Eating on an airplane can be challenging, and we’re not just talking about flight turbulence knocking your food off your tray, or spilling hot coffee onto your lap. The real challenge can be the actual taste of the food and finding a way to enjoy it. You may have wondered why airplane food tastes so different from the food that you’re used to eating on ground level. Thankfully, we have the answers for you!

The first reason why your food tastes different on an airplane is because of the cabin humidity. It’s typically low on a plane, causing your nose to dry out and affecting your sense of smell. The recycled air combined with air-conditioning makes food dry up quickly, which is why most meals served are heavy on the sauce. Our sense of smell also plays a significant role in how we taste our food, so that could be why your Big Mac just doesn’t seem as delicious at 30,000 feet!

Another factor found by the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab is that plane vibrations stimulate a nerve in your middle ear, which can mess up your perception of taste. The study found that savory flavors were heightened, and sweet flavors were less sweet. The study showed how important a person’s auditory environment is and how it contributes to the enjoyment of our food. As a suggestion, you may want to leave on your noise-canceling headphones while eating and and order foods served more wet than dry.

Another suggestion to ordering, is to know when to order. The longer the meals sit on the food cart, the less “fresh” and warm they’ll be. If you’re content to go the onboard meal route, request a special meal options such as vegetarian, low-fat, or kosher. This will ensure you get your meal delivered before others, and ups your chances that it’ll be fresher.

If you want to skip onboard ordering altogether, bring foods that will retain their flavors, taste good at room temperature, and stand up to the dry air conditions. Look for foods that rank high in umami and will actually be enhanced by that pesky airline humidity, like carrots, parmesan cheese, soy sauce, and tomatoes.

Of course, not all inflight dining is dreaded. Certain airline meals are not only palatable, but they’re actually tasty! Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class serves afternoon tea, while passengers can enjoy Filipino beef kare-kare in Hawaiian Airlines’ First Class, brisket chili in Alaska Airlines’ business class, or chicken Cobb salad as an option in American Airline’s business class.

We hope these suggestions will make your next inflight dining experience a little tastier!