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NUTRISPEAK by Vesanto Melina MS, RD
For many of us, winter heralds the pleasure of travel. For some, it is the best season to visit exotic locations and escape from the cold and rain. For others, it’s an opportunity to reconnect with distant family members. Work-related projects recently took me to California and Barcelona, Spain, and this month’s column was inspired by KLM’s strict vegetarian meal, served on my return flight via Amsterdam.
My dinner consisted of roasted eggplant in a delicious sauce, couscous with currants and coriander, a diced beet salad with endive, and fresh fruit slices (pineapple, grapefruit, and kiwi) with a fruit sauce for dessert. Not bad for an airline.
Whether you are a vegetarian, vegan, or raw food enthusiast, or you have food sensitivities, or you simply want to enjoy healthy meals during your travels, a little pre-planning will help you meet your food requirements, wherever you go. Here are some pointers:
1. Specify food preferences in advance
Pack your own healthy lunch for short flights; on longer flights, most airlines offer a meal service that caters to special needs. You can request several types of vegetarian diets and order an appropriate meal for your food sensitivities. Whether you are travelling by train, plane, or cruise ship, discuss food restrictions when you book your journey. You will often be pleasantly surprised at how well these companies take care of you.
2. Research the internet
Conduct some internet research to find food establishments along your travel route and at your destination. Vegetarian restaurants typically serve meals that are free of fish, dairy, eggs, animal products, and gluten-free grains. These establishments can accommodate a wide variety of health conditions, including diabetes, heart conditions, and other chronic diseases. Visit www.vegdining.com, www.happycow.com, and www.ivu.org, and also check out some sites related to food allergies.
Before you arrive you may wish to contact restaurants , via phone or email, to explain your limitations and to ask whether they are equipped to accommodate your needs.
3. Check out the food guides
The Vegetarian Journal’s Guide to Natural Food Restaurants in the U.S. and Canada is handy during road trips (www.vrg.org). For information about vegetarian restaurants in Europe, visit www.vegetarianguides.co.uk. Our books, Becoming Vegetarian, Becoming Vegan, and Raising Vegetarian Children all include travel sections, as does the Food Allergy Survival Guide. (Available at Banyen, Chapters, and Amazon.com.)
4. Pack some containers
It can be immensely helpful to purchase a few spill-proof containers in suitable sizes for a serving of vegetable or bean salad, hummus, salad dressing, nut butters, or a non-dairy beverage to round out the foods available enroute. You may want to bring a plastic fork and spoon. (To my amusement, in the wake of increased airline security since 9/11, I once had my small, plastic fork confiscated before boarding a Hawaiian airliner, after which the airline supplied me with an identical plastic fork for its in-flight snack.)
Certain foods pack well for travel. Combine your favourite nuts and dried fruits to create a nourishing, and even exotic, trail mix. Bring small packages of non-dairy milk, although cereals, granola, and muesli also taste good with fruit juice. You’ll find delicious, fresh juices in airports throughout Europe and even in the departures area of our own Vancouver airport. For a protein boost, reconstitute individual portions of instant soup mix (black bean, lentil, or curry) with hot water. Mix ready-to-eat tofu with a little seasoning and chopped, raw veggies to make a dip or sandwich filling. When food foraging is challenging, add a multivitamin mineral supplement.
5. Plan your exercise program
Fitness profoundly affects how we feel, so it’s wise to include it in your plans. When I travel as a speaker or am visiting, I advise my hosts that I prefer to include an hour of exercise every day; I inquire about the proximity of beautiful parks, swimming pools, and recreational facilities. Fitness becomes a rich and integral part of our itinerary. In Barcelona, in addition to visiting a Gaudi park, we toured an interactive playground with an immense xylophone that allowed children and adults to leap from note to note, teeter-totters that triggered fountain sprays, and unique merry-go-rounds.
Travel in good health and bon voyage.
Vesanto Melina is a BC-based registered dietitian and author of a number of best-selling books about food and nutrition. For personal consultations, call 604-888-8325 (Fort Integrated Health Clinic) or 604-882-6782 (home office, near Fort Langley). www.nutrispeak.com
For issues related to factory farming, see the University of Toronto’s Coalition of Animal Rights and the Environment (CARE) website: http://utcare.sa.utoronto.ca/meat1.htm
For facts about free-range poultry, see www.cok.net/lit/freerange.php
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