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[R177]Remedies For Jet Lag

by Jamie Jefferson, Jam

Jet lag can be more intense if you are traveling to a time zone that is more than eight hours away, but it can also affect you if your internal clock is just a few hours off. By following these tips, you'll be able get your clock back on schedule and enjoy your trip as soon as possible.

The first key to minimizing jet lag is to drink water continuously through your travel process. Dehydration can intensify some of the symptoms of jet lag and you'll end up more out of synch. Bring your own water on the plane, and drink lots of water once you arrive at your destination. You'll be happy you did.

Try to sleep on the plane so you'll offset the time change by at least a few hours. Take noise canceling earphones with you so you can block out the noise of the plan and get some rest. If at all possible, try to catch a red eye flight so you'll be able to get to sleep naturally. However, you should avoid taking sleeping pills in an attempt to get some rest. Drugs could make your jet lag even worse.

Once you get to your destination, try to stay awake until the nighttime in that location. Use a trip to the coffee house to perk up your senses and then get out and do something. Some sight seeing and light walks around your new location will help your body adjust to the time change. You'll be able to fall asleep when night falls if you get some exercise. Although it may be hard to stay up on arrival day, you'll be glad you did when you wake up the next morning refreshed and ready to seize the day.

On your arrival day, you should also eat some small meals throughout the day to break up your previous eating routine. The next day, you can start eating according to the time zone's schedule more quickly and easily. It's important that you follow this advice so you don't find yourself ravenous at 2 am in your new time.

Make sure to give yourself time to adjust to the changes. Plan your busy days at your new location for at least two days into your trip. Your arrival day and your first full day there should be spent doing some low-key activities. Don't plan your major business meetings or intense sight seeing for those days, or you'll end up regretting it later.

Jet lag doesn't have to be a problem if you follow these simple tips. Many people avoid traveling because they had a bad experience with jet lag in the past. Get on the offensive with this condition and you'll minimize the impact that it has on your trip.

The summer holiday season is with us again and many thousands of us will be jetting off to far flung corners of the globe to lie on a tropical beach and soak up the sun, to trek through some of world's most beautiful wilderness countryside, to see some of the architectural wonders of the world or to simply explore new countries and cultures. And, unfortunately, many thousands of us will find the first few days of our vacation will also see us trying to recover from the effects of jet lag.

But is jet lag an inevitable part of modern long-haul travel?

The answer to this question depends very much on where you are flying to. If you start your journey in Sydney, Australia and fly to Tokyo, Japan then you will not experience any jet lag at all because, even though you are flying some 7,000 miles, your journey essentially takes you due north so that your starting point and destination lie in the same time zone. However, if you fly from Sydney to London, England then you will fly east to west across ten standard time zones and you will certainly experience jet lag.

Jet lag is really nothing more than the result of your own internal body clock being out of synchronization with local time and, while your body clock can adjust itself to come into line with local time, adjusting your body clock takes time.

If you fly across just two or three time zones then the time difference experienced is small enough that you probably will not really notice it greatly and your internal clock will adjust quite quickly. However, if you fly across four or more time zones then the difference will be noticeable and your body clock will take longer and longer to adjust as you cross more and more time zones.

In our example of flying from Sydney to London your body clock will take several days to adjust itself fully and, in the meantime, you are likely to find yourself suffering from insomnia, finding it difficult to get to sleep at night and to get up in the morning, feeling tired during the day, possibly experiencing difficulty in eating with nausea, stomach upset, a feeling of dehydration, a headache, and much more.

So what can be done?

There are a whole variety of 'traditional' remedies for jet lag including diets, formulas, over-the-counter medication, sleeping pills, melatonin and others and each has its supporters and detractors, but are these 'traditional' remedies the answer?

The simple answer to this question is no. These 'traditional' remedies do not work and, in some cases, will actually make your jet lag worse.

Treating jet lag is not a matter of pills and formulas, but requires you to devise a plan centered on your specific travel plans and lifestyle which allows you to assist your body's natural process of adjusting its own internal body clock. This means taking a series of steps in preparation for your journey, as well as during your flight and at your destination. In some cases these will be enough to help you avoid jet lag altogether and, in others, they will certainly help to reduce the effects of jet lag considerably.

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Both Jamie Jefferson & Don Saunders are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Jamie Jefferson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Fitness, Family Travel and Online Dating. Jamie Jefferson writes for Momscape.com and Susies-Travel-Coupons.com, where you can find the latest weekly as well as today's. Jamie Jefferson's top article generates over 165000 views. to your Favourites.

Don Saunders has sinced written about articles on various topics from Types of Cancer, Sleep Apnea and K 15. Help-Me-To-Sleep.com provides comprehensive advice on and also gives details of a specific. Don Saunders's top article generates over 8100 views. to your Favourites.