The Real Reason to Avoid Airplane Food: Even If It's Free

Many air travelers look forward to the flight attendants serving drinks and then offering refreshments during the flight. But some say it's best to avoid eating food on a plane, even if it's free.

Whether it's a free snack, a hot meal or even a simple sandwich, air passengers are being urged to avoid eating on planes, the Daily Mail reports. Social media influencer Kashif Khan shared his thoughts on in-flight snacking with his 873,000 followers.

He claims that airplane food contains artificial flavors and additives to compensate for the reduced sensitivity of passengers' taste buds at thousands of feet. The reduced sensitivity is thought to be caused by the lack of humidity on planes, as well as low air pressure, the Daily Mail explains.

Kashif explains in the video: "Don't eat on a plane, even if it's free. I'll tell you why. Most people don't know that at 30,000 feet, your taste buds lose about 30% of their sensitivity. And this 2010 study proves it.

The online influencer went on to share his thoughts on what airlines add to in-flight meals: "So airlines compensate by adding artificial flavors, salt, and additives to your meals. Just so they don't taste like cardboard. We're talking MSG, sodium nitrite, carrageenan in almost every meal."

Kashif explains how added ingredients make travelers think the food tastes better, but in reality, these additives can make them feel worse from a health standpoint.

"It tricks your brain into thinking the food is delicious," he continues. "And because the cabin air is dry and lacks oxygen, your digestion slows down significantly."

He went on to talk about the impact of such food on the gut and the body as a whole. Kashif Khan says, "These foods just sit in your gut, ferment and cause bloating. That's one of the reasons why people feel so awful during and even after the flight."

However, some users in the comments disagreed with Kashif, with one writing: "Never experienced anything like this after a meal in business class."

Another added: "Unless you fly multiple times a week and eat every meal, I think it's okay to eat there. We just flew from LA to Tokyo and then back from Singapore and we were fed twice on those flights. How do you even survive long flights without eating on the plane?"

While other commenters agreed with the post, one said: "I'll be eating before and after this, that sucks, I never thought of that! Too bad they don't have smoothies or natural organic juices."