Insights from the Editor
Tips for Eating Healthy When Flying
If you've flown recently you may have noticed your eating options are getting better. True, fewer airlines are serving free meals on board, but there are more healthier dining options before you board.
More airports have added concessions with menus reflecting consumer demand for more salads, whole-wheat bread and even grab-and-go prepackaged vegetable crudités.
At America's busiest hub—Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport—the convenience store-like set up at Z Market on T, A and B concourses features refrigerated selections of entree salads, fresh sandwiches, fruit and cheese combos. You can also pick up an apple or a banana.
The sandwich options are getting healthier, too. It used to be that the average airport coffee stand offered only sandwiches on white bread. But Starbucks now offers sandwiches made on whole-wheat bread and they even include nutrition information on their packages.
If you're planning to travel this holiday season, here are a few tips for healthier eating:
Eat before you go.
Time allowing, have a good breakfast or lunch before you head to the airport, including a lean protein choice such as eggs, turkey, chicken, roast beef or fish. Protein will keep your blood sugar on an even keel for a few hours and your appetite in check so you're not desperately hungry before takeoff.
Take food with you.
Did you know most food items are okay to take through security? Leave the beverages behind—you'll have to buy those on the concourses—but, save money, time and trouble by bringing your own sandwiches or healthy snacks such a nuts, dried fruit, whole-wheat crackers and hard cheese.
Note that the Transportation and Safety Administration provides a list of foods on its website that are not allowed, including creamy dips, soft spreadable cheeses and peanut butter. They fall into the disallowed category of "gel-like substances."
A special note on the TSA's website informs travelers: "You can bring pies and cakes through the security checkpoint, but please be advised that they are subject to additional screening." Guess that's if the chocolate cake you're bringing to grandma's house looks especially delicious.
Related Links:
How to make healthy eating choices at the food courtFrequent flyer? Find healthier options on the road.
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About the Author
Noted nutrition expert and television personality Carolyn O'Neil, MS, RD has a refreshing food philosophy: “The more you know, the more you can eat!” A registered dietitian and award-winning author and journalist, O'Neil reported on food and health at CNN for nearly 20 years. Carolyn is the co-author of The Dish on Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous!.
Carolyn is an AOL Diet & Fitness Coach with online weight control workshops, writes a weekly column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Healthy Eating Out” and appears on the Food Network as “The Lady of the Refrigerator,” a recurring nutrition expert on Alton Brown’s hit program Good Eats.
Visit CarolynOneil.com for more.
Recent article in Budget Travel magazine listed the "germiest" places on an airplane, with the tray table and seat-back pocket being high on the list, so probably best to eat your meal in the airport!
You may not be able to take a drink through security but you can take an empty, refillable waterbottle through and then fill it up at the water fountain once in the termial. Saves time and money (and is often the same water you'd pay $2 a bottle for.