Even though accurate nutrition information is easily accessed nowadays by virtually anybody with an internet connection or library card, the 21st century is still stuck with one of the many issues of the previous one: poor eating habits.
A single source or any form of nutrition misinformation can’t be pinned as the only reason for this nationwide dietary problem. And it is not the lack of interest or effort on the part of the Americans, most of whom are actually health-conscious, that’s to blame. Truth be told, there are more health-conscious people in America now than ever before. The problem of poor eating habits isn’t a strategic, idealistic, or tactical one it is a logistical dilemma.
Most Americans nowadays, regardless of age, live such harried and fast-paced lifestyles that eating a nutritious meal may be considered as a luxury that is only enjoyed during special events and occasions or when there is time to cook for a meal. Nowhere is this need for wholesome eating felt more than with the typical business traveler[i].
The second biggest source for unhealthy food in the life of a typical business traveler begins at the airport. The vast majority of these hubs of transit activity offer travelers a number of fast foods or snack foods which are very excessive in carbohydrates, unsaturated fats, and loaded with calories.
But if the airport is just the second largest unhealthy food source, then what is the first? Undoubtedly, it’s the airplane food itself.
Most of the criticism faced by airline meals previously have been in large part targeting their lack of taste and variety. Yet as the overall consciousness of nutrition and lack of nutrition in some food sources has grown over the past decade, a related distress has grown over the nutritionally flawed food that almost all business travelers are subjected to while en route.
Indeed, based on a study by the American weight-loss program organization Nutricise[ii], the average meal served by airlines in all service classes tops 1000 calories. This high number for a single meal is more than half the daily total number of calories for average eaters. Yet this problem goes beyond calorie counting. An estimated 45% of the approximately 1000 calories noted in airline meals are contributed by fat, which is about 15% more than the allowable level because the contribution of fat to the daily caloric level should only be set at a maximum of 30% based on most consultants[iii].
As a result of the increased consciousness, some airlines are now offering healthier choices for business travelers to meet the challenge, which incorporates vegetarian and vegan meals that are usually (although not all the time) lower in saturated fat, calories, and sodium. However, a 2003 study[iv] by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) regrettably noted that of the 10 airlines surveyed, only 1 of the 10 was observed to provide easily accessible healthy eating choices. 3 of the 10 airlines provided some degree of wholesome eating options, though planning ahead was necessary — something that is not always feasible for business travelers. And the last 6 of the 10 airways surveyed had been largely criticized for offering only a token or even not providing at all, any vegetarian in-flight eating options (that are low in fat, sodium, and calories).
On top of this, business travelers are confronted with yet another eating problem that those not in the air are not forced to address. Whereas most individuals on the ground can physically leave a restaurant or intentionally select to buy food that conforms to a wholesome eating routine, those in the air are often forced to accept what they’re given. Most business travelers are usually short on time and running from conferences to airports and back again. Therefore, it usually comes down to eating that high-fat, high-calorie, high-sodium fare that’s served in front of you, or the alternative would be to not eat at all considering the lack of time.
Even though some awareness is slowly making headway in terms of enhancing the nutrition of business travelers, courtesy in part to the work performed by the PCRM and others, it’s still not progressing fast enough. In the U.S. alone, business travel adds to over 200 million individual-trips per year[v], which implies that many unhealthy meals are awaiting most of these business travelers who actually need more nutritious food.
The attempts to reply to this immense business traveler need which includes revised menus by some airways, have been halfhearted at best. There have additionally been several nutritional supplement choices, usually in fluid or bar form, which have proposed to help fill this business traveler’s nutritional gap.
Unfortunately, just like the revised airline meal effort, the vast majority of those supplements fall short of providing the high-protein, low-calorie, low-carbohydrate nutrition that travelers need. The few products that are able to meet the protein, calorie, and carbohydrate necessities are nonetheless devoid of some important nutrients.
However, a small variety of nutritionally sensible products are producing constructive feedback from business travelers, both for nutritional value and content, and for traveler-friendly fluid containers that may take a great deal of airport bag-handler abuse. Furthermore, since these products are liquid, they can be ingested easily without needing to be diluted, mixed, or taken with large quantities of water or other fluids.
Taken as either a supplement or a meal on its own, these intelligent and scientifically validated nutritional products which offer an entire range of important vitamins, help business travelers stay healthy in ways that fit into their busy, time-conscious lives.
References
[i] Source “Tips for Eating Healthy Away from Home”. BetterHeathUSA. http://www.betterhealthusa.com/public/267.cfm
[ii] Source: “Healthy Eating on the Road”. Business Traveler Center Magazine. http://www.businesstravelerusa.com/articles.php?articleID=291
[iii] Source: “Fat Lowering Tips”. Ask The Dietician. http://www.dietitian.com/fatlower.html
[iv] Source “Doctors Rate Airline Food for Healthy Options”. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. http://www.pcrm.org/news/health031117.html
[v] Source: “Travel Statistics and Trends”. The Travel Industry Association of America. http://www.tia.org/Travel/traveltrends.asp
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