blog post

Overcoming Jet Lag

Jet lag is the bane of foreign travel!   Fighting to stay awake on the day of arrival, unable to sleep in the middle of the night, going straight to slumber land every time you settle into a bus seat, constipation, foggy brain, etc.   This is just never how I envision my upcoming fabulous trip to a foreign land, but an inevitable reality! 

What, exactly, is Jet Lag?

Your body’s biological clock wants to stay on the schedule it is used to at home and cannot adjust immediately to a new time zone.   Your body may take several days to completely adjust.  Usually about the time you are ready to come back home your body has adjusted well.  Then you get to start the adjustment all over again!    They say it takes as many days to overcome jet lag as the number of time zones you have crossed to get to your destination.  By this reckoning if you went toEuropefor a week, you’d be jet lagged the whole week and another week when you got home.  If you go toAsiafor two weeks, you’ll be jet lagged for that whole trip as well as two more weeks when you get home. 

Since the biggest single cause of jet lag is crossing time zones, which disrupts the body's circadian rhythms, the syndrome is most severely felt when associated with east-west, west-east or transpolar flights. The effects are made worse by variations in atmospheric pressure each time the aircraft takes off and lands, and also by pre-flight stress, tiredness or hangovers. Other factors that appear to exacerbate jet lag include the dryness of the air supply aboard passenger aircraft, the temptation to consume alcohol and to eat more than necessary during flight, and the lack of body movement, especially in the legs and feet.

So what are the remedies?  The first remedy would be to travel south (Mexico, South America, and Antarctica) or north (Canada, North Pole) so you won’t be crossing too many time zones.  If you want to travel east or west, though, try these remedies:

Remedies for Jet Lag

Try to sleep on the Plane and Stay Awake when you get there!

I have always been told that the fastest way to become acclimated is to sleep on the plane (easier said than done) and stay awake the day of arrival and go to bed the normal local time.  No naps.  This has always been the hardest advice to follow, so I usually don’t.   I find that as soon as I am able to check into my hotel, my body is crying for that nap and it feels fantastic to give into it…as long as I don’t sleep too long.   Sleeping too long makes it impossible to sleep all night and thus prolonging the jet lag. 

A two hour nap is just about right.   I can usually get up and get going after that and then hold off crashing again until after a late dinner.  Then I’m very ready for bed and can usually sleep the rest of the night.  This works for Europe…Asiais another story.  That takes a bit longer to acclimate to.  (Waking in the middle of the night, for days, is the norm there).

To help sleep on the plane, use ear plugs and eye masks.   Other remedies for jet lag have been suggested as follows.

Don’t Plan Too Much for the First Couple of Days

Don’t try to do too much on the first or second day, if you can help it.  Even with the remedies below, you may feel a bit groggy at times.

“No-Jet-Lag” is a homeopathic product which can be purchased at Magellan’s.   It has a fan base who swear by it.  It does not contain Melatonin or other hormones.

Dietary Regime.  Restrict your diet to foods that are easily digested, like those that are relatively high in fiber but not too rich. Fats tend to keep you awake, while carbs usually put you to sleep. If you need to stay awake to help you get on local time, eat peanuts, eggs, meats and other high-protein or fatty foods. If you need to fall asleep, eat carbs like pasta or bread (have 24 hour pizza delivered to your room!)

Light Therapy.   At the following web site link you can enter information such as how many time zones you will cross (go to this link to figure it out.. http://www.timeanddate.com/time/) and the time you normally wake in the morning.  From this information you’ll be given a jet lag trip guide which will advise you when to seek bright light and when to stay out of the light.  This light therapy is supposed to speed up your body’s adjustment to the new time zone.  If you try it, let me know how it works out!

Melatonin is a chemical in the body that helps regulate sleep cycles. It can be taken in pill form, and many travelers swear by it for fighting jet lag. However, as popular as melatonin is, it's controversial. Studies have indicated that incorrect melatonin usage can make you feel even more fatigued, so be sure to read all instructions before taking the product.

EFT – Emotional Freedom Technique is an energy shifting technique performed by tapping on certain acupuncture points on your face and body while making affirmations.    EFT can be used to overcome several different types of pain, emotion based issues and apparently to reset your body to a new time zone.  I have used EFT for various things and have some success, mainly with motion sickness.  I’m looking forward to trying EFT for jet lag!   Here is a link to learn how to do EFT and order a free mini-guide.  For Jet Lag a few rounds should be performed every couple of hours on the plane and again at the destination if necessary.