Jet Lag - 5 Pre-travel Steps to Reduce the effects of jet lag
Ask any regular long-haul flyer about their experience of flying
and you will soon discover that everyone has a different “magic”
formula for overcoming or avoiding jet lag.
In reality of course no magic formula exists - and there is
certainly no magic pill or tablet. There is, however, a great
deal that you can do in preparation for your departure to help
you overcome or eliminate jet lag and here are just a few tips:
1. Maintain a consistent sleep pattern.
If you are not following a consistent routine in the days and
weeks before your journey (going to bed and getting up at the
same time each day) your body’s internal clock will be disrupted
even before you start your journey and your flight will simply
magnify the effects of insomnia induced by jet lag.
2. Ensure you are getting a balanced and healthy diet.
Diet plays an important role in ensuring that you get a good
night’s sleep and an appropriate balance of whole grains,
proteins, fruits and vegetables in your diet is essential.
Alcohol and caffeine are two elements of your diet that are
particularly important in relation to jet lag and these should
be reduced, or eliminated, in the run-up to your journey if at
all possible. If, however, asking you to give up your twelve
cups of coffee each day is rather like asking you to cut off
your right hand, then try to limit your intact to the afternoon
between about 3 pm and 5 pm.
Caffeine when taken late in the day tends to speed up your body
clock, while taking it in the morning has the opposite effect.
Taken during the middle of the day, caffeine has little or no
effect on your body’s circadian rhythms.
3. Take regular exercise.
Regular exercise can significantly improve the consistency,
quality and duration of your normal sleep cycle. Some form of
daily aerobic exercise, lasting at least twenty minutes, will go
a long way to preparing your body for your forthcoming journey.
4. Start to slowly adjust your bedtime.
You should begin to “manage” your body clock by gradually and
slowly adjusting your bedtime and wake up time in the days
before your journey, to bring these into line with the local
time at your destination.
If, for example, you normally go to bed at 10 pm and you are
flying to a country that is four hours ahead, at your normal
bedtime the time at your destination will be 2 am. So, in this
case, you need to slowly bring your bedtime forward a little bit
(say fifteen minutes) each night for a week or ten days before
your departure. This might mean that immediately prior to
leaving you are going to bed at say 7.30 pm. However, when you
arrive at your destination this will mean that you are now going
to bed at 11.30 pm and that you have narrowed the four hour time
difference to just one and a half hours.
5. Reduce stress in the days before traveling.
One often overlooked factor in the jet lag equation is that of
stress and much of this stress is a direct result of the journey
itself. How many times have you found yourself running around at
the last minute trying to do 1001 things at once?
Plan ahead and make sure that, as far as is possible, everything
that you need to do both at home and at works is completed well
in advance of your journey. In planning for your journey, clear
as much as you can as early as you can and make specific time
available in your pre-journey planning for plenty of relaxation
in the days immediately prior to your departure.
These are just a few examples of things that you should pay
attention to when planning any long-haul trip and, together with
other specific measures taken both during your flight and
following your arrival, will considerably reduce the effects of
jet lag, or even lead to no jet lag at all!
Copyright 2005 Donald Saunders - http://help-me-to-sleep.co
Donald Saunders
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