Frontline Health
Troy Duell with Centurion is providing you with health information and guests to elevate your health and help make your life better. Centurion is a pharmaceutical company that chooses to put people over profits and allow science to dictate what products we bring to market. Our goal is to provide products that you can both afford and are beneficial to your health. It doesn't matter how good a product is if you can't afford it. This podcast will provide you with the best health information possible through sharing studies and current data. We will also interview the leading health experts across the country. We will share sides of the story you may not have heard. Our promise to you is to source all of the information we share with you and speak the truth. We hope this truth is used by you and your loved ones to elevate your health and life.
Frontline Health
#099 - 5 Essential Tips for Staying Healthy While Traveling
Ready for summer travel but dreading the inevitable health crash that often follows? You're not alone. The combination of disrupted sleep, new germs, dietary changes, and prolonged sitting creates the perfect storm for compromising your immunity just when you want to feel your best.
The Frontline Health Podcast tackles this common challenge head-on with five practical, science-backed strategies to help you maintain your health while traveling. Host Evan Patrick and Centurion founder Troy Duell reveal why so many of us fall ill during or immediately after travel—and more importantly, how to prevent it.
A standout insight from their discussion is the critical importance of preparing your immune system before departure, not after symptoms appear. The experts explain how exposure to unfamiliar germs in enclosed spaces like airplanes, combined with disrupted sleep and dietary changes, creates significant immune challenges. They share specific nutrient combinations that can bolster immune function during these vulnerable periods.
Sleep quality emerges as another crucial factor in travel health, with research showing those who sleep less than six hours are over four times more likely to catch a cold when exposed. The podcast offers practical solutions for maintaining rest quality while away from home, including the strategic use of melatonin—with important caveats about individual responses and age-related changes in natural production.
Beyond these core strategies, you'll learn actionable tips for staying hydrated in dry plane environments, maintaining circulation during long periods of sitting, and packing smart to support your health routines. The experts emphasize that small, proactive steps—from bringing healthy snacks to scheduling movement breaks—can make the difference between returning refreshed or depleted.
Take ownership of your travel health this summer. Follow these evidence-based recommendations to enjoy your vacation fully, rather than spending it recovering from preventable health setbacks. Your body deserves better than a vacation from wellness.
Thanks for listening to this edition of Frontline Health by Centurion. Remember, you are your best health advocate.
Shop safe, effective, and affordable health and wellness products at www.centurion.health.
Subscribe to our newsletter.
Follow us on social media:
TikTok - @frontlinehealthpodcast
Youtube - Centurion Health
Facebook - Centurion Health
Instagram - @frontlinehealthpodcast
X - @TheCenturionWay
Today on the Frontline Health Podcast.
Speaker 2:Your body does produce melatonin and it produces it naturally. Now, somebody who's the age of 20 versus somebody who's the age of 50, at the age of 50, you typically have about 25% to 50% less melatonin being produced than you do at the age of 20 to 25. And that's really not that surprising. When you start to think about people who are struggling with their sleep, they're typically older individuals that have a tough time going to sleep and that's because they lack the melatonin. But most studies have shown that, if you're consistent with it, it hasn't been much of an issue.
Speaker 1:Hello and welcome back to the Frontline Health Podcast by Centurion, where we help you take ownership of your health with health news, tips and insights. I'm your host, evan Patrick. With me today is our founder and CEO, troy Duhl. Troy, it's always good to talk with you on this podcast.
Speaker 2:Always good to be here, and especially when we're going into one of the busiest times of the year, with summer coming up and all the travel that seems to come along with it.
Speaker 1:Yes, that time we're on the road more in and out of airports, we're sleeping in unfamiliar beds, and for a lot of people, it's also when their immune systems start to wave the white flag.
Speaker 2:We certainly get introduced to a lot of new things because, yes, while travel is fun and exciting, we also get the stress of traveling, which means we can't get the sleep we normally do, we don't have the same diet we normally do and we have a lot of things that our body is really struggling to keep up with to stay balanced and healthy.
