We’re never too far away from the next social media trend and one that has been popping up lately in the travel industry is “raw dogging” flights. The bizarre travel trend being used online to portray masculinity has been sweeping TikTok recently, requiring plane passengers to sit silently, screen-free and without food or drinks while travelling on long-haul flights, and it has the experts concerned.
Nutritionist Toby King spoke to the Travel Website Inspire Ambitions and warned that raw dogging flights could lead to constipation, fatigue and blood clots while leaving you more susceptible to germs.
When flying, it’s recommended to stay seated and buckled in throughout your flight, but this trend takes it to the extreme and is dangerous according to the experts. Toby 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.
“Plane cabins have low humidity levels to start with 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.
“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.”
But that’s not the biggest issue.
While the risk of travel-related blood clots is often small, following this TikTok trend could increase the chances of having one. Toby said: “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.
“This is one of the most dangerous trends I have seen on social media in a while, and while it looks innocent and a bit of fun on the surface, this could have deadly consequences and I would urge people to use sense when travelling.
“To minimise your chance of clots when flying, you should move around ideally every hour or at least for 5 minutes every two hours. You should also drink at least one glass of water for every hour you are in the air.”