If you frequently travel by plane, you're putting your body at greater risk of a silent killer. Those long periods of inactivity -- legs scrunched up behind the seat in front of you and your arms held tightly to your body because the person next to you is stubbornly refusing to give up even a quarter inch of the arm rest -- aren't exactly healthful for your body.

Frequent fliers run the risk of a condition called Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). In fact, the condition has two travel-related nicknames: Traveler's Thrombosis and Economy-Class Syndrome. DVT is a condition where a blood pools and forms a clot in the calf, thigh, or less commonly in the arm. If you travel a lot or are planning a long flight, keep these DVT prevention tips in mind:

• Get up and move. Don't need a bathroom break? Visit the loo anyway and march in place for a few minutes. Even a quick stroll up and down the aisle will do.
• Ankle circles. Rotate your feet at the ankle both clockwise and counter-clockwise.
  

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At any given moment, there are 2 million passengers on board commercial flights high above the earth. That's what this article claims, but the amazing thing is that one company is responsible for taking calls from flight attendants if a passenger feels ill. While it gives me a little comfort to know medical events can be called in to professionals, the CNN articles reveals that you should think twice before going airborne if you aren't in tip-top shape to begin with.

The reason being is because flight attendants are not medically trained. If you get sick or ill, the pilot (not a doctor) must weight various factors before deciding if he can divert the plane off-course. This can leave a person feeling very icky thousands of feet in the air.

Consider this: if you just got a cast for a broken bone, there's a chance your arm could slightly swell due to altitude changes which could cause discomfort. The bottom line is simple. If you're not feeling well, don't fly. These are not airborne hospitals with trained professionals, and planes don't always divert for sick passengers. It's easy to understand why this is a hot-button issue, but experts agree that staying grounded is the best choice for unwell fliers.

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My little family and I really love Christmas. Ginger, 4 and Parker, 2 are really young and adore all of the excitement that Santa brings. It's just pure fun, so we tend to take advantage of every little moment that we can.

Within the next few days we'll start preparing for Santa and his reindeer's arrival. The gingerbread houses are already decorated, so at the grocery store we'll get cookie mix and broccoli for Santa. Carrots, glitter and something else for the reindeer. Read this, if you're not so sure why Santa will be receiving broccoli.

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Flying or driving long distances this holiday season? Many of you are, and some are even heading a long-haul trips that can not only leave you uncomfortable, but can put your health at risk too if you develop deep vein thrombosis (DVT.) So what can you do you make your travels more comfortable? Here are some tips:

• Wear loose clothing and avoid tight socks or leggings
• Extend your feet as much as possible to increase your circulation
• If you're driving, stop every two hours and get out of the car. If you're flying, stand up at least as often and change your position whenever possible.
  
• Drink lots of water. This will keep your blood flowing and it will keep you moving -- to the bathroom!

My travel tip? Do yoga before and after the journey -- you'll feel much better.

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When your luggage weighs too much, you have to pay an extra fee. But could this kind of excess weight tax be applied to your body weight as well? One doctor in Australia thinks so -- according to Dr John Tickell, an expert in nutrition and weight control, obese travellers should have to pay extra rates to fly because they are driving up the cost of flights for everyone, since it takes more jet fuel to transport them. Really? If that's true, it does seem a little unfair for all of us to be paying the same price, especially since we encourage airlines to charge more for people who bring too much luggage because we don't want to pay for their extravagance.

Still, it seems cruel and embarrassing to base the cost of a flight on how much someone weighs. What do you think of this idea?

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Travel for a living and smoke as a main habit? If so, I would not want to be in your shoes right now. With smoking bans becoming more popular all the time, and with many hotels and public places not accommodating smokers at all these days, where do you go to light up?

Hardly anywhere, that's where. The frustration of traveling smokers must have reached a fever pitch by now, which is all the more reason for habitual smokers to re-examine dumping the habit permanently.

While some hotel chains and independent motels still allow smoking in some forms, that number will dwindle in the coming years. But if you quit now, that frustration will end along with filling your wallet or purse back up -- and your lungs.

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Alright I can guess what you're thinking -- "Yeah right, sunglasses prevent jet lag my butt!" Having experienced some extreme and long-lasting jet lag recently, I too find it hard to believe that a simple pair of sunglasses could have helped me out. However, knowing how hard it was to drag myself to work in the morning while suffering from long -haul flight-related lack of sleep, I was curious about what this article had to say.