Speaker 1:So today we're sharing five practical health tips to help you travel well this summer. We want to give you tools that you can use to actually enjoy your time away, not just survive it. So let's get into it. With tip number one Start strengthening your immune system before you leave. So, troy, let me paint a scenario that most of our listeners can probably relate to. You plan a trip, you put in for your PTO, you make travel arrangements, you pack your bags, you even make a reservation for the dog at the paw spa, only to wake up in the morning you're leaving for the vacation with a scratchy throat and a stuffy nose. We've all been there. Nobody likes to be in this situation. This first tip seems basic, but it's probably the most important Prepare your immune system before you travel, not after. You're already feeling run down at the end of a long day of travel.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think that goes with not just travel season but really any time of the year. But specifically when you're talking about travel, you've got to be ready and prepared and have your body supported as best it possibly can. So if you're starting to feel off and you start to get that sore throat or something else is happening, then you've probably waited too late to really support your immune system and get it to the point where it can be strengthened. So you really need to work ahead of time and get your body primed and ready to go so it can take on anything that may be coming about.
Speaker 1:What's actually happening when we travel. That compromises our immunity.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, everybody's been on a plane and you're in this hollow tube that is filled with lots of people and there is a lot of coughing going on, there's typically a lot of sneezing and you're getting introduced to germs that your body is not used to. We all get our bodies become regulated to the germs that we're around every single day and we begin to learn how to fight off those germs. But when you travel, you get introduced to a ton of different germs and different bacteria and different viral infections that may be floating around, and you've got to have your body ready to go. We also know that sleep gets disrupted, your diet changes, so all those things start to really compound themselves to where it's creating a perfect storm for you possibly to get sick.
Speaker 1:Yeah, travel really is the perfect storm for compromising our immunity. So how do we get ahead of that?
Speaker 2:Probably the biggest way you can do that is making sure that you sleep, you're getting plenty of rest, your diet is right, but then you want to look at supplementing your body with certain ingredients, specifically vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, copper and quercetin All those ingredients, if you can get them, which we do have them all together in one and called Defender Immunity Boost. That's a great way to get your body primed and ready to take on some of these new bacteria or viral infections that you're going to get introduced to when you're traveling.
Speaker 1:Something that I think confuses people a lot. When they look at the nutrition facts on a bottle of a supplement or multivitamin, they see it contains, for example, 556% of your daily value of vitamin C, like is in our Defender Immunity Boost. So they see 556% of your daily value of vitamin C and they think this has way more than my body actually needs. It must be a waste. Why did they put that much in there? So what do you make of that and how would you explain to people why we would have more than the normal recommended daily value of a nutrient in a supplement?
Speaker 2:Well, I think it goes back to when they created the daily value at the FDA to begin with.
Speaker 2:So when they went back to that level, they were actually just looking at the actual bare minimum of what needs to be done in order to survive. It has nothing to do with when you're getting introduced to new bacterias, to new viral infections, to anything like that. It doesn't also include what's the optimum level that you want to have. So we know that we've talked about this many a times that no one person is the same, and what you may need for vitamin C is not as much as I may need, because I may be in a scenario where I'm getting introduced to more infections or more bacteria and I need to make sure that my body is at a place and capable of taking that on. The other thing to keep in mind is, if your body doesn't need it, it will get rid of it, and there is nothing wrong with having more of something when it comes to this, because typically all those things flush out of your body without any issue at all.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's kind of funny the way that we like to explain it sometimes is like how many apples you would have to eat to get the amount of vitamin C or quercetin, or how many pounds of king crab, and it's like a ridiculous amount for you to actually get these nutrients. So supplementation can definitely be something that can help you boost your immunity while you travel.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Tip number two protect your sleep while traveling. This is one I personally struggle with when I travel. You have time zone changes depending on where you're traveling, unfamiliar pillows, noisy hotel rooms. You get the seat on the airplane that won't lean back and it's hard to get that quality rest that your body needs to repair and protect your immunity while you're traveling.
Speaker 2:That is so true and, to be quite honest, even if your seat leans back on an airplane, that three inches doesn't really call for a lot of relaxation and throwing your head back and sleeping.
Speaker 1:And then your mouth hangs open. People try to throw things in. It Get that scratchy throat, it's just not a good situation.
