Read

May/June 2011 Alternative Health
Food Sensitivities to Go

by Durga Fuller

Summer is on its way. Can you feel it? We're opening slowly but surely as the days get longer. For many of us, summer means vacation.

If you're living with food sensitivities, or other health issues that respond to a nutritional approach, traveling can be daunting. You can get a smooth groove going in your home and familiar shopping venues, but vacation can feel like a nightmare of not knowing if there will be food you can eat that won't make you or your family feel like heading straight back home.

A little planning can go a long way. Here are some simple tips for traveling when you have food sensitivities.

Supplements. If they're part of your regimen, don’t forget them. A day or two off your regular doses of vitamins and other helpful nutritional powerhouses might be okay, but I find if we try to go too long without, we get into trouble. Count what you need into snack-sized baggies and label them with permanent markers.

Air travel. If you’re flying, the snacks offered will not be health friendly, so pack your own healthy snacks. But remember, TSA doesn’t allow liquids through airport checkpoints (and you can only bring pastes in three ounce containers). Fresh raw or steamed veggies, whole fruit, boiled eggs, whole avocados (you can ask for a plastic utensil from the flight crew to cut into it), some acceptable crackers, cheese if you tolerate it, or sandwiches with gluten-free bread stuffed with hummus, nut butters, or sliced organic or pastured meats are all foods that work for us. 

Road trips and car camping. Bring your cooler and pack it with the things you usually eat. Make double meals for a week or two prior to your trip and freeze the second half. You can use the frozen meals to supplement the ice in your cooler for a couple of days, and once thawed, they’ll be good for a few days after that. 

Back packing. This will take more planning. Most prepackaged dehydrated foods are packed with hidden additives that will ruin your day. Rice pasta packs well, and all other permitted grains, and you can buy plain dehydrated vegetables or make them yourself for soups. Bring some coconut butter or cream in a plastic bag for added richness and energy. Healthy meat jerky and nuts are good protein options.

Hotels. Look for places with at least a refrigerator. If you can afford a place with a kitchenette, go for it. The money and headache you’ll save yourself in having to negotiate restaurants for every meal, or trying to create meals without access to any equipment will be worth it.

Staying with family. Ironically, this can be the most challenging situation we deal with when traveling. One would think it should be the easiest — you’ll have a kitchen available to you, people you’re looking forward to seeing will be there to take care of you, and you’ll be settling into a familiar environment.

But let’s face it, most of us didn’t grow up knowing about our food intolerances, or how to eat healthy. This takes planning and sensitivity. Call ahead and explain clearly that things have changed: You or your children are sick in various ways, or have been diagnosed with allergies, and that you’re feeling so much better since you’ve made the changes that your health care professionals have recommended. Keep it simple and matter of fact. Ask for support. 

Offer to cook for yourselves. At the very least request an area in the refrigerator and pantry to keep safe products for your family to supplement meals that contain items that are off limits. Because I have cooking skills, a tack I have taken is to offer to shop for and cook dinners for the whole extended family. It has ruffled feathers a few times, but when I’ve explained how complex our family’s needs are, often people are happier handing the reins over to me. 

Durga Fuller is a whole health integration counselor and cooking teacher specializing in nutrient-dense, allergen-free foods. Visit www.thecookawakening.com.