Can you take supplements on a plane?

When you have plans to wake up early for your flight, and you know that you’ll be spending the whole day in the air at 35,000 feet, sitting in a box full of airborne viruses and germs, you might get a few health impacts.

And that’s just when you are traveling — not to mention the condition of your body when you arrive at your destination.

Keep reading to learn the logistics of traveling with vitamins and supplements on a plane.

Why take supplements when traveling

Several reasons affect what type of supplements or vitamins you should take on vacation: location, length of stay, and dietary habits.

To avoid any difficulty during long flights, you can store vitamins with these tips:

• Get resealable containers to store your gummies or pills. This way, you can avoid leakage in your bag
  
• Use sealable plastic bags to pack powdered vitamins. With tight seals, you can avoid their spillage in your luggage
  
• Use “fragile” stickers to label your pills. This way, carts and others taking care of your luggage will be extra careful while moving it
  

Although vitamins are fragile, being extra careful to keep them intact is a good practice.

Why You Might Want To Bring Your Supplements On Your Next Trip

Our bodies need a regular dosage of vitamins & minerals, supplements, and enzymes that help us boost our immunity and maintain our overall health to prevent getting sick.

We usually get these vitamins through whole-food and a balanced diet.

But while traveling, we don’t always get the chance to take all the vitamins and minerals our body needs.

So, it’s vital for your health to bring supplements when you travel since you’re likely to find unhealthy and fast food while away from home.

A regular intake of supplements keeps your body functioning at peak production levels.

Taking supplements when you travel will give you the strength and energy you need for your next trip and help you stay healthy overall. (Source)

Related: Multivitamins Vs Individual Vitamins?

Best Supplements For Travelling

In a perfect world, we could take all the nutrients our body needs from food.

But when you travel, you can’t control your environment or what you eat.

Moreover, travel can exhaust your body and expose it to stuff it doesn’t experience daily.

With extra help from supplements, you can stay healthy and enjoy your trip to the fullest.

Here are some of the best supplements to take with you on the plane:

Vitamin D

This vitamin is vital to get with you during travel because it boosts immunity and supports blood, bone, and immune system health.

With the help of vitamin D, your body can absorb calcium for stronger bones.

It also helps your immune system fight off diseases and keeps the amount of phosphorous in your blood at a healthy level.

Vitamin C

Airports and planes are a hub for all kinds of viruses and germs.

Vitamin C helps your immune system by providing a much-needed boost to your white blood cells to fight off diseases.

It also maintains blood pressure and lowers anxiety that comes from traveling.

Melatonin

Sudden changes in your sleep schedule and time zone are sometimes compulsory when you travel.

Your body can take days to get over jet lag’s effects and adjust to catching some z’s.

Instead of bearing with it, you can take melatonin, a hormone made in the brain that boosts natural sleep functions.

This works as a natural alternative to other sleep aids, and it can get you some sleep when you are turning and tossing away from your very own bedroom.

Magnesium

A long-haul flight with a middle seat and no hope of stretching your legs can crunch your muscles until landing.

Magnesium is a fantastic supplement to help when you travel in a tiny plane and you need help to relax your muscles and help with the soreness.

Getting good sleep and relieving muscles from any extra strain is very important to keep you calm and ready for the challenges you might face on your next trip.

Vitamin B12

Maintain a healthy blood flow instead of worrying about traffic flow while traveling by bringing vitamin B12.

This supplement is important for your nervous system and blood flow, so getting it with you will help keep your blood moving well.

Vitamin B also improves your mood on a stressful traveling day. (Source)

Traveling With Supplements 101

In this section, I’ll share some of the most important tips for storing and packing pills, powder, and other supplements while on a flight.

Whether on a two-month voyage or a quick weekend gateway, you’ll get all the hacks right here.

How to store your supplements for your next trip?

We know how strict the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) rules are when bringing certain items with you on a flight.

You may wonder if your supplements may be flagged during screening.

