Jet
Lag – 5 Pre-travel Steps to Reduce the
Effects of Jet Lag
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 intake 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!
Article Source: EzineArticles.com, help-me-to-sleep.com
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