On a recent visit to Asia I managed to acquire the feet and ankles of an old lady. Not by making some sinister purchase, you understand, but as a result of water retention caused by the plane cabin pressure.In the comments for the blog post I wrote when I returned, someone with medical knowledge offered an explanation for something I already suspected: that eating bad food and drinking alcohol made the condition worse. As a reminder, here are the photos from the Asia trip:
During the Asia trip
3 days after Asia trip, after detoxing
Today, I am coming to the end of another business trip, this time to Boston. Earlier in the week, when I arrived after an 8-hour transatlantic flight and 90-minute connecting flight, I took this photo of my feet:
Immediately after the transatlantic and connecting flights
No swelling at all. The flight had been almost as long as the ones I had been taking in Asia, yet my feet were fine. The difference? This time I had one coffee, lots of water and no food.
So for this n=1 study, the evidence supports the hypothesis that eating and drinking crap makes flight-induced swollen feet worse.
So for this n=1 study, the evidence supports the hypothesis that eating and drinking crap makes flight-induced swollen feet worse.
ShareThis
2 comments:
Have you thought about trying compression socks when flying? They're big in the athlete world... but would provide the same benefit to you during long flights
http://www.cepsocks.com/
Just a thought
thanks biochemsita - my friend has suggested this before, and he swears by it. I hesitate to buy any, however, since right now the swelling is a significant disincentive to bad dietary behaviour when flying!
Post a Comment