Speaker 2:It is not a good situation at all, but we know that if you're not getting the sleep that you need, it is going to destroy your immune system. It becomes much, much weaker and we're not able to deal with inflammation. So all those things that normally would be going to attack viral infections or bacterial infections are also having to then take on inflammation and it really starts to affect everything. We know people who get tired typically are a little on the moody side and aren't real fun to be around if they're too tired, and that is also going to affect your immune system and your immune health and outlook, because we know that studies show if you have a positive outlook, typically you're going to have a better chance of taking on some introduced viral or bacterial infection. And then there was a study in 2015 by Oxford University that showed people who slept less than six hours per night were actually 4.2 times more likely to catch a cold after they were exposed to it, compared to those who slept seven hours or more.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So that's just a really good insight into the importance of sleep in general for our immunity, but does kind of help explain why we're at an even greater risk when we travel and are not maybe getting that much sleep because you woke up at 3 am to catch a flight or whatever the case may be. So what are some strategies you use when you're traveling and you want to keep your sleep on track?
Speaker 2:I think it's all about making sure that you've got a routine and trying to stay as consistent as possible, even if the time zone changes. So wind down kind of the same way that you typically would at home. Maybe that means reading don't turn on the TV, don't look at your phone for hours on end and then really maybe even throw on some white noise or other things that can drown out the noise that's there and get your mind just to a point where you can just relax and get to a level of sleeping that you possibly can. So there's also a big issue in a lot of hotel rooms where there is light and it's not fully dark. So trying to darken it as much as you possibly can will certainly help you get the rest that you need and try to get your body back to where it needs to go.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, for me that light is the biggest issue that kind of disrupts my sleep. But we do know that there are even some ingredients and nutrients out there that can help us with promoting that rest and that sleep, even at times when it might be a shock or unusual to our body to want to do that. We have another version of our defender immunity boost, which we mentioned earlier, called defender pm. That includes some ingredients to kind of help regulate that sleep. Could you tell us a little bit about that, troy?
Speaker 2:yeah, and the defender pm actually has melatonin in it, which we know does help regulate sleep. But kind of the exciting things behind melatonin is it's not just for regulating sleep but it's also to help boost your immune system. They have linked melatonin in study after study with an increased ability to fight off infection, along with turmeric and several other things that will help keep inflammation low and help with your sleep cycles. Those are some great ingredients to pick up and Defender PM has all those in there.
Speaker 1:Now some people I know have concerns about taking melatonin. Are there issues with using it consistently, or is it all right to take it every single?
Speaker 2:night there have been mixed reviews. I think most of the studies are suggesting that it's not an issue, especially if you're being consistent with it. Your body does produce melatonin and it produces it naturally. Now, somebody who's the age of 20 versus somebody who's the age of 50, at the age of 50, you typically have about 25% to 50% less melatonin being produced than you do at the age of 20 to 25. Less melatonin being produced than you do at the age of 20 to 25. And that's really not that surprising. When you start to think about people who are struggling with their sleep, they're typically older individuals that have a tough time going to sleep and that's because they lack the melatonin. But most studies have shown that if you're consistent with it, it hasn't been much of an issue.
Speaker 2:Now, again, there are individual differences, so some people could respond differently to it. My wife is one who she can't take melatonin. It causes her to be wired and she can't sleep at all. So just be cognizant of what you're taking and if you take melatonin or another product that is similar to melatonin and you feel yourself getting wired, then recognize that and stop taking it altogether, because it takes a lot of people some time to go. That can't be melatonin doing it, because it's supposed to put me to sleep. But understand that that is not an uncommon thing If you're supplementing with melatonin. There are people who just can't sleep when they take it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I would have to imagine a lot of it also has to do with the amount that you're taking in. I know some people probably rely on it way too much and whenever they have just the slightest trouble sleeping, they're taking, you know, way more than they really need.
Speaker 2:Yes, very true, Very very true.
Speaker 1:Our third tip for healthy travel this summer hydrate more than you think, troy. I always feel like, not just with travel, but anytime I get out of my normal routine. That's kind of the first area of my health that starts to go south. I neglect hydrating. This one seems simple, but it's often overlooked when we travel.