It claims that the results of a study conducted by the Edinburgh Sleep Centre suggests that fliers can adjust their internal body clocks (yes, there IS such a think according to the piece) by adjusting their amount of light intake. If you don't wear sunglasses, it takes 1 day to readjust to normal sleeping patterns for every hour of time zone flown toward the west and even more when flying east.

According to the study, the trick is to wear sunglasses during the last few hours of an overnight flight and to continue to do so for the first few hours after getting off the plane and this should help with jet lag. The piece also mentions that many make the mistake of resorting to drinking alcohol to help them sleep, which doesn't help in the long run. For more information and some tips on avoiding and dealing with jet lag, check out the article here.

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Here's a shocking admission. I like airplane food. Well, mostly. I had some pretty dodgy chicken in my last cross-pacific flight, but other than that I've typically enjoyed my meals. But most people don't and there may be more to that than meet the eye. According to this, the real problem with airplane food is that at 30,000 feet, your digestive system doesn't work as it usually does, and it's harder for you to digest meal that are high in fat or protein. Also, you tend to lose water when you fly, so to keep everything, erm, moving along, you need to consume more liquids. So the next time you fly, pick the pasta over the steak, eat your vegetables and be sure to ask for extra water.

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I just got back from from Australia, and spent around 30 hours travelling, both on planes and through busy airports. I've also just developed a nasty cold. Coincidence? Maybe not, according to this. With all that recycled air, I'm not surprised that your risk of developing a cold onboard a plane is higher, but apparently it has more to do with what you touch than what you breath. Other causes of the flying cold? Pressure changes and a dry climate don't help, and I imagine the jet lag that comes from crossing multiple time zones doesn't help either.

So if you're flying soon, be sure to wash your hands, drink some water, eat healthfully and get some sleep!

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News flash: traveling can be stressful, especially in the air! Okay so maybe you didn't need the heads-up, but many of us have flown with people who needed a notice of a different kind. Barbara Correa hammers out a list of pointers which schools travelers on cooperative flying to keep annoying habits at bay. They're not only painfully overt but some of them are downright hilarious as well.

For instance, she knows how drinking and flying don't make a very prudent combination. Just imagine flying with a colleague who couldn't find where to stick the ignition key to drive a rental car to the hotel after landing. Barbara also has some great suggestions for airlines. After having to deal with bladder-full passengers who make her get up and move, she suggests that a mother figure should be hired by the airlines to ask that important initial question of "Did you go to the bathroom before you left?"

It's a facetious way of hammering home the fact that a simple trip to the bathroom before boarding can avoid bothering other passengers. She has more pointers just like it which are novel and should be required reading for people who frequently fly. We could all use the stress reduction anyway since flights can often prove trying on the nerves. Check out the full article here for more!

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Are you scared of flying? Worried about how you'll deal with the trip to see family this Christmas?

Lifehacker has an interesting post about how to deal with this fear. Apparently it stems from our unease with situations in which we lack control. We control our diet, our exercise habits, our property, etc -- but when we're strapped in an airplane with someone else at the controls, our fate is no longer in our hands.

Here's a self-help course created by a pilot that might help. It contains five complete lessons on how to deal with the root causes of your fear.

I've found closing my eyes, breathing deep -- almost meditating -- during the difficult periods like take-off and landing has helped me tremendously. Have any of you stumbled on little tricks to get over the fear of being airborne?

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Depending on where your family lives and how you celebrate the holidays, you might find yourself on a few planes over the next several weeks. So not only do you have to manage your diet around all the obnoxious holiday goodies, but around airline meals and snacks in between. Thankfully, there are not only more choices but more health-conscious options onboard most flights than ever before. This website does a nice job of breaking down the nutritional information for several of the major airlines' food offerings, complete with "best bet" categories and "exercise equivalent" scores, for how long it will take to walk off the calories of a specific snack.

Of the airlines surveyed, which came out on top? United Airlines offers both the most variety and the healthiest options. For example, its "Snack Pack" is both trans-fat-free and vegetarian-friendly.

It's been a long time since I've had to fly anywhere, but looking at some of these menu items I'm impressed! For some carriers anyway, the stereotypical "airline food" seems to be turning into a thing of the past.

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