Dr. J on eating the right stuff
Contributor: “Dr. J”Dr. J offers his irreverent, slightly irrelevant, but possibly useful opinions on health and fitness. A Florida surgeon and fitness freak with a black belt in karate, he runs 50 miles a week and flies a Cherokee Arrow 200.
I don’t know what you eat before you have to fly, what with the abundant food courts in all the major airports now, but as a private pilot, flying my own plane, I usually don’t eat before or while I fly!
I do have vivid memories of my first flight instructor, Paul of the iron stomach who never met turbulence he didn’t like, eating away on our first cross-country flight. It was a three and a half hour jaunt along the Florida east coast, from Daytona Beach to Miami. The coastal scenery was wonderful, and for Paul, the cramped seating and glare shield of our C-152 made for a comfy dining area, so as I concentrated on doing the flying, Paul concentrated on doing the eating, and it all worked out fine!
You are what you eat
A new study, funded by the military, looked to see what types of foods were best for pilots when their missions restricted when or what they could eat.
The researchers found 45 sober, awake and non-distracted student pilots and assessed how different foods affected the student’s performance. For the 14-week study, each pilot rotated through four different diets: high-fat, high-carbohydrate, high-protein and a control diet. The menus were similar so the type of diet wouldn’t become obvious to the participants.
The study design had the pilots use a flight simulator to descend in cloudy weather when the runway wasn’t visible, flying on instruments. The pilots then had to climb into a holding pattern, and maintain that as well. They also were given tests that required memorizing and repeating numbers to test short-term memory, and comparing shapes to test spatial awareness.
The University of North Dakota researchers found that pilots who ate the fattiest foods had the quickest response times in mental tests and made fewer mistakes when flying in the challenging cloud conditions. Based on their test scores, pilots on the high-fat and high-carb diets performed substantially better than those who ate the high-protein diet. The high-fat dieters did slightly better than the high-carb dieters.
Getting the right vitamins
The researchers suspected that the better performance with the high-carbohydrate and high-fat diets was possibly related to metabolism of B complex vitamins found with higher carbohydrate intake. It is thought that the fats may help slow down carbohydrate absorption, allowing for greater availability of the B vitamins, as deficiency of B vitamins has been shown to lead to poorer cognition.
So even though all participants received the recommended daily amounts of B vitamins, they might not have had enough of the vitamins available to them when eating the high-protein diet.
Could diet remove pilot error?
“These study results contribute significantly to our understanding of the effects diet can have on cognition and performance,” says Glenda Lindseth PhD, RN, chief investigator. “With additional research, these findings may help decrease the number of aviation accidents due to pilot error, which is especially important for the combat pilot.”
Military experts hope the research will eventually help improve pilots’ performance. National Transportation Safety Board statistics show more than 80 percent of civil and military accidents are caused by pilot error.
Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a physiological science professor at UCLA who was not involved in the study, said he would like to see these results studied further.
“Most studies indicate that a diet of saturated fats like those found in junk food reduces cognitive performance,” he said. “I will be more interested to see what they find when they monitor the composition of the diet.”
Lindseth also feels more research is needed to determine whether the findings can be repeated and will have a longer-term effect. She went on to add that they planned to conduct follow up studies after the new year.
“I think that this does have an impact for the military, especially on the pilots who are flying, but also for anybody who needs to be alert and have high cognitive performance,” she said.
Until additional studies are performed, however, my suggestion as to how you modify your diet, based on the results of this pilot study is, if you don’t have an abundance of the right stuff, don’t eat too much of the wrong stuff!
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I find this interesting Dr J., though I know that our military pilots are often fortified with prescribed “alertness pills” regardless of what they are eating.
That said, it does cause one to pause and consider how much safer our commercial airways might be if pilots, all of whom are subject to those same food courts we passengers often use in airports, would monitor their eating as a form of professional responsibility.