Speaker 2:It is and, to your point, when you're on an airplane, they typically give you a really small cup of water. So you're going to have to supplement that water level with either a water bottle of your own or filling up with a water bottle or buying one before you get on the plane, because planes are typically pretty dry atmospheres. They've got circulating air going through all the time. It dehydrates you and you want to make sure that you're getting plenty of fluids, because if you don't have those fluids and you get dehydrated, we know that it can affect sleep, it can cause headaches, it can cause inflammation. So you certainly want to make sure that you're staying hydrated while you're going there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when I'm driving, for example, on a long road trip, I'm bad about only wanting to stop for, like when we eat, like stop at that Cracker Barrel, or when you need gas. But yeah, we got to budget in the time for those bathroom trips as well.
Speaker 2:You do, and I think that's a natural thing to do when you're driving. You want to limit the amount of liquids that you take in because you don't want to have to stop and go to the bathroom so many times. And you also do that on a plane because you may be on the inside and you're like oh, I don't want to drink too much because I'm going to have to get past all these people to go back to the bathroom, and too much because I'm going to have to get past all these people to go back to the bathroom, and most people don't like to go to those tiny bathrooms anyway.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I am guilty as charged when it comes to that, for sure. Yeah, we know that hydration isn't purely about just drinking water. A lot of people like to bring electrolytes when they travel. Do you do anything like that, Troy?
Speaker 2:I typically just try to have some kind of whole fruit like an apple or orange in order to eat. So you're getting your electrolytes that way, plus you're getting a little bit of added water and hydration by having those. So that's typically how I do it, but it's not a bad idea to go ahead and bring something that may have some electrolytes in it to help replenish that store and stock of electrolytes for you.
Speaker 1:One last thing on this dehydration piece when we travel is sometimes I rely a little bit too much on caffeine. This ties back into tip number two as well. If you wake up for that early morning flight and you're just getting wanting to get that extra cup of coffee, that extra dose of caffeine, that can also be something that dehydrates you. And I always face that dilemma of do I want to drink the coffee to wake me up or do I want to not drink it so I can maybe sleep on the plane a little bit more? It sounds like for both our sleep quality and for hydration purposes it's probably best to limit that caffeine intake as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's good to understand that. It's a mild diuretic, so it's definitely going to affect some of that and you're going to be flushing some of it out of your system. The good thing is, you know 99% of tea or coffee that you take in the mornings is going to be water, so you are getting some hydration. But I think it really comes back to what are you doing on top of that after you drink it. Are you drinking lots of water? Is it going to affect your sleep and starting to plan, especially if you're getting on a plane and you know wherever you're going may have a time zone change, then that morning you want to start getting your body adjusted to that time zone change as quickly as possible and not using caffeine to kind of keep you up and keep you going.
Speaker 1:Definitely Moving along to tip number four move your body, even while in transit. This one gets overlooked, but it's incredibly important when you're traveling, especially when it comes to your circulation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think the number one thing that people think about is clotting specifically in the legs. So you definitely want to be moving your legs as much as possible. If you're on a long flight, get up and take walks up and down the aisle if you can. Obviously, if they tell you to stay seated, then you've got to stay seated. But you can tap your legs, you can pump your feet, you can do things like that to help increase the blood flow and then, when you're driving, put it on cruise control and tap your legs periodically and then make sure that you stop when you get gas, make a couple of treks around the gas station or around the gas pump and get your body moving again so you don't have that issue of clotting.
Speaker 1:I know this is especially important for people with underlying conditions or history of inflammation. They really have to stay on top of that circulation when they travel to avoid clotting inflammation.
Speaker 2:They really have to stay on top of that circulation when they travel to avoid clotting, yeah, and not to add another Defender product to the mix, but Defender BT Plus is definitely one of those that will help with clotting. It's got lumbrokinase and seropeptase in there, which we know help break down some of the fibrin and clots that are there and are going to help with that healthy circulation that we all need on a cellular level. And it's one of the things that I take along with my Defender Immunity Boost and Defender PM before I travel just to make sure that the clotting potential is reduced as much as possible.
