Proper planning and boosting your health before your trip is the best way to avoid getting sick and making the most out of your travel spree. There are tons of articles providing tops while staying abroad, when in fact, you must prevent getting sick at all by preparing while you’re still here.
Traveling puts great pressure on our immune system, even if it’s just for fun; the travel stress, breaking of routine, jet lag, ‘plastic’ flight food, exposure to sick people and different environment/climate may take a toll on your body. Here are some of the things you can do to boost your health before traveling overseas.
Maintain a healthy diet. Start eating food with high fibre, high protein, and low carb content. Go for easy to digest meals with plenty of fresh veggies. Like all fighting source, our body’s immune system derives its nutrients from good, regular nourishment.
Stock up and eat fermented foods like pickles, sauerkraut, and yoghurt, which contains probiotics. Start taking vitamin C and B as well to naturally boost your immune system. Drink around 8 to 10 glasses of water per day – and do it with water, not soda, while traveling.
Exercise. You need to start being as active as possible to maintain good blood circulation and to obtain a healthy weight. Regular exercise is still one of the pillars of a healthy human being. By maintaining a good circulation of blood, you allow the cells and other good substances of the immune system to move through the body efficiently and do their job freely.
You don’t need to do it the whole day, just a 30-minute aerobic exercise – even a brisk walk counts and will make your blood cells active and go back into circulation, enhancing your immune system and causing it to run more smoothly.
Snooze more. Get at least 8 hours of sleep each night. Sleep deprivation can weaken your immune system and make it lose to incoming sickness-causing free radicals and viruses. Sleep produces natural levels of melatonin, which restores the immune system.
Stop smoking. And be sure not to be around anyone when you’re doing it. Smoking is a natural enemy of the whole body, and second-hand smoke can be as harmful to others as it is to you. If you don’t smoke, avoid second-hand smoke as well – including spending time with people while they are smoking.
Spot check your skin. Few people know this, but our skin is the largest organ in our body. Your skin will most likely take most of the brunt of traveling effects, including environmental changes. When traveling to other locations (Dubai, Australia, tropics for example) with high sun exposure rate, it is best to get skin checkup before travelling. Spot checking or skin spot screening is a process used by doctors to assess your spots and see if you are in danger of skin diseases or even cancer, which might get worse when exposed to harsh environments. There’s no appointment necessary in most clinics, so you should definitely include this as a pre-travel necessity.
There you go; following the tips above will ensure that your health will be in top condition when you travel abroad. Plan well and enjoy your trip!