8 Travel Tips for Summer Getaways
Summer is a time of well-earned vacations and increased travel be it a weekend getaway or a journey to far away places. When we are out of our normal routine healthy lifestyles can be challenged. Here are some simple tips to help ensure your time away is optimized and you return refreshed.
Common challenges with travel include digestive disturbances, jet lag, dehydration, increased stress and anxiety as well as sleep disturbances due to the disruption of our normal schedules and routines. If you are planning a cruise or trip it’s ideal to speak with your naturopathic doctor well in advance to plan ahead for optimizing your journey. These simple tips will be useful to keep in mind:
Digestive support: Take a good probiotic supplement with you to ensure you have fewer reactions to unfamiliar foods, to lessen the likelihood of constipation or loose stool and to boost your immune system. ++ 70- 80% of your immune system resides in your gut so optimizing the gut microbiome is your first line of defense. Probiotics typically require refrigeration yet do have built-in overage to allow for some ‘travel time’. The HMF line when exposed to 30C heat for a month reduced by about 10% – a miniscule amount considering the billions of live organisms available. Taking your probiotic with you is always better than leaving it in the refrigerator!
Protein–based snacks: Eating regularly helps reduce hypoglycemia or the ‘up and down’ of blood sugar dysregulation. If you are travelling with children protein snacks are especially important. Long gaps without food can lead to the ‘hangry’ response all parents want to avoid!
Airplane Travel: Being cramped for hours in a small chair can pose difficulty for circulation which is remedied by getting up and walking the aisle, or simply removing your shoes and stretching in your chair. Aisle seats offer more ‘stretch’ room and better access for movement.
Hydration: Flights have low air inflow settings and so levels of dehydration are common – drinking water and including electrolyte formulas in water aid in maintaining good hydration. Camping, car rides and all manner of travel can lead to less water intake – hydration is key to better energy, mood and memory. Some estimates are 1-2 L per day for adults.
Jet lag: Any time our body is in flight and a time-change is involved our circadian rhythm is thrown off and we may experience jetlag. The severity of our jetlag can reflect our overall stress levels and the function of our HPA axis (Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function)*. Some people find that taking melatonin on the night of their arrival can help reset their sleep/wake cycle. As well the homeopathic remedy No Jet Lag may be of benefit.
Supplements: Speak with your doctor about whether continuing on your regime is important during your time away. Remedies that are in liquid form can be substituted for capsules or powders to avoid leakage. A travel plan may include a more simplified health regime but one that allows for continued health benefit. Returning from vacation and still needing a holiday is of benefit to no one!
First Aid: We never know when a surprise will occur and we will be searching for our first aid kit. I always recommend the addition of homeopathic Arnica in a travel kit. This remedy is excellent for sprains, strains, overdoing it, falls, blows, minor accidents and speeds up healing while reducing bruising. Great for people of all ages and it doesn’t conflict with other remedies or medications. When people wonder about the effectiveness of homeopathic remedies I suggest they try Arnica first hand as it is powerful!
Rest: Take time to truly rest. This may seem like an obvious part of a vacation but many people overschedule and end up returning more depleted than when they left. Summer is an excellent time to achieve peak health, to build up reserves, to find some space and ease and to truly ‘vacate’ from the day to day activities. Done mindfully a vacation can be about rest-oration and relaxation. This is your time and your chance – embrace it.
Happy Travels!
Resources:
*https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3089060/
++https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18785988