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So, you've arrived at LAX in time for lunch, but your body thinks that it's bedtime in London. Jim Waterhouse, professor of biological rhythms at Liverpool John Moores University, shares some of the more scientific approaches to combatting the gruelling effects of jet lag after a long-haul flight -- although common sense is also an essential tool.
Slowly does it
You can gradually adjust your body clock before flying. If travelling west across eight time zones, go to bed an hour later and get up an hour later for eight days before your trip. If you are travelling east, go to bed and get up an hour earlier. However, Waterhouse suggests you adjust your watch to the time at your destination only as you board the aeroplane. "Before adjustment is complete, arrange meetings to coincide with daytime, not night, in the time zone you have just left," he says.
Feast and fast
The Canadian swim team and the US Army and Navy are advocates of the Anti-Jet-Lag Diet developed at the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. Start four days before breakfast time at your destination with a high-protein breakfast and lunch, and a high-carbohydrate dinner. Fast on the second day, keeping calories and carbohydrates to a minimum. Alternate feasting and fasting.
Your final feast day will start at breakfast time at your destination.
Opt for caffeine-free
The Argonne plan stipulates that you imbibe caffeinated drinks only between 3pm and 5pm on the first three days of the diet. On day four, you can opt to drink them in the morning if travelling west or between 6pm and 11pm if travelling east. Avoid caffeine and alcohol on the aeroplane. A study in Military Medicine found that National Guardsmen on the Argonne diet were 16.2 times less likely to feel jet lag after a flight from Korea to the US.
Follow the light
The pineal gland co-ordinates our circadian rhythms -- the body clocks that control our major organs -- and is highly sensitive to light. Jet lag calculators use the details of your trip such as destination, length of stay and point of departure to create a plan of when you should be seeking light or hiding in darkness.
Waterhouse created one for Masta travel clinics, but there are also free models available at jetlagrooster.com or britishairways.com/travel/drsleep.
Let the dark in
Getting the correct dose of sunlight may be difficult in some locations, so a portable light box can help. When your jet lag planner states you need to be in darkness, head inside and turn off every source of light. Even a tiny blinking LED is disruptive as our circadian rhythms evolved around sunlight, moonlight, starlight and the glow from camp fires. If you do have to be outside when your planner is prescribing a spot of sleep, deploy some dark sunglasses or buy a pair of blue blocker glasses.
Break out the melatonin
Melatonin is produced by the pinealgland and causes our body to get drowsy. A 5mg dose taken two hours before bedtime has been proven to help jet-lagged travellers sleep. A study by clinical pharmacologist Andrew Herxheimer and Keith Petrie, a professor of psychological medicine, found that in nine out of ten trials on aeroplane passengers, staff and military personnel, those who took melatonin reported decreased jet lag after crossing five or more time zones. Remember: always get medical advice before you take it.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
