Jet lag is undeniably one of the most formidable foes of travel. It’s the feeling of being caught between time zones as your body races to catch up and make sense of what day it is and where you are.
Sometimes this shows up as exhaustion, brain fog, feeling groggy, and waking up in the middle of the night. But of course, there are ways to synchronize your internal rhythms with your new geographic reality. That’s important if you’ve just flown across the world and want to make the most of your vacation days!
We’ve dug deep to find the best and latest science-backed methods on how to beat jet lag. You don’t want it to linger for days, robbing you of the precious holiday time. So read on to discover the tips, advice, and strategies to beat it.
What is jet lag?
Jet lag is a temporary sleep disorder that occurs when your internal body clock, or circadian rhythms, becomes out of sync with the time zone you’re in. This condition is common for travelers who fly across the globe. Your internal clock follows a daily light-dark cycle, so if you disrupt this with a long-haul flight it causes confusion.
Your body may lag behind, throwing up symptoms such as fatigue, insomnia, irritability, digestive issues, and difficulty concentrating. After arriving, it can take a few days for your body to settle, but there are strategies you can start using before and during your travels to help mitigate the effects of jet lag.
How to beat jet lag
1. Focus on strategic light exposure
Timing your light exposure is a simple yet powerful strategy to combat jet lag. Light helps to reset your internal body clock. While it’s challenging to control light in airports and planes, scientific literature offers some guidance.
When flying east, expose yourself to light in the second half of the night and early morning according to your old time zone, avoiding light in the early evening and first half of the night. For westward flights, do the opposite—seek light exposure in the early evening and first half of the night while avoiding it in the second half of the night and early morning.
Embracing natural light is ideal as artificial light is only about one-third as effective as sunlight. If you’re avoiding light, wear sunglasses or sleep with an eye mask. If it’s nighttime in your new time zone, try to sleep.
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2. Hydrate and avoid alcohol and caffeine.
While it might be tempting to make the most of the open bar on long-haul flights, your best bet is to avoid all alcohol – and caffeine. Why? These two substances disrupt your sleep patterns and can dehydrate you. Speaking of dehydration, make sure you keep hydrated before, during, and after your flight. Being dehydrated can further exacerbate jet lag symptoms.
3. Shift your timezone before your trip
Before your trip, you can gradually adjust your sleep schedule. In the days leading up to your trip, try shifting your bedtime closer to your destination’s time zone. We’re not talking a 10-hour jump, more like an hour per day for a few days. That might mean waking up earlier or going to bed later.
There are a number of apps that do the hard maths for you, such as Timeshifter and Rise that use the latest science to create a pre-flight routine. Timeshifter even tells you when to sleep on the plane so that you start to align with your new time zone.
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4. Take melatonin
Every evening your body produces melatonin, a natural hormone that primes you for sleep. When you travel across timezones you can strategically take melatonin tablets to prompt your body for sleepy time and help shift your sleep-wake cycle.
A review journal found that melatonin is helpful and recommended for adults traveling five or more timezones and that it is safe for occasional short-term use. Of course, speak with your doctor or healthcare professional for advice.
5. Stay active
Light physical activity, such as stretching or a short walk, helps with circulation during the flight and on arrival. If you don’t have much space on the place, you can still do calf raises, twist your wrists and ankles, and roll your shoulders and neck at your seat. Usually the flight attendants don’t mind if you do some hamstring stretches or bolder moves in the galley, just don’t start doing Zumba.
Once you arrive, set off for a walk to get your body moving and expose yourself to sunlight. Recent research shows that early morning exercise can push back your circadian rhythm, while early evening exercise will bring it forward.
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6. You are what you eat, and when you eat
Timing your meals can greatly help you avoid jet leg. Usually flight attendants serve meals according to the timezone you just departed from. That might not line up with where you’re going. If it’s the middle of the night in your future timezone, avoid eating at that moment (if possible!). Also consider what you eat – will you regret the heavy stew or bread roll? Try to eat light meals during the flight and on your first-day post-flight.
7. Stay awake until bedtime
When you’re fighting the urge to fall asleep at lunch, it can be hard to imagine staying up until 9pm or 10pm – but to fight jet leg, you must stay awake until the local bedtime to help your circadian rhythm catch up. If you fall asleep early you’ll find yourself awake at 4am ponding the great questions of the universe.
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8. Take strategic naps
Jet lag can cause you to have that deep tiredness that makes you want to nap for a week straight! But you mustn’t give in to the urge. Long naps will disrupt your nighttime sleep, so instead treat yourself to short naps of 20-30 minutes for a quick energy boost. You’ll wake up groggy, so set multiple alarms.
9. Take it easy on your first day, but get outside
Don’t arrive expecting to go to Disneyland the next day, or with plans for a full-day hike. Avoid any super strenuous activities the day or days after you arrive to give your body time to adjust and acclimatize to the new time zone. But do leave the hotel room – a study found the group that left the hotel room and went outside recovered from jet lag 50% faster than the group that stayed indoors.
So, how to beat jet lag? Start planning ahead and create a schedule to shift your circadian alignment before you fly and enter the plane with a solid strategy for well-timed light exposure, food, and exercise.
Do you have great tips for how to beat jet lag? Leave us a comment….
When we went west (Aus to France) in 2014 we had a two day layover in Singapore- meant we had a short flight (7hrs) then the remaining trip saw us arriving in Paris as midnight – to the hotel and asleep by 1.30 – not every one can do but it meant no lag at all.