There’s no panacea for jet lag, but there are many things you can do to minimize its effects.
You’ve just flown from LAX to London and you arrive feeling like a semi-zombie. And then a week later, when you return home, you feel even weirder-- you're confused, disoriented, irritable, and ready for sleep at four in the afternoon.
Welcome to Jet Lag-- a modern-day syndrome that often baffles and perplexes even the most ardent world-traveler.
NASA and the Mayo Clinic have developed strategic recommendations to mitigate the effects of jet lag
• Pre-hydrate the body. Drink mega-doses of water, commencing at least 24-hours before departure.
• Avoid alcohol before, during, and immediately subsequent to a flight.
• Use of melatonin (variously, before, during and following a long-haul flight).
• Set your watch to the time zone of your destination upon departure and visually observing the sunset or sunrise upon arrival.
• Get plenty of sleep the night before traveling and exercising before, during, and after long flights.
Some people ignore the no-alcohol rule, and actually profess that self-medicating with wine or liquor is one of their regular anti-jet lag routines, but it flies in the face of NASA and Mayo Clinic research.
Why hydrate the body?
First, the conditioned air within aircraft cabins is a primary source of dehydration. Second, even though the cabins are pressurized-- when flying at 35,000 feet, the cabin atmosphere is the equivalent to 8,500 thousand feet above sea level (the source of airborne fatigue and swelling of the lower extremities). Be sure to do in seat exercises and if possible, get up and walk around. Also, avoid coffee and colas, as caffeine is a diuretic and will compound the effects of dehydration.
Why avoid alcohol?
Talk about a cheap drunk—at cruising altitude, the effects of alcohol are two to three times stronger than at sea level. Your two airborne cocktails are equivalent to six or eight shots-- and a subsequent throbbing headache might conveniently be blamed on jet lag.
Melatonin
Darkness stimulates melatonin (which signals the body to sleep), while daylight inhibits production. In the United States, melatonin is available over the counter, and has been found to successfully minimize the effects of jet lag
Circadian rhythm-- a key to jet lag
We all have an internal 24-hour clock that’s synchronized to light-dark cycles. When we travel across time zones, our inner clocks continue ticking on home time, and it can take many days for your circadian rhythm to adjust. To speed things up, set your watch to the destination time zone as soon as you're airborne, immediately get with the local program and do not go to bed until your normal bedtime.
And, most importantly, since your circadian clock is set by light-dark cycles, be sure to watch the sunset the day of arrival.
Morning light exposure can help you adjust to an earlier time zone after traveling east. Evening light helps you adapt to a later time zone after traveling west.
Bummers and FACTOIDS of long-haul flights:
• Cabin air is recycled and it is estimated that for every hour of flight, you are exposed to five percent of the airborne viruses.
• NASA estimates that it takes one day to overcome the effects of jet lag for every time zone traveled.
• According to the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), "...conflict between the traveler's own circadian clock and external rhythms in a new time zone is the primary agent of jet lag."
• Generally, eastbound travel is worse than westbound.
• Children under three experience minimal effects of jet lag
• Adults who easily adjust to changes in routine are less susceptible to jet lag.
• People who are slaves to a fixed daily regimen suffer jet-lag symptoms the most.
What works for me:
I frequently receive travel assignments to cover East Coast destinations, from Virginia down to Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana.
Most often my outbound flights from the West Coast depart in the early morning requiring waking up around 4 a.m.
I often times stay up and work on the computer, rather than
sleeping for 3 or 4 hours.
When I arrive at my destinations it’s typically late evening. If I am lucky there’s still the last glimmers of daylight. I make sure the drapes are pulled back so my
mind’s eye can witness the final moments of daylight.
After settling in, I am definitely ready for
sleep. I frequently take an Ambien and I awake in the morning rested and ready to go-having jumpstarted my circadian rhythm reset.
And a caveat from experience. If you arrived in the late afternoon, whatever you do, do not settle in your room and take a nap—keep going, and be sure to keep the drapes wide open.
Before your trip. You can start light therapy up to three days before traveling to help you adjust to the new time zone once you arrive.
If you're traveling east, try waking one hour earlier than your usual wake time and get at least one hour of light exposure. Do this daily until you leave for your trip, waking one hour earlier each day.
Also adjust your bedtime to one hour earlier each night if possible. For westward travel, delay your wake times and bedtimes.