Fortunately, flying with health supplements will no longer be a hassle.

According to the TSA, you can store supplements in your carry-on bags and checked luggage, so there’s no need to worry about the TSA rules and restrictions.

• Don’t carry liquid vitamins with you — TSA allows passengers to use a 3.4-ounce container to take liquid vitamins. Anything that exceeds this limit has to be put in your checked luggage. You may undergo a longer screening process with a liquid item on a flight. I think it’s best to stick to gummy or solid vitamins when traveling because they’re easier to take, and you don’t have to worry about them spilling into your bag.
  
• Keep your supplements in your carry-on bag — this is the best hack to store those supplements. Things can get frantic when you travel. Your daily routine changes and you might forget to do certain things! By the time you realize that this is the time to take your supplements, it might be the time you find out that you put them in your checked luggage. Taking them on a plane in the cabin would be easier if you carried them in your bag.
  
• Use a particular container for your supplements on the plane — while planning your trip, you should buy a special container. A container made of compact leather that can fit easily inside a carry-on can be an ideal purchase. Supplement cases have seven to eight small containers you can fill with your daily supplements. The containers also allow you to separate your daytime and nighttime dosages.
  
• Buy vitamins packed in suitable containers — If you don’t want to add extra containers for your vitamin pills, you can buy special containers with stored pills in better packaging. You can purchase these containers according to your physician’s choice or recommendation. These can store the content and keep it at its best at a temperature where it will not start melting.

Do You Have To Declare Vitamins At Customs?

As discussed in the last section, the TSA has let people bring supplements on board.

The major problems can be airport security and local customs agents in your destination country.

At some airports, gel capsules might be an issue because of the security restrictions for liquids or LAGs (liquids, gel, or aerosols).

So, from a security point of view, I suggest you put them in your checked luggage, where there are no LAG restrictions.

For local customs rules, I recommend contacting the embassy of the country you are planning to travel to confirm if any restrictions apply to importing such products.

Some countries do prohibit the importation of medicines.

From an airline’s perspective, their only concern is that the item you bring on a flight is not hazardous, so from their perspective, there should be no issue.

For liquid supplements, as long as you comply with the TSA’s policy, which says 3.4 ounces or less, there’s no need to declare vitamins at customs.

Traveling With SuperGreen Tonik

If you like to travel light, you can get some of everything with Supergreen Tonik.

This premium super green drink supplement has 38 nutrient-rich superfood ingredients in it.

You can take this one tub with you while traveling and forget about the rest of the supplements.

This green powder supplement combines adaptogens, vitamins & minerals, and superfoods.

It is made to give you more energy and help your brain work better.

It can also help you feel less anxious, support your digestive system, and boost your body’s immunity. (Source)

I love its taste and drink it daily to get my adaptogens and essential nutrients.

This outstanding product outperforms and keeps you active and energized throughout your traveling.

You don’t have to take those extra supplements; get one tub of Supergreen Tonik, and you’re all set for the trip. It’s also available in different flavors, so you can choose your favorite flavor and take care of your health.

Can You Take Supplements On The Plane? Summing Things Up

Lastly, the TSA allows everybody to carry supplements onto a plane in pill, powdered, or liquid form as long as you stick to their defined limits.

So, you can take your supplements on the plane just like any other medicine.

Here’s a recap of how it’s done:

• Bring a bottle of water with you to take your supplements before the flight attendants even start their services.
• Keep track of your dosage (because of the shift in the time zone).
• Use sleep-aiding supplements carefully to benefit from them for beating the after-effects of jet lag.

Taking supplements is an important part of our routine, but it’s easy to forget when we’re on the go. Bringing them with you on a flight can help you maintain your health while away from home.

Brenda Peralta, RDN, CDE

Brenda Peralta is an experienced Registered Dietitian (RDN) and Certified Diabetes Education (CDE). She is a freelance health and nutrition writer based in San Jose, Costa Rica. She has several certifications in sports nutrition, women’s health hormones, and gut health.