Next time any reader of this is an airport foodcourt, take a glance at the hefty pilot eating the ice cream cone at 7:23am., and ask yourself, “will insulin shock set in while he’s fling me home…?”
Yikes.
A very interesting study! Hmmmmmm, how many people that do not need this extra fat & carbs will just say they need to be more alert so they can eat moor of that stuff…. ;-) I think I feel the need to be alert!
Kidding ya Dr. J. Really interesting but I will stick to what I am doing for now & look for more study results!
I can see people loading up on food before a flight, since they’re no longer feeding people on airplanes.
But… fatty food makes you a lert? If so, maybe you should ask yourself if the world really needs more lerts.
Hi Dr. J.,
It would be interesting to know what kinds of fatty foods the pilots were eating. I suspect mostly “healthy” fats (mono and poly), some sat fat and no trans fat from processed food.
Fat does keep you fuller longer and doesn’t cause blood sugar ups and downs like processed carbs do…
Roy!
One of the readers of this column, Brandon, is a professional pilot, and well into fitness. When he is in the front office, you know you are in good hands!
Jody!
I think it’s possible that the effect was more short term, with a dip in effectiveness later. Don’t take too long flights :-)
Merry!
The food courts in major airports are impressive!
Ruth!
I also would like to see the composition of their diet. I’m not so sure that in this study the participants ate that clean.
A tablespoon of walnuts (fat) gets my okay for a pilot. But maybe those two pilots that were supposedly working on their laptops ate a big hotdog, a bowl of chili, some carmel corn, an ice cream sundae and some lard.
Being a pilot would be a very difficult job. I’m not sure I would want that kind of responsibility or inquiry into my foods. ;-)
That was really interesting reading Dr. J. I would have guessed the opposite effect from the more fattening diet, but then what do I know!
I never eat before I get on an airplane. Even though my dad was a pilot, I’m not a huge fan of flying. He used to fly us around in small single engine Cessna’s. I don’t think he ate much before he flew!
It will be interesting to see what more research finds, huh? As for me, I usually bring a healthy snack when I fly… just in case I can’t find anything decent or decently priced in the airport.
POD!
Maybe they had “sleep eating disorder!”
Diane!
I’m like your dad! I was on a friend’s plane during my visit to South Africa, and one of the passengers had a huge lunch right before the flight. The result was not appreciated by the rest of us!
Sahar!
I do the same on long commercial flights.
I find this kind of research SO fascinating!! I have to admit that the results weren’t what I was expecting. Although upon thinking about it I am guessing that a) the type of fats and carbs are really important and b) other studies have shown a decrease in cognitive abilities in high-protein diets… at first. But once the subjects acclimate their levels return to normal. That said, I’m not advocating a high-protein diet. What’s that moderation thing again??
Great post, Dr. J!
I agree with Ruth, it would be interesting in what types of “fatty” foods these pilots were given.
i actually remember reading about that study in brandon’s und aerospace magazine. it’s interesting, for sure … and now i want to ask him if what he eats makes a difference up on the flight deck!
Charlotte!
Thank you! I don’t support the high protein path either!
Amanda!
Thank you for your comment!
I’ve seen too many pizzas being delivered to our local airport :-)
T!
That will make for an enlightening discussion!
Yay, shout out to my alma mater! Sioux Yeah Yeah!
Regarding eating while flying…I’ve found the foods that help me stay alert and focused are fruits and vegetables and surprisingly, Panda Express. I think the feeling of fullness is helpful. I don’t know why, but it is. I make sure I have plenty of apples, bananas, carrots, and crackers whenever I am playing pilot.
And for the record, I know a ton of pilots who are concerned with being healthy…and I know a ton that aren’t. Seems like there’s no middle ground… :-/
Brandon!
Thank you for commenting! You are a great advertisement for The China Study :-) I think your keen observation with pilot’s health and fitness is also happening with society in general.
you are what you eat….lol. Part of it is true and another half is due to genetic. Some people just wont get fat due eating the same amount of food as there metabolism rate is higher.