What food to eat aboard a plane? Quite a lot has been written on the subject, including hygienic advice from former flight attendants. However, although hygiene standards should prevent you from falling seriously ill by consuming airplane food and beverages, there’s something else you might want to keep in mind: your comfort and that of those travelling with you.
The human body is already quite a mysterious vessel under normal circumstances but when flying thousands of feet in the air, things get even stranger. Many of us will already have noticed how the digestion system might conduct itself slightly strangely when in the air and sometimes, this can cause quite a bit of discomfort. Nothing is quite as awkward as feeling your belly get bloated when you’ve still got multiple hours to travel and nowhere to really isolate yourself.
Luckily, according to Jamila Musayeva, an etiquette coach schooled in the US who’s now living in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, and Jacqueline Whitmore, a former-flight-attendant-turned-etiquette-expert and the founder of the Protocol School of Palm Beach in Florida, there are some things you can do to make the journey more enjoyable for both you and the other passengers on the plane. In an interview with the New York Post, they unveil the food categories you better avoid.
The more subtle the food, the better
Firstly, try to eat as little salted dishes as possible. Not only will they make you feel thirsty and thus more likely to having to use to toilet, they can also make you feel bloated and slightly swollen.
Secondly, fish and egg-based meals are to be avoided at all cost according to the etiquette experts. They are likely to go off more quickly then other foods and your other passengers will thank you as well for putting them aside. The same goes for garlic-based dishes, which aren’t a treat for anyone but you.
“Even when prepared fresh, they tend to give off a strong scent once reheated, which can quickly fill a confined cabin space. Not everyone is tolerant of that smell, especially on long-haul flights. It lingers and can make nearby passengers feel nauseated. On a plane, subtle choices are often kinder,” Jamila Musayeva told the New York Post.
Fried foods, too, are better avoided when flying. They are difficult to digest and leave an unpleasant smell in the cabin. The lighter the meal you eat while travelling, the better it will sit on your stomach. For that reason, creamy or dairy-heavy foods in general tend not to go down well either.
Lastly, beans and cabbages are already well-known for their bloating and gas-creating effects under normal circumstances and those tend to get even worse when in the air. Not cool for you, not cool for the other travellers.
Overall, when choosing what to eat on your next flight, try to think about a first date. All the foods you wouldn’t eat before meeting someone for the first time, for whatever reason, are better avoided when flying as well.
