JET LAG

ALMOST EVERYBODY who has flown has experienced jet lag. It’s that “out-of-sync” feeling you have when you cross one or more time zones. You’re tired, you’re irritable, you’re hungry at the wrong times, you can’t get to sleep at the right times. Many people believe that jet lag means they need to catch up on their sleep. In fact, jet lag is the result of the disruption of more than one hundred different bodily functions including those that govern hormone levels, body temperature, heart rate, and others.

When you appreciate how intimately your regular bodily functions are tied to a clock, you can see that an abrupt change would take a major adjustment and would require something more than just extra sleep. For example, it can take up to twelve days for normal body temperature patterns to readjust after a westerly flight that crosses six time zones. Reaction times after the same trip can take six days to return to normal. For reasons no one understands, it’s more difficult to adjust to time changes following an eastward trip than a westward one.

There is no way to avoid jet lag unless you do what Lyndon Johnson did when traveling the world as president: He stayed in his own home time for the duration of his visit. But there are a number of ways you can mitigate the effects of jet lag and speed your recovery.

The best way to avoid jet lag is to make sure that you establish regular sleeping habits before your trip. If you have no regular bedtime, establish one: It’s much harder to adjust to a time change if you don’t have a regular schedule at home. For at least two days before your trip, get to bed early-fifteen minutes to a half hour before your regular bedtime.

It’s easier on your system to fly during the day, if at all possible. The ideal scenario is to arrive at your destination in the early evening, go for a stroll, have a light dinner, and get to bed by 11 p.m. local time.

Drink plenty of fluids on the flight. Pressurized airplane cabins are terribly dry, and you’ll be better able to combat jet lag if you’re well hydrated.

Don’t drink alcohol on the flight. For one thing, it’s a diuretic and will exacerbate the problem of the dry airplane cabin. Moreover, alcohol combined with a high altitude will greatly increase your fatigue: Two or three drinks consumed in a cabin that’s pressurized to 5,000 feet have the effect of three or four drinks at sea level.

When you get to your destination, avoid napping. If you can’t see straight and must nap, limit your sleep to one hour. Longer naps will delay your adjustment.

If it’s sunny, get out and enjoy it. The sun signals the body that you’re in an active phase and will help you adjust to the different time.

One patient of mine swears by exercise. She claims that by sticking to her workout routine, she bounces back from jet lag much more quickly than she used to. Just fifteen or twenty minutes can make a big difference, and it can help you get to sleep at the appropriate time.

There’s a fascinating diet called the Anti-Jet-Lag Diet, which was developed by Dr. Charles Ehret at the Argonne National Laboratory. The military has used this diet to prevent jet lag in troops moving around the world, and I’ve heard many reports of its remarkable effectiveness. Here it is:

1. Determine your breakfast time at your destination on the day of arrival.
2. Feast-fast-feast-fast on home time: Start three days before departure day.
   • On day one, feast: Eat heartily, with a high-protein breakfast and lunch and a high-carbohydrate dinner. No coffee except between 3 and 5 p.m.
   • On day two, fast: Eat light meals of salads, light soups, fruits, and juices. Again, no coffee except between 3 and 5 P.M.
   • On day three, feast again.
   • On day four, departure day, fast. If you drink caffeinated beverages, rake them in the morning when traveling west or between 6 and 11 P.M. when traveling east. Going west, you may fast only half the day.
3. Drink no alcohol on the plane. Sleep until the normal breakfast time at destination but no later. Break your final fast at destination breakfast time. Feast on a high-protein breakfast. Stay awake, active. Continue the day’s meals according to mealtimes at destination.

In general: toast on high-protein breakfasts and lunches to stimulate the body’s active cycle. Suitable meals include steak, eggs, hamburgers, high-protein cereals, green beans, and the like.

Feast on high-carbohydrate suppers to stimulate sleep. They include spaghetti and other pastas (no meatballs or meat sauces), crepes (no meat filling), potatoes, other starchy vegetables, and sweet desserts.

Fast days deplete the liver’s store of carbohydrates and prepare the body’s clock for resetting. Suitable foods include fruit, light soups, broths, skimpy salads, unbuttered toast, half pieces of bread. Keep calories and carbohydrates to a minimum.

NATURAL PRESCRIPTION FOR JET LAG

• Establish a regular routine, including regular bedtime and rising time, at least two days before your trip.
• Get at least fifteen minutes extra sleep for two nights before your trip.
• If possible, fly during the day instead of at night.
• Drink lots of fluids on the flight.
• Don’t drink alcohol on the flight.
• Don’t nap when you reach your destination; try to stay up until what would be a slightly early local bedtime. If you must nap, limit your sleep to one hour.
• If possible, get out into the sun when you arrive.
• Exercise. Maintain your regular routine, or if you don’t have one, do simple calisthenics in your room, or better yet, walk for an hour, exploring your destination.
• Try the Anti-Jet-Lag Diet.

IN ADDITION: There is some interesting recent research on a hormone, melatonin, that shows it can be extremely useful for fighting jet lag. In one study involving seventeen people who used melatonin prior to a flight west to east across the United States and across the Atlantic, no one was affected by jet lag. They took one capsule at bedtime for three nights preceding the flight and one capsule on the travel day for two hours before sleep and for the next three days before sleep. I suggest you take 2 mg. At bedtime a week before travel and every night on your trip. It’s most effective for eastward travel.