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By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Medicine
Most of us can’t wait to get out of town for a well-earned vacation. But if you’re crossing multiple time zones, jet lag can put a damper on your trip.
Whether I’m traveling around the United States or flying overseas, I’ve found the more time zones I cross (especially when I “lose time” flying east to west), the more my circadian rhythms are disrupted. And that usually means I’ll likely be suffering from a nasty case of jet lag before my trip is through.
If you’ve never experienced jet lag, it’s about more than simply having your sleep cycle disrupted. It can also bring on headaches and digestive problems.
Most folks who travel a lot know the basic tricks for minimizing jet lag: drink lots of water, avoid alcohol, stay awake on the plane if you are flying during the day and sleep if flying at night. But there are other things you can do to adapt to changing time zones.
Here’s what I do whenever I hit the road:
- Treat your body well before your trip. Exercise, sleep well, eat lightly and stay hydrated.
- Adjust your habits before you leave. If you are traveling from the East to the West Coast, you're facing a three-hour time change and you should try to adjust your internal clock. Three or four days before you leave, start to stay up a little later than usual, and sleep in a little longer. That way, if you become accustomed to falling asleep at 1 a.m. and waking up at 9 a.m. on the East Coast, it will be the same as falling asleep at 10 p.m. and waking up at 6 a.m. on the West Coast. Traveling west to east, do the opposite: get up and go to bed earlier.
- Take Pynogenol before you fly. New research from D’Annunzio University in Italy suggests that Pycnogenol’s antioxidant power and its ability to improve blood circulation soothes jet lag symptoms by reducing swelling in the brain. Travelers participating in the study took 50 mg of Pycnogenol 3 times a day beginning 7 days before their flight.1
- Drink 16 ounces of water for every hour that you fly. This equals about the same amount of fluid you lose through evaporation.
- Don’t sleep until bedtime. No matter what time you arrive at your destination, don’t go to bed until it’s nighttime there. This can be a big struggle, and you might want to sleep more than you ever have before. But be disciplined, take a long walk or do whatever it takes so that your body can start adjusting to the new time zone as soon as possible.
- If you can’t sleep, take melatonin. I never travel without packing a bottle of melatonin. Studies show that this hormone can help re-set your internal clock and boosts daytime alertness.2 Take 1,000 to 3,000 mcg of melatonin before bedtime to help regain your sleep cycle.
- Take a nap and some caffeine if you’re still sleepy. According to a NASA study, 26-minute naps boosted performance by 34% and alertness by 54%. Remember, both Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein swore by their 20 to 30 minutes naps. And using a combination of a nap and caffeine is better. It takes 15 to 30 minutes for caffeine to kick in so do the two together. By the time the caffeine starts to work, your nap is over. Just make sure to avoid caffeine after 2:00 in the afternoon.
- If all else fails, get some light therapy. This alternative therapy has become a popular treatment for jet lag, and it makes sense.3 At its heart, jet lag means you're out of step with the rising and setting of the sun. While using a light box is best, you may be able to get some benefit by simply spending 15 - 20 minutes in direct sunlight without sunglasses as soon as possible after landing.
Additional Articles of Interest:
On the Road Again
Staying Well While Travelling
Spring Ahead with Melatonin
References:
- Belcaro G. Jet-lag: prevention with Pycnogenol. Preliminary report: evaluation in healthy individuals and in hypertensive patients. Minerva Cardioangiol. 2008;56:3-9.
- Srinivasan V. Jet lag, circadian rhythm sleep disturbances, and depression: the role of melatonin and its analogs. Advances in Therapy. 2010;27:796-813.
- Arendt J. Managing jet lag: Some of the problems and possible new solutions. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2009;13:249-256.
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