Speaker 1:Is there anything else that you do to be intentional about kind of increasing your circulation when you're traveling?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I think it's just being conscious every once in a while, if I, you know, a lot of times I will say, ok, I'm going to read three pages, and then, once I'm done with three pages or a chapter or whatever it may be, I have to get up and walk for a couple of minutes. If it's on the plane or if I'm driving, it's, you know, every fourth song. It's tapping your feet a different way and kind of doing that when you get to a point where you can use cruise control and you can take both feet off of the gas pedal or the brake pedal and make sure that you're getting all of that opportunity to keep your body moving. And you just have to think through those things and what's going to work best for you as you travel, and you know it's going to be different for all of us.
Speaker 1:So I'm assuming that you're more of an aisle seat person than a window seat person when you fly on airplanes.
Speaker 2:Definitely like the aisle seat much better. Now, if it's a overnight flight, I'll go window, because then I can sleep and lean up against the window. But if it's during the day flight that I know I'm going to get there and it's still going to be daytime, I like the aisle so I can get up and walk and don't overlook that's right.
Speaker 1:And don't overlook those emergency exit seats either, where you have just that little bit of extra leg room.
Speaker 2:That's right. But the problem with those sometimes is they won't lean back, so you don't get the, you don't get the recline you don't get that open mouth sleep. That's right, that's right.
Speaker 1:Our final tip for healthy travel this summer pack smart and plan for the unexpected. Not just what clothes you bring, but what you bring to support your health and to stay consistent.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think it goes back to each of us individually. So make sure that you don't. You could use this as an opportunity not to change your diet or get too far out of your routine by bringing some of those healthy snacks that you are accustomed to and your body's accustomed to on a daily basis. So make sure you're doing that, and then make sure that you're bringing all the meds that you need and the supplements to help supplement your immune health and to make sure you're keeping inflammation to a minimum, and then, whatever you need, to make sure that places are dark and quiet or with white noise. I think those are great things to keep in mind. I know a lot of people travel with pillows, because that pillow size can make a big difference on your sleep, and we know that sleep affects just about everything we do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I can definitely relate to this and this one is kind of the hardest tip for me just because you have to be so proactive to really implement it on those weekends and say you know, I was just going to be waking up swinging by McDonald's for breakfast, um. But recently I've been bringing my supplements with me when I travel so I can stay consistent my pure allure, my superfood, greens, my beetroot Um. I'll pack some protein bars and bananas to get something on my stomach in the mornings that isn't McDonald's, uh. And I'll run on a treadmill in the mornings or evenings, um, after the duty day is over, to get some level of movement. People would think that in the National Guard you would be getting a lot more movement than you actually do. I'm sure in different branches of the Army you do. For context, I'm an engineering unit in the National Guard, so we usually don't get any movement in unless we're taking that PT test.
Speaker 1:But it's amazing how much better I feel just by doing those simple things. That really are small things, but just take a little bit of proactivity. It's amazing how much better I feel.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I think you hit the nail on the head, which is we've got to think several steps ahead of where we're going to be and what we're going to be doing, and don't just kind of go with the flow If we're going to be and what we're going to be doing, and don't just kind of go with the flow. If we're going to truly take ownership of our health, we've got to start taking ownership of our health in those small ways, like you just mentioned. And that is what are things that I can do to make sure that I'm staying healthy, make sure that I'm moving and that I'm not getting totally out of my routine, that my body breaks down and isn't going to be able to perform the best way possible.
Speaker 1:So let's recap these five travel health tips one last time. Tip number one prepare your immune system before the trip. Two prioritize and support your sleep. Three stay hydrated. Four move your body. And five pack smart.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. We know, based on those things, if you do those, travel does not truly have to derail your health or cause you to be more susceptible to bacterial or viral infections. So take those little steps with the right tools and the right supplements and the right diet, and keep those things in mind and I think you'll. You'll be off to the races and have a great summer and good travel.
Speaker 1:And if you want to learn more about our Defender product line, visit wwwcenturionhealth and, as always, talk to your provider if you have specific health concerns or traveling.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Thank you, sir.
Speaker 1:Yep and thank you, troy and to all our listeners. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Frontline Health Podcast Go out today. Take ownership of your health, because you are your best health advocate. If you enjoyed what you heard today on the podcast, please consider leaving us a review. We would love to hear your feedback and connect with you further. You can also follow us on Instagram X, tiktok and YouTube, and for safe, effective and affordable health and wellness products made in the USA, visit wwwcenturionhealth. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.