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If you’ve ever travelled internationally or flown across multiple time zones, you’ve probably experienced jet lag.
Sometimes referred to as ‘circadian rhythm disorder’ or ‘time zone change syndrome’, jet lag is a temporary sleep disorder that occurs when you travel forward or back in time.
Though it might sound trivial (who doesn’t need a nap after a long-haul flight?), jet lag can wreak havoc on your biological body clock and create enough exhaustion and stress to throw your holiday plans out entirely!
In Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker explains the two main factors that determine when we want to sleep and when we want to be awake.
“The first factor is a signal beamed out from your internal 24-hour clock located in the hypothalamus deep within your brain. The clock creates a cyclic, day-night rhythm that makes you feel tired or alert at regular times of night and day, respectively,” says Walker.
This 24-hour clock is also known as your circadian rhythm, a natural cycle that every living creature with a life span of more than a few days generates.
While jet planes revolutionised mass transit, as Walker explains, they had less positive effects on our circadian rhythm.
“Jet planes offered the ability to speed through time zones faster than our 24-hour internal clocks could ever keep up with or adjust to," says Walker.
"Those jets caused a biological time lag: jet lag. As a result, we feel tired and sleepy during the day in a distant time zone because our internal clock still thinks it’s nighttime.”
And we also feel unable to sleep at night because our biological rhythm still believes it’s daytime!
Along with being wide awake at 2am and feeling fatigued for the first few days of your trip, jet lag can make you feel generally unwell, cause digestive disruptions and affect your mood.
Thankfully, there are ways to beat jet lag or, at the very least, lessen its severity.
If you want to leave the post-flight haze off your next itinerary, here’s what experts recommend doing before, during and after your next trip across time zones.
Now that you know about the relationship between your circadian rhythm and jet lag, you can use this knowledge to reduce the discrepancy between your internal body clock and the clock of the country you’re heading to.
To pre-adjust to a new time zone, experts recommend altering your bedtime (moving it earlier if flying east and later if flying west), light exposure and caffeine intake in the days leading up to your trip.
This will gradually shift your circadian rhythm and help you be more adjusted to your destination’s time zone when you arrive.
If you need extra assistance, apps like Timeshifter have plenty of useful tips for shifting your internal body clock before a big flight across timezones.
While it might seem counterintuitive, it’s a good idea to be well-rested before a long flight. This means solid, uninterrupted sleep in the days leading up to your departure.
As for the actual flight, make a plan for when you should sleep on the plane (i.e. when it’s nighttime at your destination) and bring accessories to make it more comfortable.
We recommend setting your watch to your destination time, a C-shaped neck pillow, ear plugs, noise-cancelling headphones and an eye mask – plus:
• If your legs swell and ache on long flights, try a foot hammock to relieve pressure or compression socks
• Wear comfy and loose-fitting clothes made from natural, breathable fibres like cotton or wool.
• Use a lightweight shawl or scarf to block out the light or keep you warm
• Don’t overlook chucking your sunglasses in your carry-on to put on before you set up for a longer sleep – darkness helps the brain produce melatonin, a hormone that is normally produced in the evening and helps initiate sleep.
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