hydrating options, so use them to make meals and snacks that combine fiber and protein, such as a leafy garden salad with a chicken or tilapia, cucumber slices dipped in fat-free cottage cheese, or raspberries with fat-free plain Greek yogurt.

Fight stress with portable comfort foods
To relieve some of the anxiety that comes with air travel bring along foods rich in healthy, stress reducing omega-3s. A delicious kick back meal is cold poached salmon and steamed vegetables and for a snack walnuts and edamame are great choices.