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How To Avoid Jet Lag

How To Avoid Jet Lag

This article is all about that horrible feeling most travelers love to hate; jet lag!

I'm going to tell you exactly how to avoid jet lag with a few tips and tricks and also tell you about some of the best jet lag remedies available, both naturally and also in tablet form.

How To Avoid Jet Lag With Melatonin

Melatonin is the hormone primarily responsible for regulating your internal body clock. It is photo sensitive and is produced when it's dark and suppressed when it's light.

Therefore you can theoretically control the natural production of melatonin by exposing, or shielding, yourself from light. This includes sunlight and artificial light sources.

If you need to stay awake try to stay outside or in well lit areas to inhibit the production of melatonin. As the sun goes down be sure not keep in strongly lit indoor areas which are exciting and buzzy.

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Alternatively, if you are flying east you'll need to adjust your body clock to sleep earlier. You can take melatonin supplements to help your body sleep and adjust to going to bed earlier. The tablets are freely available at most health care stores and drug stores without prescription.

How To Avoid Jet Lag To Europe

Traveling to Europe means that you'll be flying in an easterly direction from west to east across the atlantic and beyond. Traveling eastwards is always worse for jet lag because you're flying in the opposite direction to the sun (sun rises in the east).

This means that the time difference will be greater than if you were flying west. So basically, on a flight from JFK to Heathrow the total time difference for you is 12 hours (7 hours flight time plus 5 hours time difference). If you flew the other way the time difference for you is much more manageable at only 2 hours.

There's no real way to avoid jet lag to Europe, but you can minimize the effects by trying to adjust your sleep patterns to the European time zone before you leave.

Once you get to Europe the best way to get over your jet lag fast is to try not to sleep during the day by either keeping active, drinking lots of caffeine and staying outside.

If you arrive at night you can use the previously mentioned melatonin, or some other sleeping pills, to make yourself go to sleep.

How To Avoid Jet Lag To Asia

Like I said previously, flying westwards like when you fly to Asia across the pacific, will not give as bad a jet lag as flying to Europe.

The entire flight time almost cancels out the time zones so that you're only a few hours out from your actual body clock when you arrive at your destination.

The main thing to consider is your arrival time. If you're arriving at night be sure not to sleep at all on the plane because then you won't sleep when you get to your destination.

If you take red eye flights, be sure to get some sleep. If you find sleeping on planes difficult, take some melatonin or other sleep aids such as valerian root.

Most Popular Jet Lag Remedies