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Tips on Healthy Eating for Truck Drivers

Sep 08, 2022

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The term healthy eating was coined in 1993 by Paul Barron, The Chipotle Effect author, an American sociologist and restaurant market analyst. However, since ancient times already people were aware of the necessity to eat well to feel better and to avoid multiple diseases. The more extreme the conditions are or the tougher the job is, the more important the diet gets. We all know that the work of a truck driver belongs to one of the most wearing and demanding professions in the labor market, and taking into account the continuous time pressure and inability to stop and leave the place of work for a long time, eating might really become a serious issue for them. That’s exactly why we are going to tell you about healthy meals for truck drivers and give several useful tips for you to apply in your daily life and work.

The existing articles mostly recommend some specific meals or ingredients, which might come handy and healthy on the road, however we would like to follow the principle and break this issue down into 2 separate subjects: what we eat and how we combine things.

At that, the first “what” also consists of what can be consumed regularly and what is to be swallowed literally on the go, in extreme situations of driving a heavy vehicle day and night round the clock.

So, a driver has the body of an ordinary human, and all general recommendations on healthy eating apply to him without too many exceptions. Healthy food is the one with balanced protein, fat and carbohydrate content, giving the body enough vitamins and microelements. That kind of nutrition should at least contain:

  • Red and white meat (pork, beef, chicken, fish).

  • Salads and fresh vegetables

  • Fruits

  • Nuts


Here the preference has to be given to freshly cooked food (in a café or at a gas station), leftovers taken from home, fresh food from a supermarket. A driver has to be careful with food, which is canned or preserved in any other way, for it contains a lot of unhealthy additives. Also many types of street food are to be avoided, for although it might consist of basically meat and vegetables, like doner kebab, the way it is cooked might be quite damaging for the health and also you are never really able to check on the actual shelf life of such products.

It would be reasonable to cut down on cereals and bread, and also on excessive amounts of sweets, tea or coffee, which dehydrate organism and block normal digestion and other metabolic processes in the body.

However, there might come a situation, when a driver just cannot stop to drop into a decent place for a snack. Here a modern cute device like a cooler or a small fridge might come as a really good option, giving an opportunity to survive for more than a day at least on the staff taken from home or elsewhere. Some companies provide their drivers with these devices for free. In case the driver is caught locked in the cabin for hours, he has to recharge his energy with something sweet or calorific, and here the choice has to be with simple products like marshmallow or pure chocolate, it is better to avoid candy bars or other products with many hidden ingredients. Sandwiches are also an option, however it is advised to buy bread to make them having the smallest shelf life, which is a good indicator that the staff is more or less natural.

Next thing is how you combine it. The first rule here is that you have to drink. Many drivers tend to wash down all food with strong coffee or tea, especially so as it helps them to stay awake and concentrate. However, these beverages dehydrate the body rather than the opposite and that really brings the other effects down to nothing. You have to drink water to refill your water and alkaline balance and it is better to do it before or during eating. It is strongly not advised to drink water right after meals. Tea or coffee is also better to separate from the solid food as much as possible.

Also you have to be aware that you shouldn’t mix concentrated protein and carbohydrates (like, for example, eggs and rice), sour fruits with protein (e.g. no cherry with beans), protein with fat (same beans are better to eat separately from a piece of good red meat).

Sure thing, these are very general recommendations and in any case, when having such a strenuous job, in the worst case scenario it is always better to eat at least something rather than to starve. However HMD Trucking hopes that trying to observe all listed in this article will most probably make you diet a much more effective fuel to refill your body.