Professional pilots often find themselves jumping from airplane to airplane with little time in between on a daily basis. This rushing can lead to wolfing down unhealthy food in quick moments during the day.

Whether you are a professional or an amateur pilot, you must prepare yourself with good nutrition for your trips. You most likely do not have time to wonder is rice gluten free or how many carbs are in a chocolate bar. With that in mind, good pilots pack a good food kit and a good food plan to take with them on all trips.

The Essential Food Kit

If you are a professional pilot, there's always the chance you can get a nutritious meal during your flight. As more and more airlines move away from food service, this will not always be the case.

What that often leaves professional pilots with is trying to grab something quickly inside of an airport terminal in between flights. Quite often, their food choices boil down to either fast food or something they find in a convenience market.

For amateur pilots, there are sometimes long flights that do not offer any type of catering. When flying a plane by yourself, you most likely cannot spend a lot of time preparing something to eat.

In all of these situations, the best course of action is to have a standard food kit that can get taken with a pilot anywhere. In this way, pilots always afford themselves access to healthy and nourishing foods during their flights.

Some items to pack in this kit include dried fruit, trail mix, granola bars, and protein bars. Things such as beef jerky, nuts, canned tuna, and graham crackers also make good choices.

A large bottle of water is always a good choice in terms of beverages. Beyond that, bottled sports drinks and juices make a good choice but of course, make sure it's nothing that needs to get refrigerated.

Meals To Eat Before a Flight

Make no mistake that flying can be hard on your body. When you combine altitude with constant motion and a seemingly endless amount of tasks to achieve, flying for a pilot can be challenging.

That is one reason that so many pilots take great care in deciding what food will go into their bodies. This choice is crucial when deciding on meals before a flight.

Pilots need to assure themselves of having plenty of energy and mental focus when flying. Because of that, they often choose to stay away from heavy foods like fried foods or red meat.

So a typical breakfast for a pilot might be an omelet, some oatmeal, juice, and maybe coffee. Lunches and dinners are often things like salads or lighter proteins such as chicken or fish.

Caffeine intake is something that pilots need to monitor closely. While caffeine can give a kick, there can be a crash further down the road. In addition, too much caffeine can lead to impaired decision-making and a jittery and nervous feeling.

Because flying at altitude can be so dehydrating, pilots must stay well hydrated. That means drinking plenty of water before, during, and after a flight.

Flight Recovery Foods

Because a long day of flying can put plenty of stress on the body, the foods pilots choose after a flight are essential. Now is the time to fill their bodies with foods that offer plenty of antioxidants.

These choices can include items such as green tea, bananas, and dark chocolate. These foods can help to ease their fatigue and relax somewhat stressed muscles. Plenty of berries and proteins such as almond butter and yogurt are also excellent choices.

Pilots must be sharp in both body and mind when flying. That is why it is vital to make good food choices in all parts of a flight day.