I’m heading off on vacation tomorrow and, since that entails flying from Virginia to Seattle, I thought it would be timely to publish this post! When it comes to travel, I wouldn’t call myself paranoid. I would call myself a prepared researcher.
Since I have an autoimmune disease, I have learned through experience that I must prioritize my health in situations like travel. I definitely do a lot more health research than my other family members when it comes to travel. Which is a good and bad thing, because now I know that airplane rides offer an extremely potent source of radiation!
Airplanes a source of radiation? This may be news for you, since it isn’t widely discussed. Yes, the plane ride itself gives as much as 1,000 times the radiation of the airport body scanners. Dr. Mercola, natural health expert and Weston A. Price fan, explains:
Nearly everyone forgets that when you fly, there is also ionizing radiation exposure. In fact, on a typical transcontinental flight at 30,000 feet you will be exposed to 20 microsieverts of radiation. That is 1,000 times the dose you receive from the scanner. (Read more here).
So what are some practical steps to take to minimize the harmful effects of travel radiation, besides skipping the body scanner? Try these options:
1. Take antioxidants before and during the flight
Antioxidants protect from the free radical damage of radiation. We can get antioxidants from both food and supplements, but I recommend bolstering both sources of antioxidants to prepare for a flight.
Food sources of antioxidants
- Quality saturated fats from animal sources such as tallow, real lard and butterfat. These contain lipid-soluble antioxidant vitamin E. Also, the vitamin D in these sources (particularly lard) has a protective quality against radiation. Additionally, quality saturated fats will help combat the increased circulation of free fatty acids (free fatty acids = bad news) due to the stress and reduced oxygen in the plane. You will have more free fatty acids if you eat a lot of polyunsaturated fats, so ditch the toxic vegetable oils!
- Fresh, raw fruits and vegetables. Berries and leafy greens are often touted as antioxidant storehouses.
- Matcha. Matcha is concentrated green tea powder, a long-revered superfood with a potent dose of antioxidants. I drink a packet of matcha in a water bottle during my flights. I recommend MatchaDNA which is smooth and not bitter, plus it comes in convenient serving-size packets (perfect to keep in your purse!).
Supplemental Antioxidants
Astaxanthin is the most powerful antioxidant of which we know. Dr. Mercola sings its praises when it comes to providing free radical and radiation protection.
- When it comes to free radical scavenging, it is 64 times more powerful than vitamin C and 14 times more powerful than vitamin E.
- It is a UVB absorber and can therefore reduce the DNA damage by flight radiation
- It is a natural anti-inflammatory agent
- It acts like a natural internal sunscreen and reduces your susceptibility to sunburn
Dr. Mercola says that 4 mg per day (that means two of these tablets) must be taken on a daily basis for at least three weeks before the flight to offer protection.
2. Fly at night
According to Dr. Mercola:
The simplest solution is to fly at night or at least avoid flying from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with noon being the worst. If you fly at night you can reduce your radiation risk by 99 percent because nearly all of the radiation from the sun is being blocked by the earth. (Source.)
3. Take an anti-radiation bath after the flight
An epsom salt and baking soda bath will help detox radiation from your system. Take this bath as soon as you can after your flight, but do it when you can nap or sleep after because it is quite draining.
Epsom salt dissolved in a hot bath is a widely applauded method of detox. It is also believed to combat the effects of radiation and EMFs. Baking soda dissolved in bath water will also help rebalance and clear the body’s energy systems.
All you have to do is purchase a container of epsom salts (just the plain kind, not the “flavored” versions with fragrance) and a 1 lb. box of baking soda once you reach your destination. Dissolve the baking soda and 1 lb. of epsom salts in a hot bath and soak for 20-30 minutes. You can also travel with your bath ball chlorine filter to remove the toxic chlorine from your bath water. If this is not an option, though, you will still benefit greatly from the anti-radiation bath.
Do you travel frequently? Do you practice any routines to stay healthy during the trip?
