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Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Airplanes, travel, and skin care: Help with internal hydration

Although using products topically will help keep your skin feeling good while you’re traveling by air, I have some suggestions for things to do for yourself internally that can help with the stress your body might go through during travel time.

When you fly, not only does your skin become dehydrated, but you can suffer from internal dehydration as well. The best way to keep your insides hydrated is to drink lots of water. This may seem obvious, but whenever I fly it seems to me people are drinking sodas and coffee more than plain water.

I’ve heard a rumor that airlines might start charging for water, something that has always been offered for free. I’d recommend purchasing a big bottle of water to have with you on the plane. It’ll be clean, filtered water and if you’re going to have to pay anyway, you’ll probably get a better deal from one of the stores in the airport vs. what the airline may charge you once you’re on the plane. In other words: Be prepared!

Drinking water doesn’t necessarily (and certainly doesn’t immediately) hydrate your outer skin, although a lot of people think it does. But drinking water is good for you internally; all organs benefit from drinking plain old water. This includes your eliminating organs (namely the kidneys, liver, colon, and of course your skin), which definitely need this extra hydration to help combat the drying effects incurred on an airplane.

If you are going to have cocktails on your flight, please be sure to drink extra water with them. Alcohol is a diuretic, and the last thing you need to do while you’re traveling is to leach water out of your body. The 2:1 rule definitely applies here. Try to drink two glasses of water for every one glass of alcohol. And try to only drink clean, bottled water.

Another way to get water into your system along with good nutrition is through eating fruit. Fruit is loaded with antioxidant vitamins and water. And fruit is self-contained. You can just throw an apple or orange into your bag and there’s no preparation needed. Or you can spend a few minutes and cut up your favorite fruits, put the pieces in a small plastic container and you’re set. They’ll have napkins and utensils on the plane—all you need is the food.

Fruit—most fruit—is digested in the small intestine, so it doesn’t take a lot of energy to process. This is important because, as I’ve said before, I believe flying at such high altitudes makes it hard for your body to process food. Add to the dehydration factor poor digestion, which can easily equal constipation, and this is enough to ruin your entire trip.

Being prepared is always a good thing no matter the circumstances. When it comes to airplane travel, having extra water along with fruit or other healthy food can make your travel time go smoother and keep your body, inside and out, better hydrated.

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