July 25, 2012

If you're a podcast subscriber, you may have heard this message from Brock, in which he tells you why there's no BenGreenfieldFitness podcast this week, and also plays you a nice little tune that his rock band recorded.

Anyways, the long and short of it is that Ben is off to defend his amateur world championship title at ITU Long Course Triathlon World Championships in Spain. Last year the race was in Las Vegas, and he won by a resounding 12 minutes, but this year, he has to travel to the other side of the globe to race in Vitoria, Spain.

When you are traveling like this, and you want to keep your body operating at peak capacity, there are some tips and trick you can use, and you learn all about them in today's healthy travel tips video with Ben and Jessa (who is accompanying Ben to the race for moral support and to help him drink wine) and also in the notes below.

These healthy travel tips aren't just for athletes, but for anyone who wants to stay as healthy, fit, trim and physically and mentally sharp as possible when traveling.

Here are the items we show you in this ultimate healthy travel how-to video, which we pulled straight from the Ben Greenfield Fitness Inner Circle…

A quick note before we get going on these detailed healthy travel tips notes…

…yes, we realize that it may seem slightly unfair to our Ben Greenfield Fitness Inner Circle members that we're showing a video from the protected members area – but, in addition to the testosterone formula and structured water formula Ben talks about in the video, we're also giving you a lot of other insider knowledge in the protected member's area and forum that general video viewers aren't going to get, so don't worry, we'll take care of you!

OK, that being said, here we go. Here's the video, and the notes are below it!

Health/Personal Care:

Charcoal Toothpaste – Much healthier than flouride filled toothpaste, and is also not considered a “liquid” when you're traveling, which is nice. This is the brand we use. Jessa also show's the Jason brand toothpaste, which our kids use.

Actionwipes – We use this soft cloth with a pre-ready mix of tea trea oil and other essential oils and antibacterial compounds to wipe our hands before eating, give ourselves a refreshing face wash after getting off the plane, and, in a pinch, wipe our butts when necessary. We never travel without these. They're good for Ben for putting his bike together too.

Jessa's Moisturizer & Skin Care Powder: Sorry, we gotta keep at least some stuff a secret. If you're a $10/month Inner Circle member, get those formula in the Inner Circle bonus section.

Sleep Enhancement/Electromagnetic Radiation Blocking:

EarthPulse – The Earthpulse releases pulsed electromagnetic frequencies that lull you into deep delta sleep – exactly what you want when you finally check into your hotel or final destination. You can also put it behind your lower back under a pillow when you're on the plane.

HARAPad – Ben often finds that his lap is the only available location for setting his laptop when he's at the airport, so he uses this pad for protecting his precious groin from laptop heat and electromagnetic frequencies.

Gunnar Glasses – Blue light wave spectrums from TV screens, artificial airport lighting and computers can keep you up and disrupt your circadian sleep rhythm even more than airplane travel already does to it, so Ben wears these to make sure he can get good sleep and avoid eye strain.

Sleep Mask – This keeps stuff dark so more melatonin gets released. As you'll see in the video, Jessa does not dig sleep masks. But Ben does. Essential. Ben uses Dream Essentials contoured face mask and fitted ear plugs or wax ear plugs.

Food/Snacks:

Cocochia – This is a coconut and chia seed mix that actually goes quite well with airplane peanuts if you need even more calories (even though we dont' advise peanuts unless you're desperate). Cheap meal in a pinch. Drink a glass of water with it, and the chia seeds expand and keep you feeling full for a long time. You can also mix with LivingFuel Supergreens.

SeaSnax Nori – Seaweed based snack. Many brands are made with canola oil, so be careful. SeaSnax is on our approved list!

EnergyBits – Algae based energy snack chock full of spirulina and chlorella. Get it at http://www.EnergyBits.com and use 10% discount code “Ben”. (Ben will also be writing an article about algae soon).

LivingFuel Supergreens – Total meal replacement powder that includes greens, probiotics, digestive enzymes, protein and more. Ben wouldn’t travel without this, ever. It is his meal replacement and when traveling he typically has at least one meal a day comprised simply of Supergreens with water from Starbucks, and occasionally some dark chocolate thrown in. It is complete whole food nutrition, enzymes, antioxidants, everything. You can also mix wix with water, coconut water, coconut milk, Cocochia Snack Mix, etc.

