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.com
About the Author
Donald Saunders is the
author of a number of
health-related publications
looking in detail at curing
insomnia and managing
other common sleep disorders.
Drop by for more information
on jet
lag and to pick up your
free copy of "How To Get
A Good Night's Sleep".
