TV Segment: How to Stay Healthy While on the Move and Traveling

Very excited to share my top 5 Travel Tips in this network TV segment!

When we look back on vacations, we want to remember the good times.

“My favorite place was New Zealand. The people there, the nature,” recalled Dr. John Ayo, a naturopath who practices in Plano.

Ayo is sharing his top 5 tips on staying healthy before you head off on your next big trip– whether for business or pleasure.

“Companies expect you to be at your best and when you’re not, it’s not good,” said Ayo, who worked as an executive for IBM before transitioning to his work as a naturopath.

Ayo said the key to staying healthy during any type of travel is to reduce your stress.

“It’s going to make the trip better, it’s going to help my immune system so [you] don’t get sick,” Ayo said. When you plan the trip of a lifetime and you get over there and you’re jet lagged and sick, it’s not good for anybody.”

Why do some people tend to get sick when we travel?

“People are amped up,” Ayo explained. “My flight’s late, I’ve got to run to the airport… so stress starts to knock down the immune system. Then, we’re around the people who are coughing on the plane and picking up the tray to go through security that is just full of germs.”

Ayo said creating a packing list is top priority.

Here’s Ayo’s packing list:

1. An Immune Support Supplement

If you do start to feel sick during the voyage or when you land, Ayo suggests avoiding food containing sugar, dairy and wheat.

“Those three things [can] really knock down your immune system,” Ayo said.

For nausea or tummy problems, eat ginger.

If you start feeling really crummy, get your hands on some raw garlic. In a pinch, it can help to fight off infection.

“It may not smell great, but at least it’ll help you to fight that off,” Ayo said. ]

2. Pack a sleep mask and a pair of noise-cancellation headphones

“Put those things on and turn on the noise-canceling part to drown out the engine noise because that [airplane] engine noise – just that frequency– really knocks down the body’s energy levels,” Ayo said.

3. Stay Hydrated

“If you took a wet wash cloth and brought it on the plane, about an hour and a half later, it would be dry. It’s so dehydrating on that plane,” Ayo explained. “When you get through security, I always recommend buying a bottle of water.”

Another option Ayo shared is to take an empty bottle onto the airplane and ask flight attendants for a few cups of water with no ice in order to fill your bottle and sip the water throughout the flight.

If your legs or ankles swell during long flights, try Collinsonia root to help with circulation.

4. Earthing

To avoid jet lag, don’t think about what time it is back home. Do whatever it takes to stay up until 9pm the first two nights of your trip in order to adjust to your body clock. Ayo recommended getting your bare feet on the grass or beach as soon as possible after landing. It’s a concept called earthing.

“It really helps to discharge a lot of that electricity from the plane,” Ayo said. “If you can get in the water, that’s even better because now you’re getting all the minerals from the ocean in you and you’re connecting with the planet.”

5. Make your hotel room or vacation house as comfortable and inviting as possible

Check for bed bugs before you unpack. Move electronics away from where you’re sleeping and turn your phones on airplane mode if possible.

Bust out a travel diffuser and one of your favorite soothing essential oils like lavender.

“Diffuse it in the room [or] if you forget it, you can just have a cotton ball – a couple of drops [of essential oils] stick it in the vent… that will get the smell in the room and help calm you down,” Ayo said.

Remember: staying stress-free this summer will best support the immune system for healthy travels. Bon Voyage!

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