Lighten up & fly right

Natural Health, Sept, 2004

Have you packed everything you need? Guidebook? Underwear? Sushi?

Airlines serve so many bad-tasting, bad-for-you meals that you might decide to forgo them, which is not the best plan. "People think they can do without," says Charles Stuart Platkin, author of the forthcoming The Automatic Diet, "but when the food service comes along, they're so hungry that they just dive right in."

Platkin suggests providing your own sustenance (see "Take It to Go," right). He also points out that airport restaurants may offer healthy choices like salads or fruit plates, which are less caloric than a typical airline meal. "What you eat while you travel isn't inconsequential," he says. "If you fly 10 times a year and eat an excess of 1,750 calories on each leg of the trip, that amounts to a weight gain of 5 pounds."

What about requesting a special meal? "It's a tossup," Platkin says. "A vegetarian meal might be a salad, but it could be pasta loaded with a creamy sauce." That is, if you can even get it. Recently, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine rated the top U.S. airlines for availability of healthy entrees and found that more than half "make only a rudimentary effort at providing vegetarian and vegan meals--or they offer none at all." Only Song was lauded for "superb service," while Alaska, American and United Airlines provided some special-order options.

take it to go

Keep your homemade meal simple, choosing foods that will last until you're in the air:

* Last night's leftovers

* Peanut butter on whole-wheat bread

* Portable tuna "kits"

* Single-serve soy milk

* Whole-grain, low-sugar cereal

* Apples, oranges and bananas; dried fruit

* Rice cakes

* Fig bars

* Energy bars

* Low-fat snacks like EatSmart Soy~teins and Amarana Soy Pretzels

* Bottled water

air fare

If you do accept the airline meal, give it a healthy makeover:

* Squeeze fresh lemon on your salad or bring along low-fat dressing.

* Discard the butter, mayonnaise and other high-fat toppings.

* If given a choice, opt for dishes that are roasted, baked, grilled, broiled or steamed rather than fried or sauteed.

* Skip the $5 beer and sip on water or a low-calorie beverage.