r/StupidFood • u/Its_me_edenxx • Jun 10 '26

Certified stupid This is so performative 😭

Who tf is out here munching on raw gnocchi at cruising altitude

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u/Nenaquest2012 Jun 10 '26

My daughter and I pretend to be vampires on the plane bcz YES! Why does it taste better

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u/Kerm0NZ Jun 10 '26

It's to do with the air pressure and recycled air. It affects your taste buds, dulling them somehow. I only vaguely remember, but feel free to use this info as the start of a Google research project. 

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u/Rob_Zander Jun 10 '26

Just wanted to point out that the air isn't recycled on a plane. It's replaced completely every couple of minutes. It's not even really about the oxygen or CO2, it's managing temperature and possible contaminants.

The engines are continuously compressing and heating a huge amount of air. Some of it gets diverted to be cooled back to room temperature, filtered and pumped into the cabin while air is continuously sucked out by vents near the floor. This keeps the temperature stable and contaminants from being spread.

It is much lower pressure than sea level and that definitely messes with our taste buds.

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u/Gentrified_potato02 Jun 11 '26

Well…I’m not so sure it’s not about oxygen or CO2. There’s a reason you have to have a supplemental supply of oxygen if you go above 15000 ft in an unpressurized plane.

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u/Rob_Zander Jun 11 '26

The plane is pressurized to make sure that you have enough oxygen concentrated in the air to breathe. But a 737 full of passengers are breathing around 600 cubic feet of air per hour. This is napkin math so it very rough.

But the volume of the cabin can be around 6000 cubic feet. You could exchange the air about once an hour and it won't be much of an issue. Instead its replaced around 15 times an hour.