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You may have noticed that travel, particularly on a plane and across time zones, can stress the immune system and weaken your defenses against the common cold or flu.
What you may not have known is that air travel can also deprive the body of oxygen. And this can happen in the most unlikely of places—in the gastrointestinal tract.
Boosting good bacteria in the gut with a probiotic beverage like InnergyBiotic can buffer a potential autoimmune response brought on by air travel — especially important for those with Crohn's disease.
At the 2012 Digestive Disease Week conference in San Diego, scientists revealed that people struggling with inflammation in the gut may be at a higher risk for inflammatory flare-ups when they fly.
Researchers in Switzerland observed 103 individuals over the course of 30 days. Of this pool, 52 people experienced gastrointestinal flare-ups, and 51 people were in what is called remission.1
Remission is a term used in medicine to describe when symptoms of a disease have disappeared, even though the disease itself has not been cured. Cancer and autoimmune disorders can go into remission.
A flare-up is a word used to describe when a disease process is active and symptoms of the disease are at their worst.
According to this study, those with more air miles or those who frequently traveled to altitudes higher than 6,500 feet were more likely to experience a flare-up in symptoms.
While scientists decided that it is too soon to draw any conclusions about the effects of air travel on inflammatory gut disorders, there is enough of a correlation to raise eyebrows and prompt further investigation.
So many people are affected by some degree of inflammation in the gut. While flying may provoke an inflammatory response, it would be unreasonable to suggest that people eliminate air travel altogether.
If you suffer from any form of inflammation in the gut, you can optimize your gut health by following these easy steps while flying:
When it comes to the gut, this study shows that those with Crohn’s disease are affected more than anyone else by air travel.
Crohn’s disease is categorized as an autoimmune disorder. This means the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells of gastrointestinal tract. Like other inflammatory disorders of the gut, Crohn’s disease involves an immune system that lacks balance. More recent research also suggests that the inner ecology of those with Crohn’s is radically unhealthy.2,3
Hypoxia (when the body is starved of oxygen) promotes inflammation.
Before you travel, find an herbalist or naturopathic physician that will design a formula for you that specifically supports the blood and its movement. This is because blood is what delivers oxygen to the body.
An herb called dong quai, found in Body Ecology’s Dong Quai probiotic beverage, is known as one of the most important blood tonics in Chinese medicine. It supports the production of blood in the body. It is known to help move blood and circulate oxygen throughout tissue; it also contains vitamin B12.
Two western herbs that help to promote blood circulation are:
Enzymes are essential to the digestive process. Like beneficial bacteria, enzymes help to break food down into smaller pieces so that the body can use it.
When it comes to inflammatory disorders of the gut, brush border enzymes are what suffer the most. Brush border enzymes are also what can help to heal inflamed and destroyed tissue.
These are enzymes like:
When the tissue of the intestinal wall is damaged from hypoxia and inflammation, it simply does not have the energy or raw materials to supply these crucial brush border enzymes as found in Assist Full Spectrum enzymes.
We can eat the best food—all organic, local, and sustainable—but if we do not have the enzymes to digest this food, we are still undernourished.
The cells of the small intestine use an amino acid called L-glutamine for fuel.
Research has found that L-glutamine actually supports the growth and repair of these cells, which are often damaged in those who have Crohn’s disease or even irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). L-glutamine is literally food for the cells of the small intestine!
Bone broth contains these nutrients that can help to rebuild the gut barrier.
If bone broth is not convenient or practical while traveling, we suggest using Vitality SuperGreen, which contains a covalent-bonded form of glutamine called GlutImmune. It is ten times stronger than L-glutamine.
In between flare-ups and even when symptoms of gut inflammation are at their worst, give your body extra support with L-glutamine.
Air travel is a common stressor to the immune system. Even worse, it can deprive the body of oxygen and greatly affect the health of the gastrointestinal tract. In fact, research suggests that gastrointestinal flare-ups may be directly associated with air travel, although a final conclusion has yet to be made.
Individuals that are the most vulnerable to gut inflammation caused by air travel are sufferers of irritable bowel disease, inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease. The reason? When the body is starved of oxygen at a high altitude, it can lead to hypoxia, which will cause inflammation and destroy healthy tissue. This aggravation can make pre-existing gut disorders even worse.
Of course, it’s not possible to avoid flying altogether. When it comes to air travel, you can use these helpful tips to protect your health and enjoy your trip from start to finish:
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