Lee Holmes’ Travel Health Diary

It seems everyone is away or going away at the moment. Who can blame us? Places are opening up and we’re all itching to go, go, go.

Here at Supercharge Your Gut, we thought now would be a really good time to remind ourselves of some handy travel tips and ideas to make your break or work trip happy and healthy.

Lee, Supercharged Food’s founder and Clinical Nutritionist, is currently in the UK. (She’s met with The College of Naturopathic Medicine about their courses plus a new Natural Chef Course, and you can expect some great new content soon from their collaboration).

She has shared a few tips from her own experience.

“Travelling again, especially so far away and after such a long time of minimal travel, presented me with a few challenges. I travelled frequently pre-pandemic so many tips and tricks just became second nature. This time, though, things have changed and I needed to really plan ahead, not only logistically but also for my own health.

I like to hit the ground running to make the most of my time away. This means minimising jet lag and maximising my energy and immune system.

I’d love to set out some nutrition-based ideas to get your travel off to a flying start.”

“Some people suffer more than others with the dreaded jet lag. I’m somewhere in the middle, I think. In any case, my anti-lag plan will work for anyone and this protocol generally begins three days before I leave.

In this time, I get plenty of rest, exercise, hydrate with nutritious smoothies like this Gut Loving Vegan Smoothie, and eat super well (more so than usual, avoiding the sneaky snacks that I sometimes enjoy). Mostly though I get my gut into First Class (it’s the only thing I get into first class ha ;)).

Put simply, I always try to up my fibre levels with especially fibre-rich foods. I also have my daily dose of Love Your Gut powder  one teaspoon daily.  Plus, I don’t skip a Love Your Gut Synbiotic day. The Love Your Gut powder keeps my gut clean while the Synbiotic keeps it flourishing…both important to setting yourself up for travel success. The Synbiotic is also a great source of digestive enzymes and dietary fibre, along with probiotics and prebiotics to keep the microbiome and gut immune system in good shape.

Next level energy levels

And we’re not talking caffeine, sugar or guarana fueled energy drinks. We’re talking, of course, about natural energy from nutrition and hydration. Let's get back to Lee…

“Travel takes it out of me even though I’m “high” on the adrenaline of it all. This adrenaline is temporary and not to be relied on, in my experience. Much better to increase your energy stores with tried and true minerals and vitamins.

I always keep Love Your Gut capsules in my carry-on luggage. The capsules, I find, are easy to travel with (I even take enough capsules for the flight and leave the container in my luggage). Not just to keep my gut prime but just as much to extract some of that vital iron from the powder. The iron in Love Your Gut powder is naturally occurring, it’s not ‘fortified with’ or added from a lab-source.

Double up on your capsules, and if possible, drink them down with a vitamin C-rich juice (vitamin C helps with iron absorption).”

Make iron your travel companion. It not only helps with fatigue it also has many cognitive energy effects. Keep these iron-rich fresh veggies in mind too:

• Broccoli
• String beans
• Dark leafy greens – Dandelion, collard, kale, spinach
• Potatoes
• Cabbage, Brussels sprouts

We’re not immune to getting sick overseas

The last place we want to get sick with a bug or virus is when we’re overseas! With the ever-present pandemic and viruses in abundance, we need to be especially vigilant. Travel presents us with many more opportunities to get sick…with more people, all those air-conditioned airports, aircraft and rideshare or public transport options.

Again, it’s your gut to the rescue. Most of our immune response is generated from the gut where 80% of your immune cells reside. Back to Lee.

“There’s so much research and evidence to show how your gut environment affects your ability (or inability) to thwart disease. I won’t go into it here because I’d love to get straight to the tips for you.

• Hydrate and keep hydrating. Then hydrate some more.
• Up your vitamin C from fresh, natural sources ideally (but supplements will work too).
• What keeps you regular? Do more of that. I recommend fibre-rich foods.
• Keep your gut clean (and also help with regularity) with Love Your Gut powder or capsules.
• A flourishing gut is a happy gut. Take my Love Your Gut Synbiotic to keep your microbiota well-fed.

Safe and happy travels from Lee and all at Supercharge Your Gut!