Jet lag can mean your luggage arrives in better shape than you. Farrol Kahn, author of Arrive In Better Shape: How to Avoid Jet Lag and Travel Stress, offers his top tips.
WHAT IS JET LAG?
Jet lag, or “circadian dysrhythmia”, is the disruption of your body’s 24-hour cycle caused by travelling across a number of times zones. Your internal body clock is knocked out of sync with the destination time.
Symptoms vary, but can include fatigue, irritability, nausea, anxiety, headaches, diarrhoea, constipation, sweating, memory loss and the inability to think logically.
Studies have shown that people find jet lag easier to overcome when flying west than east. Elderly flyers generally suffer more as their sleep rhythms are easily disturbed and they generally sleep less.
BEFORE THE FLIGHT:
Healthy bodies are more likely to recover quicker. Swimming and jogging are the best forms of exercise because these use all our main muscle groups. Exercising on the day of your flight is a good idea – it will wear you out and help you sleep through the night on board.
Prepare by gradually getting your body used to doing things at a different time. Move your routine either an hour earlier or later (depending on the time difference and whether it’s ahead or behind) than normal on each day leading up to take-off until you are in sync with your destination.
Adrenalin caused by stress and emotional trauma inhibits sleep on board and exacerbates jet lag. To combat this, say goodbye to loved ones at home, not at the departure gate. If you’re a nervous flyer, lavender oil may calm you down.
DURING THE FLIGHT:
As soon as you walk onto the flight, set your watch to the destination time. This will give you a few hours extra to adjust. Drink lots of fluids as dehydration worsens jet lag.
Carrot juice is recommended because of its high levels of keratin (a protein that encourages cells in the body to hold on to oxygen longer). In a pressurised cabin, there is up to 25 percent less oxygen available, so the longer the body can hold on to oxygen the more normal you will feel.
JET SET:
Eat as little as possible. If you arrive hungry, it’s easier to get into your destination’s circadian rhythm. Join in local meals with gusto will more quickly reset your body’s clock.
Eating a heavy meal will distribute most of the oxygen to your stomach for digestion and, with less oxygen in a cabin, this could make you feel groggy and even faint. Digestion is sluggish on flights so you should eat in the airport before take-off: you won’t be hungry until the end and your digestion will be better.
Try to get some sleep during the flight – if you arrive somewhere in the morning, you will feel fresher. Melatonin may help you sleep. Other products which may help are vitamin supplements and sleep masks.
Alcohol can help, but remember it has twice the effect in the air than on land. So one glass of wine or champagne should be more than enough to send you off to the land of nod. Any more, and you’ll likely wake up with a nasty hangover combined with jet lag – a “jangover”.
AFTER THE FLIGHT:
It seems obvious, but follow local time as much as possible. If it’s lunchtime, eat; if it’s 3am, sleep.
Jet lag interferes with bodily processes. What triggers them to work properly again is sunlight and sleeping and eating at the right time for the environment. Taking exercise during daylight can help wear you out by the evening.
Expose yourself to bright light during daytime. Research from Harvard University says it helps reset circadian rhythm. Exposure to bright artificial light has the intensity of early morning daylight, so putting yourself in front of a 100-watt table lamp can help influence the body’s internal clock and help persuade you it’s daytime.
Yoghurt will help your digestion, especially if you did not eat on the flight, and eating carbohydrates will give you energy, helping you stay awake.
If you must catch up on sleep during the day, nap for only an hour or less. More, your body clock goes back to home time. - Daily Mail