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Take A Special Care Of The Food You Take While Travelling By Road; Keep These 7 Tips In Mind

Travelling by road can send your eating schedule for a toss. Follow these 7 tips to ensure that consumption of food and drinks do not become a major worry during a pleasure trip.

By Shubham Ghosh

Nowadays, road trips are getting increasingly popular in India, thanks to better and safer roads and good-quality vehicles. Even taking children and elderly people to very long drives is no more an exception.

But, unlike journeys by train or plane, food is something which those travelling by road have to be extra careful, since the time schedule in a road travel can often go haywire because of practical reasons like car breakdown, stop for nature's call, traffic congestion, etc.

So, whenever you are travelling by road for a distant destination, wear an extra thinking hat about the fooding, so that your entire family remains safe and there is no sudden illness in the middle of nowhere because of careless eating and drinking.

Here are 7 useful tips you can follow during a road trip to ensure that your health is in perfect shape till the time you are back into the safe confinements of your house:

1. Eat Quite Early Before You Actually Start:

1. Eat Quite Early Before You Actually Start:

Don't take a heavy meal before you start. Eat things that are low on fats and make it less likely for you to have any discomfort. Eggs, fruits, juice, etc., are good to have before starting for a journey.

2. Carry Dry Foods:

2. Carry Dry Foods:

Carry mostly fruits and not cooked ones that may perish within a period. Prepare light foods at home for your journey. Remember that you will be static for long hours during the journey and eating heavy meals can create problems related to digestion. Carry sandwiches made of peanut butter and salads.

3. Make Use Of Google Map:

3. Make Use Of Google Map:

Since you have technology in hand, why not make full use of it? With the advent of Google map, no place is an unfamiliar territory and it is also easy to locate eateries and filling stations beforehand. While you drive, engage one of your travelling partners to do extensive research on Google (map, search engine) about the route you are taking. This way, you can help yourself in making plan for the proper stoppages for freshening up and eating full meals at decent places.

4. Carry Enough Water:

4. Carry Enough Water:

Water is a prime carrier of disease and hence it is very important to carry potable water from home. It is never going to be enough, as road travel requires a lot of water to be consumed to keep yourself hydrated.

But do not drink water from outside. Neither do give any such water to the children. Buy water from good shops in bulk whenever you are buying them. Also, keep cucumbers and chewing gums as alternative sources of quenching your thirst. You can also carry branded packaged juice. Don't have fruits that are cut and sold in the open.

5. Have Light Meals And Avoid Snacks:

5. Have Light Meals And Avoid Snacks:

Have meals with one or two items instead of heavy ones, including chicken and double-egg curry. Have things like dal khichdi or curd rice and also put a stop on chips and fried foods. They will dehydrate you because of their high sodium content. Specially, if the journey is a single-driver one, then it is very important for the driving hand not to take full meals that can make him/her feel sleepy during the driving. It is something related to the safety of the entire family.

6. Keep Ginger And Lemonade Handy:

6. Keep Ginger And Lemonade Handy:

If any one of the travellers has motion sickness, it is always better to keep ginger ale or lemonade with you. Keep sipping it at regular intervals to get rid of the nauseating feeling.

7. Avoid Non-veg, Butter And Spicy Items:

7. Avoid Non-veg, Butter And Spicy Items:

You never know the storage history of these items and how hygienically they have been cooked or used in food. So, keep it safe by eating curd and sambhar, etc. South Indian dishes should be preferred if you find them at a roadside eatery.

Story first published: Wednesday, November 2, 2016, 16:34 [IST]
Read more about: health wellness travel food drink