ArcaMax

Editor's Note: Zola is traveling this week. We hope you enjoy this previously published column with a new recipe for Steak Marinade.

No More Lagging

I am one of those people who suffers from altitude sickness.

So what does that mean?

It means that I am part of the 15 percent (or so) of the population that is mildly to severely affected by altitude. This takes effect several ways. For example, if I try to go skiing in Colorado, within about 15 minutes of getting off the plane I’ll feel like I have a combination of the flu and a hangover. I get dizzy, mildly nauseous and my depth perception gets knocked off. Not good for Colorado skiing. But if I go skiing in Canada, I’m better. The secret is I need to sleep below 3,500 feet in altitude to get the symptoms to subside and get relief. In Colorado, the city of Denver is about 6,000 feet above sea level. In Canada when I go to ski in Banff I might be skiing as high at 10,000 feet but I sleep at sea level. The base of the mountains is much lower there.

One time I was in Vail and I was feeling pretty rotten. It was my first night there. So I went to the local pharmacy after dinner and asked the pharmacist what I could do to alleviate the suffering. All he said was, “Go down”. I walked out feeling like I had just been yelled at. Obviously he was being a snot, but at the same time he was trying to tell me there is no cure and I just needed to be at a lower altitude. If I want to stay in someplace like Colorado I have to stay about 10 days before my body adjusts to the higher elevation and then I’m fine.

I can also be affected on airplane trips. Even though the cabin is pressurized I can still get the effects of altitude sickness. Most often, after even a short trip, I am affected. I am slightly dizzy and I want to throw cold water on my face to get my bearings. I try not to schedule meetings right after a flight so I have time to get to my hotel and sort of ‘start over’. Then I feel better the next morning for the meeting.

On a long flight I can be more adversely affected. All that time in the air makes a huge difference.

When I used to fly over fairly regularly to do business in England, I always had to deal with feeling lousy when I got there. Not only had I flown over night and probably got very little sleep, but I was affected by the altitude more than other passengers. My way of coping was to check into the hotel early and drop dead on the bed and nap for about 2 hours. Then I’d force myself back up to start acclimating to the time zone change. But I HAD to have that nap. If no nap, I was dizzy, crabby, tired, swollen, and completely out of sorts. I did not look forward to flying to Europe.

I recently went on vacation in Brussels, Bruges and Amsterdam. That meant an 8.5-hour flight. I was ready for the regular jet lag routine.

Right before I left, I was in the travel store and found a new product (at least it was new to me). It’s called “NO-JET-LAG”. It was on the counter by the cash register. I was intrigued because it’s homeopathic. No drugs. (Doctors had tried giving me drugs for altitude sickness before and they totally backfired so I was curious and since I have designed my own homeopathic formula for Plan Z, I decided to give it a look-see). The ingredients list made sense to me. It’s easy to take. You just pop one in your mouth before the flight and then every two hours or so. One last one when you land. My husband decided to give it a go too.

We were amazed. Even though I got virtually no sleep on the plane I was not overly tired. I was not crabby. I didn’t get my usual two hour nap and I didn’t need it. Usually when you get jet lag, even people without altitude sickness will feel a bit of wooziness on and off for a few days after landing. I had no such wooziness and neither did my husband. We were both as perky as newly hatched baby birds. We were up. We were curious. We had energy and we were off to the vacation races with no nasty side effects.

I don’t usually do product endorsements as part of my column, but I thought the whole development of a homeopathic formula to alleviate the discomforts of jet lag was worth discussion and the fact that it helped me with my altitude sickness was a major bonus for the start of my vacation. Check it out at www.nojetlag.com and see for yourself. There’s some really good information there on who suffers from jet lag and why.

Steak Marinade #3

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4, six-ounce beef tenderloin filets
¼ cup of balsamic vinegar
¼ cup of Worcestershire
¼ cup of Bragg’s Aminos
2 tsp of Dijon mustard or horseradish mustard, your choice
2 tsp of minced garlic (jar garlic will work)
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil spray

Mix all the items (except the steaks) in a small bowl. Brush the steaks with half of the marinade. Let the steaks and the marinade rest on the counter for 15 minutes (meat grills better if it’s not refrigerator-cold). Spray lightly with olive oil spray so the steaks won’t stick to the grill or broiler pan.

Heat your grill or broiler. Grill the steaks to your liking. A few minutes before they are done, brush on the rest of the marinade and continue grilling until you are ready to serve.

The steaks in the picture were served with shallot onion rings as a garnish, and a veggie on the side. Serve with a big, beautiful salad.

Cheers
Zola