When you travel for business, you already know what you’re in for. Your sleep schedule will suffer; you’ll be constantly on the go; and you’ll be coming into contact with foreign environments your body isn’t used to. If you add to that mix the circulated air and un-sanitized seats of air-travel, you should probably just schedule your sick-time now, because you’ll need it.
But, while you might not be able to control your mode of travel or how much sleep you get, you can control your nutrition. Here are five foods that are airport security friendly and could potentially help you avoid getting sick while traveling:
Almonds
Almonds have high levels of vitamins E, B and magnesium. The combination of these vitamins working together creates an immunity boost that can help ward off upper-respiratory infections. As a bonus, the good fats in almonds also help you maintain level energy. To get the most benefits out of almonds, eat them raw.
Goji Berries
Goji berries are filled with powerful antioxidants and are rich in vitamins A, B, C and E. Goji berries also have trace minerals, such as zinc, iron, copper, selenium, calcium and phosphorous. Of these, the most active cold-fighting ingredients are zinc, selenium, vitamin A, and the extremely high levels of vitamin C.
Kale Chips
Kale is filled with cold-combatting antioxidants, vitamins A and C, calcium and is high in iron. Kale is also great for cardiovascular support.
Fresh Citrus
Believe it or not you can bring fresh fruit such as oranges and grapefruit on the plane. You just need to make sure it is wrapped or in a container when you go through security. High in vitamin C, citrus fruits boost the production of white blood cells which, in turn, help fight infection. Just be sure to wash-up before you eat.
Whey Protein Bars
Whey protein is rich in cysteine, an amino acid that converts to glutathione in your body which helps fight bacterial and viral infection.
Prefer to drink your whey protein? The rule is that you can’t bring fluids through security, but that doesn’t mean you can’t bring something you can mix with fluid on the plane. Get a bottle of water on the other side of security from one of the vendors or in-flight, then mix a package of whey protein powder to gulp down those immunity boosters.
To further boost your immunity while traveling, be sure to drink plenty of water and stay away from alcohol and soda.
