Nutrition for travel: what you need to know

A research review from the Performance Digest

Background & Objective

We all travel, but how many of us consider the importance of domestic and international travel for both us and our athletes in regard to fatigue, food and fluid intake, catering provision, and guidelines at hotels? The authors of this manuscript have worked with some of the best athletes in the world, travelling both domestically and internationally to major events, for example, the Diamond League track and field event. In this article, they uncover and provide important considerations that we should plan for when working with athletes who may need to travel for both training camps and competitions.

What They Did

The management of new or challenging environmental conditions (e.g. heat and altitude) is detailed elsewhere (link below), and as such, this review focuses on the challenges around travel itself, adaptation to new time zones and meeting nutrition goals in different/foreign food environments. In particular, they discuss:

⇒ Jetlag and Melatonin.

⇒ Caffeine.

⇒ Meal timing.

⇒ Meal composition.

⇒ Travel itinerary.

⇒ Catering in new environments

What They Found

Jetlag is caused mainly due to a mismatch between the body’s own circadian rhythm and the external 24-h light-dark cycle. The most powerful Zeitgeber (rhythm cue in the environment) is light, and therefore the addition of melatonin may act as a sleep aid during times when rest and sleep are required.

Caffeine is one of the most common means of alleviating daytime fatigue experienced as a consequence of jetlag with caffeine decreasing sleepiness in comparison to melatonin and placebo.

Feeding and fasting cycles are one of the primary cues for the peripheral clocks, in particular, the liver clock is sensitive to both the meal timing and meal composition of food. A recent study confirmed there is insufficient evidence in supporting meal timing and alleviating jetlag.

Meal composition does show some promising evidence regarding disturbed sleep, which is often a deliberating consequence of jetlag. L-tryptophan, when high, has been linked to increased melatonin production in the brain.

Travel itineraries will influence practical opportunities to optimise meal-type and meal-timing during travel, and even short-haul travel can result in poor eating. Avoidance of large meals, caffeine, and alcohol before and during travel should be advised for those with travel sickness.

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Practical Takeaways

The majority of the research has studied dosages of 2-8 mg of melatonin with eastward travel, although side effects of hypnotic effects, confusion, and headaches may occur. With a potential 465 % batch-to-batch variation in melatonin and lack of regulation, means it should be considered before use.

200 mg of caffeine has been shown to delay melatonin rhythm strongly and consistently by 40 min when taken 3 h before bedtime.

Assisting melatonin production can be achieved by including the intake of dietary proteins, ingesting carbohydrates, ingesting a high-fat meal, or performing strenuous exercise, and as such, allowing tryptophan to bind to albumin in the blood.

Packing food to consume on the trip reduces impromptu stops and the selection of less suitable choices from convenience options. Carrying appropriate snacks (e.g. bars, fresh and dried fruit, nuts) to supplement intake during the flight is advised, especially if the nutritional needs of the athlete is high (i.e., a 120 kg rugby player). Special requests can always be made to the air-crew for extra fluid to remain hydrated during the flight.

Reviewer’s Comments

“This review provides some great practical solutions which can be applied straight away. Athletes and coaches spend weeks, if not months, working on brilliant programmes for training adaptation and body composition manipulation, for example, but if the athlete falls ill or has a poor travelling experience on the way to the competition, all this hard work could be undone.

Last December, a boxer I work with had a world title fight at Maddison Square Garden, New York. For his flight from London to the United States of America, I made up a simple flight nutrition “care package” which included the following:

⇒ First defence nasal spray (checked on Global Dro) – nose defence.

⇒ Chewing gum – oral defence.

⇒ Protein bar – nutrition.

⇒ Biltong – nutrition.

⇒ Mixed nuts – nutrition and salts.

⇒ Protein powder – nutrition.

⇒ Electrolyte tablets – hydration.

The podcast, video, and infographic below discuss similar strategies for food when travelling and consumed alongside his in-flight meals. This ensured that his immunity and nutritional needs were taken care of and he arrived fit and healthy ready for his weight cut.”

Want to learn more?
Then check these out…

Read this article
Look at this infographic
Listen to this podcast

The full study can be read here.