Hammer Bar – This is the only bar we’ve found with grass-fed whey that actually fills you up and doesn’t make you feel like you need to eat another one. Peanut Butter-Chocolate flavor is ultra tasty. You get a 15% discount on these if you use my referral code (80244) at http://www.HammerNutrition.com

Spry Gum – Artificial sweeteners have been shown to kill good gut bacteria, spark appetite, and affect blood glucose levels. So I go for natural gum, which we're frequently chomping on the plane to keep me from mindless snacking. We just get a big canister and put it into a ziplock.

Supplements:

Nutrarev – Ben takes this for the brain-boosting carnosine and alpha-lipoic acid for when he's writing and thinking on the airplane. It goes well with TianChi (see below) and is also really good for anti-aging.

TianChi – This Chinese adaptogenic herb complex kicks cortisol in the pants and massively reduces travel stress, while increasing your focus and giving you a nice healthy brain buzz. Ben swears by it, since it has the equivalent of about 40 pounds of Chinese herbal extract in 1 tiny packet.

Nuun – Ben drops this in airplane water to give it a fizzy flavor, and it keeps him from ordering stuff like ginger ale or 7-up. He's such a wuss. The extra electrolytes and vitamin C are also a nice feature.

Natural Calm Magnesium – Use this to settle your nerves and get you all nice and relaxed for a long flight. Good for sleep, and it keeps you relatively regular too.

MAP – Airport protein meat sources are basically dog-food grade. Avoid them like the plague and just use 5-10 of these capsules when you’re traveling to keep your amino acid levels up for muscle repair. Ben uses these before his race too (10 before race, and 5 in swim to bike transition, 5 in bike to run transition).

Fish Oil – Heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids are hard to get when traveling. If you know you can keep them in a cool, dark place, then travel with a good, triglyceride based fish oil. Otherwise, just try to eat lots of fish.

Caprobiotics– Like omega-3 fatty acids, fermented foods like kefir, Kim Chi, sauerkraut are also hard to eat when traveling, so we pack probiotics and take them regularly during airplane travel.

Capracleanse – Some people get constipated when they travel (raise your hand if that includes you!). There, we admit it. Pop three of these in the AM and three in the PM, and you'll be smooth as silk, right as rain, and regular as a clock. They’re also a good liver cleanse if your travel happens to include alcohol (which you should *avoid* on the plane). Jessa shows activated charcoal capsules as another good option, especially for food poisoning.

Caprazymes – We eat strange and new foods when we travel, and by popping these beforehand, we give our digestive system a boost and increase food breakdown and absorption.

Capracolostrum – You can use this prior to long races for inhibiting gastric distress, decreasing gastric permeability, and also as a “gut rebuilding” supplement if your poor little gut never got breastmilk and you or your kids were raised on formula..

Oil of Oregano – This keeps you from getting sick when you travel. It stops airborne pathogens in their tracks. We drop 4-6 drops in our mouth before we hop on the plane. This is a formula that Ben helped create.

Elderberry – Usually, Ben doesn't want to get sick before a race, and he is pretty beat up traveling back from a triathlon and his immune system is somewhat compromised. This seems to pull him back into the land of the living and keep him from getting sick (especially combined the oregano), at about 10 drops a day.

If you enjoyed this healthy travel tips video, you'd love our Ben Greenfield Fitness Inner Circle.

In the Ben Greenfield Fitness Inner Circle, you get 24-7 forum access to us, a daily log of Ben's personal diet plan, special cooking videos and recipes, bonus handouts with meal plan ideas and new foods we’ve found, secret articles and videos that we don’t release on the main site, and, every month, a live video webinar just like this one with Ben and Jessa, where we cover topics like home fitness exercises, healthy packaged foods, making new foods like kombucha and kimchi, and much more.

Click here to join the Ben Greenfield Fitness Inner Circle for one buck, and if you decide to stay in after a two week trial, just $10/month. You'll get more information in one day then you get in an entire month with a spendy personal trainer or nutritionist.

Questions, comments or feedback about our healthy travel tips or about the Inner Circle? Leave your thoughts below!