JETLAG

JET LAG

SYMPTOMS – Fatigue. lethargy, irritability. inability to sleep, trouble concentrating and making decisions, perhaps even diarrhea and a lack of appetite.

CAUSES – Circadian rhythms control your daily cycles of sleep and certain other body functions.  Jetting across several time zones produces  a sudden violation of your body’s inner clock.  If from America for example, you fly to Australia or Europe, you will experience jet lag; for you will suddenly be thrust into meals and wakefulness in the middle of “your night” and awake when your body tells you it is time  for sleep.  North-south trips only produce normal weariness.  Traveling westward more than two time zones often results in exhaustion, diminished alertness, disorientation, irritability, loss of appetite, sleepiness during the day, wakefulness at night, and perhaps constipation or diarrhea.

NATURAL REMEDIES

Advance preparation:  1-3 weeks before traveling to a warmer climate, start eating more of the foods  you will eat at your destination.  Start eating meals closer to the time you will eat them when you arrive.

TAKING THE TRIP

·         Get extra sleep beforehand.  Drink  plenty of fluids  and be quiet and relaxed during the flight. Fly by day, arrive at night and then soak up some extra rest.  You tend to dehydrate in the plane: so drink enough water: 32 oz. for every 6 hours of flying.  But no  coffee or alcohol: they are both diuretic and flush fluids from the body.  Frequently walk up and down the aisle in order to avoid the blood clots that can develop in you legs on long trips (especially across the Pacific).  Try to break up a long flight by a one-day  layover.  Do not smoke.  Doing so puts carbon monoxide in your blood: and, at 5,000 feet (the altitude the cabin is pressurized to), you will have a 10,000 foot oxygen lack.  Keep away from others who smoke.  Eat lightly, avoiding heavy proteins, refined starches, and sweet deserts.  If you fly at night:  Eat before you fly and avoid the meal served.  Put on eyeshades and stimulate a normal bedtime.  It works!

               WHEN YOU ARRIVE

·        Get out in the sunshine the next day; this will help your body adapt.  Obtain some exercise after arriving.  Try to walk outside in the sunlight, to  help reset your inner clock. If going from west to east, take that walk the next morning in order to help shift your body.  Some people try living by their home clock- but most cannot do that.  Do not take  a sleeping pill when you arrive.  It is usually cause a hangover or grogginess.  

·        Try to avoid important decisions during the adjustment days.  The general rule is that it will take one day of adjustment for each time zone crossed.  So be prepared.  If it is a short stay, remain on home time.

·        When crossing only two or three time zones.  It is known that going west is easier on the body than going east.  This is because it is easier to get more sleep on arriving, since you experience more hours that particular day