5 steps to healthier flying (a survival guide for the sky)
Kaya KozaneckaWritten on 17th April
Travelling by air might be one of the least ancestral things we do. Hurtling through the sky at 35,000 feet in a pressurised metal tube flooded with blue light, EMFs, artificial air, and processed food, isn’t exactly what our biology evolved for.
And yet, at Organised we are huge proponents of adventure.
Here’s our 6 steps to care for your body before, during, and after a flight:
1. Fuel properly before takeoff
Airline meals are the opposite of nourishing, ultra-processed, seed-oil heavy, and laced with preservatives that have to survive radiation and dry pressurised air.
Did you know food served on planes has to contain more preservatives than regular processed food on the ground to prevent spoilage at high altitudes?
And airport snacks aren't much better.
Eat 1-2 hours before flying. Focus on:
- Slow cooked meats or eggs (for B vitamins, iron, protein)
- Root veg, rice or squash (gentle carbs to ground and fuel you)
- Ancestral fats like tallow, ghee, or butter (for your nervous system)
- A side of broth or fruit juice with sea salt (for minerals & hydration)
As for airport snacks:
- Grass fed jerky
- Chocolate Ghee Stuffed Dates
- Dried fruit (for example mango or a few prunes if you struggle with digestion while travelling)
- Cottage Cheese Truffles
- Crunchy Colostrum Bark
- Hard boiled eggs & sea salt
- Fruit and veg to snack on
- Animal Based Gummies
2. Prevent lymph stagnancy
Long periods of sitting slow venous return, lymphatic flow, and gut motility. The result? Swelling, constipation, brain fog, and that puffy face post-landing.
Your mission is to simulate movement without much space. And we've made you a little travel mobility routine to help:
Mini mobility routine (every hour), best done in the little patch of space outside plane bathroom:
- Spinal rolls to rehydrate spinal disks (standing or seated): Slowly roll down from the crown of your head, vertebra by vertebra, until your hands dangle by your toes.
-
Seated twists to stimulate digestion and reset midline posture: Inhale, lengthen the spine. Exhale, twist to the right, hold for 3–5 breaths. Switch sides.
- Shoulder shrugs and rolls to release stored tension in the trapezius
-
Hip circles to wake up PSOAS: Stand with feet hip-width apart, soft knees. Circle your hips slowly in both directions.
-
Leg extensions to
improve circulation to lower limbs: Extend one leg at a time, flex and point the foot for 30 seconds each.
- Neck rolls & jaw release: Roll the neck in figure-8s. Open and gently stretch the jaw.
3. Hydrate smarter
You can lose up to 2 litres of water on a 10-hour flight, just through respiration and dry cabin air.
But plain water? Won’t cut it. You need hydration with cofactors, minerals that help water move into your cells, not just pass through.
Hydration stack:
- Water with a pinch of unrefined sea salt
- A squeeze of lemon or splash of apple cider vinegar to support absorption
- Herbal teas > coffee or wine (caffeine & alcohol further dehydrate you)
- Optional: magnesium drops (if prone to muscle tension or anxiety)
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4. Protect your circadian rhythm
Most of what makes flying feel so brutal surprisingly isn't even being stuck with a crooked neck in the middle seat. It's circadian disruption: your internal clock being yanked out of rhythm: light at the wrong time, food at the wrong time, cortisol at the wrong time.
Your circadian rhythm governs over 80% of physiological processes, including hormone production, digestion, immune responses, and energy cycles so no wonder flying through time zones disrupts every other aspect of your health.
But don't worry, there are ways to re-anchor it and mitigate some of the jet lag.
Expose your eyes (no sunglasses) to natural light within 30 minutes of landing. Even on a cloudy day, the lux from outdoor light is orders of magnitude stronger than indoor light and powerfully resets your suprachiasmatic nucleus, the brain’s central clock.
- But darkness matters just as much... if you can get a pair, use blue-light blocking glasses 1-2 hours before sleep (or even for duration of airport), or alternatively bring an eye mask to block out EMF heavy cabin light.
- Time your meals with your destination: Eating at local daylight hours helps your peripheral clocks (in the liver, pancreas, gut) sync with your central rhythm. Avoid snacking through the night just because you're bored or jet lagged (it can delay circadian recovery by 2-3 days)
- If possible, eating glycine rich foods such as bone broth or Organised with some milk at your arrival destination promotes a parasympathetic tone, helping you slide back into sleep when your brain still thinks it's noon.
5. Decompress after you land
Just because you’ve arrived doesn’t mean your nervous system has. Post flight inflammation, circadian disruption, and sensory overload can take 24-48 hours to regulate.
Think of this as your post-flight landing protocol:
- Grounding: Get barefoot on grass, sand, or soil for at least 10–15 minutes. This helps neutralise static electric charge, supports vagal tone, and lowers cortisol.
- Magnesium & bicarbonate soak:
This combo supports detoxification, relieves muscular tension, and helps re-mineralise after altitude dehydration. Add 2 cups epsom salts, 1/2 cup bicarbonate of soda and a few drops of lavender.
Flush lymph + oxygenate
Your lymph system doesn't have a pump, it relies on movement. And flying slows it to a crawl. Try a brisk walk, or legs up on the wall pose to drain stagnation from the lower limbs. Gently stretch the hips, spine and traps (they bear the brunt of long-haul tension)Bonus rituals for nervous system recovery:
Rub magnesium oil into the back of your neck (vagus-rich zone) and the soles of your feet before bed. It relaxes your system via the skin and bypasses digestion.
Use castor oil on your abdomen with a hot water bottle: supports detox pathways and calms the gut-brain axis.
Sip a tea of lemon balm & passionflower: gentle nervines that help coax the body into repair mode.
