20 Tips To Avoid Or Overcome Jet Lag

When going on an adventure abroad, especially one that requires a long flight, jet lag is a common nuisance. One of the weird things about flying, however, is that jet lag is not due to lack of sleep but rather the result of an imbalanced internal clock. Your circadian rhythm, the natural 24-hour cycle that dictates your sleep schedule, doesn't adjust right away to a different time zone, which means you can be sleepy during daylight hours on your trip and wide awake during the night.

In order to save your vacation and ensure you make the most of it, it's important that you do your best to prevent jet lag and overcome it when it does occur. By understanding how you can help your body acclimate better to your destination's time zone, you can make sure you have an amazing trip that leaves you well-rested.

Start getting yourself used to your new schedule by shifting your mindset to local time at your destination as soon as you're on the plane. Keep a watch and set it to that time, so that you can eat, sleep and stay awake according to your destination's time zone. This will help you adjust psychologically as well as physically.

Ensuring that the flight you book arrives at your destination in the daytime will further help you keep to your schedule. You don't want to be wide awake at night because you just slept on the plane, and you'll also have a full day ahead of you to go out and explore local attractions.

Another way to ensure comfort so that you can sleep on the plane is by choosing the right seat. If you can afford it, go with an airline that you know has wider seats that recline more. First row (bulkhead) and aisle seats can let you spread out a little bit, while window seats can be a good idea because you can lean your pillow against the window and also not get disturbed when someone has to get up. Seats closer to the wing are also preferable as they tend to experience less turbulence, according to airline pilot and air travel blogger Patrick Smith.

Found in more food and drink than you may realize, caffeine should be avoided for up to 12 hours before you travel as it can disrupt your sleep cycle and keep you awake when you might need to sleep. Caffeine can also cause dehydration, giving you dry mouth, headaches, digestive issues and bad breath.

Another means of adjusting your circadian rhythm is with meal times, according to researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge and the University of Manchester. As soon you as you can, preferably on the plane, eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in accordance with the local time at your destination. This will help your body adjust to the new daily routine. And if you're feeling tired during the day, snacks such as fruits, vegetables or granola bars can help boost your energy to keep you awake as well as stave off hunger as your body adjusts.

If you're getting very sleepy during your trip despite all your preparation, a nap can help — but it's important to make sure you don't sleep for too long. Taking a power nap, which ideally lasts 20 minutes, will often improve your mood and increase your productivity for the rest of the day, according to a study done by the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Hiroshima University. If you sleep longer than that, you can disrupt your circadian rhythm and thus wake up feeling even more groggy and tired as well as have more difficulty sleeping later at night. "It is important to time your nap appropriately to avoid entering deeper sleep cycles," Dr. Sujay Kansagra, director of the Duke Pediatric Neurology Sleep Medicine Program, told The Active Times. "When your body enters deeper stages of sleep, or even completes a 90-minute sleep cycle in a longer nap, you are more likely to feel tired afterwards rather than refreshed."

Melatonin has been proven effective in reducing or preventing jet lag, according to a study by the UK Cochrane Center. Since melatonin is what encourages sleep and helps your body regulate its circadian rhythm, consider taking melatonin at night. You should consult your doctor about the advisability of doing so as well as dosage to see what's right for you.

Don't give yourself a chance to get too tired and sleepy by moving around throughout the day. If you're getting tired while on vacation, getting up and walking around every once in a while will help keep you alert. Not only is it a great way to help stay on schedule while flying, but it'll also help keep your circulation going if you're on a long flight.

We are constantly exposed to artificial "blue" light from our laptops and phone screens. Use of such devices in the evening can negatively affect your sleep and circadian rhythm for up to two nights as well as how alert you are the next morning, as found in a joint study by the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Institute of Aerospace Medicine at the German Aerospace Center. This can be made even worse by jet lag, so reading before bedtime is perhaps a better alternative to checking your phone. The study found that those who did so woke up more alert.

To give your body more time to adapt to a new schedule and make the transition smoother, consider planning your trip with a layover where you can stay a day or two somewhere on your way to your final destination. Not only will this help acclimate you towards the local time zone at your final destination, but it's also a great excuse to explore another city and the extra time in-between flights can help you save money on flight tickets.