This year many thousands of us will be flying off to the four corners of the globe to lie on sun soaked tropical beach, to trek through some of the most beautiful of the world's wilderness areas, to witness some of the wonders of our planet or to merely explore new cultures and countries. And, unhappily, hundreds of thousands of us will find that the first couple of days of our holiday are lost trying to recover from the effects of jet lag.
But is jet lag an inescapable part of long-haul travel?
The answer to this question is very much dependent upon where you are flying from and to. For instance, if you begin your journey in Brisbane, Australia and fly to Sapporo, Japan then you will not experience any jet lag at all because, even though you are traveling thousands of miles, your flight essentially takes you due north so that both your departure point and destination lie in the same time zone. If however you travel from Brisbane to London, England then you will fly east to west over ten time zones and you will undoubtedly suffer from jet lag.
Jet lag is really nothing more than a consequence of your body clock being out of step with local time and, while your body clock will adjust itself to come into line with local time, this adjustment takes a bit of time.
If you are flying over just two or three time zones then the time difference will be small enough that you will probably not notice it greatly and your internal clock will adjust itself fairly fast. If however you travel over more than four time zones then the difference will be significant and your internal clock will take longer and longer to adjust as you travel across more and more time zones.
So, in our example of traveling from Australia to London your body clock is going to need several days to adjust and, in the meantime, you are likely to find yourself suffering from insomnia, finding it difficult to fall asleep at night and to wake up in the morning, feeling tired during the day, possibly experiencing problems with eating with stomach upsets, nausea, a feeling of dehydration, a headache, and a great deal more.
So exactly what can you do to fight jet lag?
There are a whole variety of 'traditional' remedies for jet lag including formulas, diets, over-the-counter medication, sleeping pills, melatonin and much more and each of these has both its enthusiasts and detractors, but are these 'traditional' cures effective?
In simple terms the answer to this question is no. These 'traditional' remedies do not work and, in many cases, will actually make your jet lag worse.
Coping with jet lag is not a matter of using pills and formulas, but requires you to devise a plan centered on your particular travel plans and lifestyle which helps your body's natural adjustment of its own body clock. This involves taking a number of steps before your departure, as well as en-route and at your destination. Sometimes these will be enough for you to avoid jet lag completely and, in others, they will unquestionably help to reduce the effects of jet lag greatly. - 15266
But is jet lag an inescapable part of long-haul travel?
The answer to this question is very much dependent upon where you are flying from and to. For instance, if you begin your journey in Brisbane, Australia and fly to Sapporo, Japan then you will not experience any jet lag at all because, even though you are traveling thousands of miles, your flight essentially takes you due north so that both your departure point and destination lie in the same time zone. If however you travel from Brisbane to London, England then you will fly east to west over ten time zones and you will undoubtedly suffer from jet lag.
Jet lag is really nothing more than a consequence of your body clock being out of step with local time and, while your body clock will adjust itself to come into line with local time, this adjustment takes a bit of time.
If you are flying over just two or three time zones then the time difference will be small enough that you will probably not notice it greatly and your internal clock will adjust itself fairly fast. If however you travel over more than four time zones then the difference will be significant and your internal clock will take longer and longer to adjust as you travel across more and more time zones.
So, in our example of traveling from Australia to London your body clock is going to need several days to adjust and, in the meantime, you are likely to find yourself suffering from insomnia, finding it difficult to fall asleep at night and to wake up in the morning, feeling tired during the day, possibly experiencing problems with eating with stomach upsets, nausea, a feeling of dehydration, a headache, and a great deal more.
So exactly what can you do to fight jet lag?
There are a whole variety of 'traditional' remedies for jet lag including formulas, diets, over-the-counter medication, sleeping pills, melatonin and much more and each of these has both its enthusiasts and detractors, but are these 'traditional' cures effective?
In simple terms the answer to this question is no. These 'traditional' remedies do not work and, in many cases, will actually make your jet lag worse.
Coping with jet lag is not a matter of using pills and formulas, but requires you to devise a plan centered on your particular travel plans and lifestyle which helps your body's natural adjustment of its own body clock. This involves taking a number of steps before your departure, as well as en-route and at your destination. Sometimes these will be enough for you to avoid jet lag completely and, in others, they will unquestionably help to reduce the effects of jet lag greatly. - 15266
About the Author:
Help-Me-To-Sleep.com provides comprehensive advice on jet lag and also offers details of a specific jet lag treatment plan to follow before your departure, in flight and at your destination.
