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.
However does jet lag have to be an inevitable part of modern long-haul travel?
The answer to this question depends very much on where you are flying to. For instance, if you start your journey in Sydney, Australia and fly to Sapporo, Japan then you will not experience jet lag because, despite the fact that you are flying some 7,000 miles, your journey takes you due north so that your departure point and arrival point are in the same time zone. If however you travel from Sydney to London, England then you will be traveling east to west over ten time zones and will undoubtedly experience jet lag.
Jet lag is merely a consequence of your own internal body clock being out of synchronization with local time and, while your internal body clock will adjust itself to match the local time, adjusting your body clock takes a bit of time.
If you travel across just two or three time zones then the time difference experienced will be small and you probably will not notice it greatly and your body clock will adjust quite quickly. If however you travel across more than four time zones then the difference will be noticeable and your body clock will need more and more time to adjust as you fly across more and more time zones.
In our example of flying from Australia to London your body clock will take a few days to adjust and, in the meantime, you are likely to find that you suffer from insomnia, finding it difficult to fall asleep at night and to get up in the morning, feeling tired through 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 several 'traditional' cures for jet lag including diets, formulas, over-the-counter medication, sleeping pills, melatonin and much more and each of these has both its followers and detractors, but do these so-called cures actually work?
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 question of turning to formulas and pills, but requires you to devise a plan focusing on your particular travel plans and lifestyle which allows you to assist your body's natural process of adjusting its own internal clock. This involves taking a number of steps in preparation for your departure, as well as during your flight and at your destination. Sometimes these steps will be sufficient for you to avoid jet lag altogether while, in others, they will undoubtedly reduce the effects of jet lag considerably.
However does jet lag have to be an inevitable part of modern long-haul travel?
The answer to this question depends very much on where you are flying to. For instance, if you start your journey in Sydney, Australia and fly to Sapporo, Japan then you will not experience jet lag because, despite the fact that you are flying some 7,000 miles, your journey takes you due north so that your departure point and arrival point are in the same time zone. If however you travel from Sydney to London, England then you will be traveling east to west over ten time zones and will undoubtedly experience jet lag.
Jet lag is merely a consequence of your own internal body clock being out of synchronization with local time and, while your internal body clock will adjust itself to match the local time, adjusting your body clock takes a bit of time.
If you travel across just two or three time zones then the time difference experienced will be small and you probably will not notice it greatly and your body clock will adjust quite quickly. If however you travel across more than four time zones then the difference will be noticeable and your body clock will need more and more time to adjust as you fly across more and more time zones.
In our example of flying from Australia to London your body clock will take a few days to adjust and, in the meantime, you are likely to find that you suffer from insomnia, finding it difficult to fall asleep at night and to get up in the morning, feeling tired through 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 several 'traditional' cures for jet lag including diets, formulas, over-the-counter medication, sleeping pills, melatonin and much more and each of these has both its followers and detractors, but do these so-called cures actually work?
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 question of turning to formulas and pills, but requires you to devise a plan focusing on your particular travel plans and lifestyle which allows you to assist your body's natural process of adjusting its own internal clock. This involves taking a number of steps in preparation for your departure, as well as during your flight and at your destination. Sometimes these steps will be sufficient for you to avoid jet lag altogether while, in others, they will undoubtedly reduce the effects of jet lag considerably.
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.
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