It's More Than the Turkey Dinner That Will Leave You Feeling Bloated This Th...( 'Jet Bloat' a Common S...),Health

'Jet Bloat' a Common Side Effect of Air Travel

EAST LONGMEADOW, Mass., Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Tens of millions of passengers are expected to travel on U.S. airlines during the Thanksgiving holiday season, with millions more as we approach the December holidays. With so many people taking to the skies, be prepared for a lot of 'jet bloat,' which is the body's increased volume of gas due to airline travel -- the higher the altitude, the more the gas in our body expands.

Not to mention, 16 percent of adults admit to passing gas during public travel, according to a recent survey for CharcoCaps Homeopathic AntiGas Formula.

"While it's hard to determine the exact cause of excess gas while flying the friendly skies, there are many possible causes," says Patricia Raymond, M.D., gastroenterologist, author and assistant professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School. "While excessive gum chewing, candy sucking and air swallowing to equalize the inner ear air pressure for take-off and landing will lead to non-smelling flatulence, harried eating at the airport is another story."

Dr. Raymond offers the following guidelines for eating and drinking at the airport and while in flight:

-- When scouring the food court, avoid anything that you've shown an

intolerance for on the ground. If milk intolerance is your downfall -

avoid all dairy. "Try to avoid foods that will probably make you gassy,

such as beans, bananas, cabbage, brussel sprouts, or broccoli," advises

Dr. Raymond. "If you get gassy, the volume will expand, even in the

pressurized cabin as you reach flight altitudes - so there will be even

more volume of gas!"

-- If in fact you do eat a gassy food, take an over-the-counter activated

charcoal capsule, such as CharcoCaps, immediately. The activated

charcoal will adsorb the gas volume, so you don't inflate like a bag of

pretzels as you reach
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