Diets for Pilots

There are many different views on whether or not a diet can affect the performance of a pilot. There is one university within the United States that is in the middle of a research project tot see if there is any type of difference at all. This research is occurring at the University of North Dakota by Paul and Glenda Lindseth. Both are employed by University. Paul is teaches at the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, while his wife teaches for the College of Nursing.

Pual is a former United States Air Force pilot and instructor. He is also a flight instructor at the University of North Dakota. He has wondered about the effects of nutritional habits such as Diatenon the performance of pilots. Glenda, who is a registered nurse and dietician, has wanted to see the how the effects of eating patterns influence and affect performance. This is the fifth of such studies on these types of subjects.

This four year project is funded by the United States Army, and has a budget of over $600,000. The Lindseths hope this research can help others to understand the effects of diet on ones performance and cognition. They hope to decrease the human factor errors that might be related to nutrition, diet, and health.

There are four diets that are available to the study pilots. The first does not allow any type of restriction. The other diets are a high fat diet, high protein diet, and a carb diet. Researches will analyze the differences noticed in flight performance, as well as cognition scores.

The four previous studies suggest that both passengers and pilots who consumed dairy or high protein foods before flying felt poorly after flying. Salty foods seem to impact the extent of air sickness. There has been an indication that high carb foods, like pasta and bread are best for feeling your best when flying.

Airsickness is not just a problem with passengers either. Paul says that up to thirty percent of the pilots have experienced airsickness. And while flying has been around for over a hundred years, it's only been the last quarter of a century that there has really been any focus on the human element of flight. He finds this somewhat disturbing, since almost eight percent of the accidents are a direct result of human error.

While it's still not known how much a pilot's diet will effect their performance, there is a lot of data being collected. Both instructors are hopeful that these studies will provide the groundwork for further research to see if this is indeed a problem for some pilots who are not eating the healthiest of foods.

No matter what the results, you may wish to avoid those salty foods right before flying, or try a couple pieces of whole wheat toast. You may feel better during and after your flight because of it.