Exploring how diet affects pilot performance

What pilots eat and how it affects their performance is the subject of unique, collaborative research being conducted by one of the dual-career faculty couples at the University of North Dakota.

The researchers are Paul Lindseth, associate dean for academics at the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, and Glenda Lindseth, professor and director of research for the College of Nursing.

Paul, a former pilot and instructor in the U.S. Air Force, is currently a flight instructor at UND. He long has been concerned about the performance level of students as it relates to nutrition habits. Glenda, a registered dietitian and registered nurse, has a special interest in the effects of eating patterns on performance. The two have worked together in a series of four earlier studies on the subject.

The four-year, $621,310 project is funded by the U.S. Army Biomedical Research Command.

The Lindseths say their research could make significant contributions to understanding effects of diet on cognition and performance, thereby helping decrease the number of human factor errors related to diet, nutrition and health.

The study is designed to determine cognition and flight performance scores of pilots receiving a non-manipulated control diet, high-protein diet, high-fat diet, or carbohydrate diet. Researchers analyze for differences in flight performance and cognition scores among groups of pilots on the four diets.

Previous studies have found that both passengers and pilots who ate high-protein or dairy products immediately before flying tended to feel worse. A less conclusive finding is that salty foods figure into air sickness. And there is an indication that higher-carbohydrate foods, such as bread and pasta, along with fruit, are preferable before flights.

Paul Lindseth says airsickness can affect 25 to 30 percent of pilots. He says flying has been around 100 years, but only in the past 25 years has there been a focus on the human element. Yet, eighty percent of accidents result from human error.

Consultants and collaborators in the study are Richard Jensen, director of the Aviation Psychology Laboratory at Ohio State University; Warren Jensen, director of aeromedical research at the Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences at UND; Thomas Petros, professor of psychology at UND; and Gladys Block, professor of public health nutrition at the University of California-Berkeley.

Also involved are undergraduate research assistants from the UND Honors Program and highly talented high school students funded by North Dakota EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research).

UND: A leader in research as well as flight training

As the operator of the one of the largest and most prestigious university-level programs in aviation, the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences is a natural place to conduct research on pilot performance, says its dean, Bruce Smith.

In recognition of these capabilities, the Federal Aviation Administration has designated the School as one of the nation’s Air Transportation Centers of Excellence for General Aviation.

Affiliated with the School is the UND Aerospace Foundation, which provides a vehicle for developing partnerships with external entities, including private industry and foreign governments. Smith said the Aerospace Foundation first became known for its development of new training methodologies for airline pilots, but it has broadened its research agenda over the years.