Eating healthy when traveling

Technically speaking, ‘eating healthy when traveling’ is not an oxymoron. Still, there is antithesis, since part of the adventure of travel is doing it with abandon – and that includes a generous portion of local cuisines. Anyone who travels has felt the compulsion to lick to excess the gelato of Italy, quaff quantities of the liquid gold of Munich’s Hofbrauhaus, or pay culinary homage to “the best of” restaurants off the pages of Gourmet, Travel + Leisure or Bon Appetit magazines.

Still, the body requires respite from too much of such good things. I’ve eaten my way across the U.S., Europe, parts of Asia with a few other alien ports sprinkled in, and offer some advice to keep you moving, in so many ways.

Breakfast is an absolute must. Traveling on an empty stomach requires too much thought about when you will next eat, a focus that should be dedicated to what you came to see. Skip breakfast meats on the buffet, and opt instead for simpler foods.

Rediscover the goodness in cereal: filling, yet uncomplex enough to leave you wanting just a little more. Choose whole fruits over cut vegetables (a staple in many European and Asian diets). Indeed, whole over cut (once washed in bottled water) curbs one other unwelcome guest: diarrhea.

Yogurt beats cheese in overall digestibility, a better choice especially if you’re boarding a bus for a day of sightseeing.

And finally, tea beats coffee, though I admit to “toughing” that one out. (Tea in the morning makes me bilious.) You must decide what tips that scale for you.

Lunch is better than dinner. No, really, when it comes to healthy dining, your body will thank you for a filing, thoughtful lunch over a slow, decadent dinner every time.

Savor a healthy portion of fowl, fish or meat with a simple salad or soup. And enjoy the local bread, a fuel to help you through the balance of waking day. Make this your main meal, and include dessert now, as opposed to after dinner.

Dinner can be challenging, especially in foreign lands. I have found that small (appetizer) portions are smarter for the later hour, not only because lighter fare aids sleep. My own experience is that a large portion of something you guessed at (and find you hate) is harder to get rid of than something more modest.

Enjoy several small, uncomplicated courses rather than one huge platter, or share an entree (or mistake) with another. Simpler foods – those less seasoned or sauced – are the healthier overall choice when traveling.

For the occasional dyspepsia that accompanies travelers from time to time, I recommend carrying a few gingersnap cookies. Small, hard, easily transported and low in calorie, the ginger in these counteracts the acid that can surprise you after a meal of unknown origin. And over-the-counter antacids do work, if taken faithfully (think: Prilosec, for example).

Eating healthy while traveling isn’t work. Rather it’s more an exercise in occasional moderation, a trading off of occasional indulgence with occasional asceticism. Never say never to something you really must try. But reward that indulgence with a little quiet food, in kind.

Bon Appetit!