Sensible eating while travelling: snacks that keep you well

School’s out, the sun is shining, and the seaside beckons. When you take off to parts unknown this summer, don’t leave your good eating habits behind. Staying healthy while travelling means you can enjoy the trip even more once you arrive at your destination.

Protein and fat: a happy couple

Whether you’re cobbling together a series of snacks between taxis and airport stops, or having a long leisurely lunch on the train, build your meal with the protein-carbohydrate-fat triad. Protein and fat take longer to digest, providing you with extra staying power, while carbohydrates provide much-needed energy to prolong your travel stamina. Keep in mind that sitting on a train or car or on an aeroplane demands much less energy than your daily activities, so listen to your body’s needs and eat only when hungry.

At home, prep bite-sized hunks of cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and edamame (cooked soybeans) Buy ready-made single-serving yoghurts, protein-rich energy bars, and packs of nuts and seeds

Pack perishables in a small cooler.

Carb(s)—not a four-letter word

Your journey won’t be complete without a carry-on of carbs. “Carbohydrates," says Elson Haas, MD, author of Staying Healthy with Nutrition, “are a quick source of energy for the body, easily converted to glucose, the fuel for the body’s cells.” Make your carbohydrates complex (not refined) by choosing whole-grain pretzels, biscuits, cereal, and tortillas, and whole fruits and vegetables.

For fibre, vitamins, and minerals, as well as colour for your menu, fruits and vegetables make ideal travel mates.

Pack fruits that don’t bruise easily, such as apples, grapes, pears, and cherry tomatoesDried fruit—raisins, apricots, pineapple, mangoes, papaya, and so on—pack a punch with minerals and fibreTuck into an assortment of sugar snap peas, cucumber spears, and carrot and celery sticks with a side order of salad dressing, hummous, or black bean dip for an abundance of anti-oxidants, fibre, and vitaminsFor a treat, make your own snack mix with nuts, seeds, dried apples, raisins, dates, chocolate or carob crisps, and low-sugar, high-fibre cereal

This trove will come in handy if you find yourself out of food and in the midst of a long layover at the airport or at the tail end of a long drive.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate

Nip dehydration in the bud by drinking lots of water before you embark on your journey and by avoiding alcohol and caffeinated drinks while en route. Make water a constant travel companion or sip decaffeinated teas or fruit juice mixed with fizzy water.

Nip dehydration in the bud by drinking lots of water before your journey...

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Kathleen Finn

Kathleen Finn is a freelance food and health writer in Portland, OR. She gladly packs her own healthy picnic when travelling by plane, train, or automobile.

2007-09-01