In what I can only describe as “unfathomable”, people have started to take long-haul flights and avoided any form of entertainment, food or drink or even sleeping for the duration of their air travel, in something that’s been dubbed “raw dogging flights”.
I am sorry you had to read those words with your own eyes.
Social media users have been taking to TikTok to share their ‘personal bests’ in distraction-free flights and challenging themselves to outdo their own bests.
However, nutritionist Toby King spoke to the travel site Inspire Ambitions and warned that raw dogging flights could have a detrimental impact on your health.
The health risks of distraction-free flights
King said: “The trend requires you to sit still for hours at a time and not take in any food or liquids. This is a recipe for disaster that could have terrifying consequences.”
He explained that plane cabins have low humidity levels and can cause you to become dehydrated throughout your journey.
“If you aren’t drinking any water when flying you are adding fuel to the fire.”
King advised: “Keeping hydrated can help your skin and mucous membrane cells to keep bacteria from entering your body, and makes you more susceptible to infection, especially when you are surrounded by hundreds of others in a confined area.
“Getting sick at the beginning of your holiday isn’t a great way to start it.”
However, he warned, this isn’t actually the worst of it.
Distraction-free flights can quickly become deadly
King warned: “Immobility and dehydration can increase the risk of a blood clot when travelling, two factors that this trend is promoting.
“If you do get a clot when travelling it can break off and cause a blockage of the arteries in the lung which is very serious and can cause death.”