We are about to fly from OH to WA for the vacation of our dreams! LOVE that state. But yes, that’s a long hard day of radiation for us. What if we don’t have access to a tub? Would a foot bath of epsom salts and baking soda still be useful????
Thanks for your help!!
Thanks for an informative post. I knew about radiation on flights, but didn’t know there were ways to deal with it.. Pinning this for future use.. thanks.
Oy vey.
Australian BUG SPRAY!!! Acccccccgggggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My husband has started flying again (pilot), so I’ve started pampering him with foot soaks when he returns from a flight. Now I know to add some astaxanthin to his vitamin intake. Thanks! 🙂
Radiation from the sun yes. And now we are adding to the possible harm with installing Wi-Fi in the airplanes.
And then like 70 or so people using their smartphones and tablets onboard – all radiating each other. Like a good microwave oven – the microwaves bounche back into the cabin from the metallic plane, making the radiation even stronger.
I think all sensible people should voice their concern to the flight companies every time they fly. We need Wi-Fi free airplanes.
Amen about Wi-Fi free airplanes! It places a high EMF burden on all the travelers.
Thanks for sharing. As a nutritionist, I share on the following for best protection and defence for the body:
Eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, ideally as a raw salad or as juices.
Take food supplements like Super Green Food ++ or Spirulina
Take sufficient Omega 3essential fatty acids
Include the antioxidant Astaxanthin, mangosteen, pine bark extract, grape seed extract, lycopene, green tea extract, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and CoQ10 into your everyday life.
Do Coffee Enemas regularly
Go through Datin Dr Lynn Tan’s Detoxification and Rejuvenation Programme (DRP) once or twice a year to flush out free radicals and other toxins to restore a nutritional balance and strengthen your immunity. For more info on the DRP, pls visit jumptonewlife.blogspot.com
Lots of bad advice. Please reference nutritionfacts.org which is a summary of solid nutrition studies in peer reviewed journals. Bottom line: eat whole plant foods, don’t take supplements (for the most part).
This is a bit of misplaced paranoia. The average person receive 10 micro sievert(Sv) per day from background radiation. A plane flight from New York to L.A. exposes you to about 40 micro Sv.
For comparison, eating a banana exposes you to 1 micro Sv, having a mammogram exposes you to 400 micro Sv, CT scans exposes you to 2000 micro Sv – 10,000 micro Sv.
Over the course of 1 year, the average person is exposed to about 370 micro Sv from natural background radiation. The lowest radiation dosage linked to cancer risks is 100,000 micro Sv/year.
You’d have to fly from NY to LA almost 2,500 in a year to reach the level associated with a cancer risk.
If you are concerned about such a small amount of radiation, you should probably also stop eating bananas or tree nuts or living in a stone or brick home. You should not have granite or marble counter tops in you home.
Also, Wifi and cellphone EMR, unlike the radiation from sources listed above is not ionized radiation and does not pose a cancer risk.
Hi.
I strongly reccomend you check your sources.
The average exposure to cosmic radiation is around 0.6 msv per 100 block hours.
This is nowhere near the 20 that you state…
Infact red levels that high would cause significant damage after a single flight let alone a career spaning 20 years as experienced by many pilots and flight crew.
Whilst I agree diet is important and that flights can cause issues with health……. recycled and dehumidified air is your greater problem.
These radiation figures are honeslty quite un realistic.
This is a bonafide reseach paper stating radiation values experienced…
https://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/faqs/commercialflights.html
Happy researching.
Hi
I am planning to travel 50 hrs total over a period of one month . I am pregnant now and this plan is already made . There are too many concerns raised online about radiation . Are they true ? My doctor said I could travel . And many other specialists whom I met .:: can u suggest ?
Sorry but taking a bath will not “detox” you from external radiation. if you ingested radioactive isotopes maybe but just being exposed to the energy doesnt mean it will linger in your system
Do EMF blankets help with protection against radiation on the plane?