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Taking a red-eye flight definitely has its advantages: flying overnight means that you don’t lose a day traveling, which means more time to see everything your destination has to offer (or that you can extend your trip to the last moment). But nothing puts a damper on a trip faster than jet lag. What if we could counter the effects of a red-eye with what we eat? After speaking to several nutritionists and scientists to find out what to eat when taking a red-eye, it’s evident that the connection between sleep and nutrition is powerful.

The "Big Game" has become much more than a football game: It's the second biggest day for food consumption in the United States after Thanksgiving. So, to choose the most splurgeworthy foods, here are the exercise equivalents* for some of your favorite football snacks from Charles Platkin, PhD, MPH, public health advocate, editor of DietDetective.com and Distinguished Lecturer (professor) at the CUNY School of Public Health at HUNTER College. The idea is to use exercise equivalents to provide a reference for calories.

SNACK SMARTER: Pigging out and watching the Super Bowl may be an American pastime, but doing so in an unhealthy way isn't a good idea. Did you know, for example, that just six wings dipped in ranch from Buffalo Wild Wings rack up a grand total of 1,330 calories -- more than half the recommended daily intake? According to Charles Platkin of Hunter College's City University of New York School of Public Health, you would need to do the wave 6,480 times to burn off that many calories. So if you want to save yourself the hassle of all that waving, stick to homemade foods that are baked, not fried, and sugar-free beverages; always pick the low-fat and low-calorie options. After all, you don't want to end up looking like an offensive lineman.

Finding alternatives for high-calorie food and snacks for the Super Bowl need not stop at the big game; they work the rest of the year, a U.S. expert says. Lona Sandon, a clinical nutritionist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said fat-free does not necessarily equate to lower calorie intake and the lack of flavor of some substitutes might actually lead people to want to eat more. “Not everyone is going to be satisfied with the salad bowl,” Sandon said in a statement. “If you’re not ready to replace your entire plate with healthy alternatives, you can still significantly cut down on calories and fats by blending your favorites with some lower-calorie options and alternatives.”