What Does Jet Lag Do To Your Body

Jet lag, also known as desynchronosis, is one of the unintended consequences of long-haul flights that every avid traveler is familiar with. It is a temporary sleep disorder that occurs when you cross multiple time zones within a short period of time. Our body is naturally equipped with an internal clock (circadian rhythm) that regulates when we sleep and when we wake up. When we are in a different time zone, our body’s clock is still synched to our old time zone and it expects to sleep and wake up as usual. For instance, if you traveled eastwards, at the end of the day, your brain can tell it’s late in the evening where you are, but your body knows it still midday where you just came from, and that mismatch can cause some confusion to your internal clock. Luckily, this is short-lived and most of us can live with it.

So, how does jet lag feel? Travelers describe being jetlagged as an experience of not being able to fall asleep when you should be sleeping and not being able to wake up when you should be awake at your new destination. Basically, walking around in a daze as your body tries to operate at its usual rhythm but in a different space and time.

What Does Jet Lag Do To Your Body

So, what is jet lag and what does it really do to our body? Since jet lag is a combination of your brain and body being on different wavelengths, and often, physical exertion from travel itself, some of the symptoms you’d expect including:

• Anxiety
• Daytime fatigue
• Early waking and insomnia
• Day time sleepiness
• Headache
• Mood changes
• Temporary memory loss
• Malaise (general feeling of illness)
• Dehydration
• Confusion and difficulty focusing
• Difficulty with function at your normal pace
• Gastrointestinal issues including constipation and diarrhea

Generally, the longer the distance you travel away from your time zone, the more the duration and severity of these symptoms. The consensus is that you need one day of recovery for every time zone you cross. So, the more time zones you cross, the more your body gets confused, and the longer your recovery time as well. You typically don’t need to see a doctor to get treated for jet lag but of course, listen to your body and if anything feels abnormal, always seek medical attention. Hopefully, you’ve purchased some travel insurance or at least know the differences in healthcare between different countries while you’re figuring out how to get rid of your jet lag.

Complications of Jet Lag

Jet lag, similar to motion sickness, is often self-limiting, temporary, and has no known complications to your health. However, it does have indirect consequences that can be potentially dangerous. If you have to rent a car from the airport to your accommodation after a long flight, be aware of how you feel and listen to your body. A lot of car crashes per year are caused by jetlagged travelers who were simply trying to get to their accommodation to rest. If you can, relax and let someone else drive you safely to where you need to be.

Risk Factors for Jet Lag

Most long-haul flyers will have jet lag at some point in their life, however, some people are more prone to jet lag for many reasons including:

• Age– younger travelers recover faster from jet lag compared to older people

• Traveling East – flying east causes you to rewind the clock and “lose” time, making it harder for the body to adjust compared to when you fly west where your body “gains” time that helps it acclimatized to your new destination.

• Number of time zones crossed – the more time zones you cross, the worse jet lag you would have.

• How often you travel – if you are a frequent flyer like a pilot or business traveler who is constantly in the air, your body is probably already going back-and-forth between time zones, and this increases the risks of getting jet lag.

Prevention of Jet lag

1. Hydrate and Eat Clean
Change in altitude and cabin pressure can contribute to jet lag. The low humidity in airplanes can cause dehydration which could lead to other dangerous problems. During long-haul flights, flight attendants try to keep their passengers hydrated throughout the flight. Also eating right but altering your meals times prior, during, and after your flight to match your new time zone, will keep your body energized enough to shake off part of the symptoms of jetlag.

2. Adjust Your Internal Clock Before Travelling
Try to adjust your schedule by altering your sleep time and meal times as closely as possible to what your new schedule will be. Of course, depending on where you’re going to, this might be impractical but even at that, a little tweak in your bedtime to sleep a few hours earlier or wake up a few hours later can help you get a good start on jet lag when you arrive at your final destination.

3. Maintain the New Schedule
Once you’ve adjusted your internal clock at least a few days before traveling, stay on that schedule so that your body gets used to it. Try to adjust your meal times (but keep eating clean), your sleep times, exercise time, and other major activities that your body is used to. Don’t give in to the temptation to go back to what your schedule was prior to arriving at your new destination. In time, your internal clock will rewire and that will become your new norm. Few days prior to returning back home, do the reverse and maintain your schedule as you would have done at home.

4. The Power of Sunlight
Sunlight affects your body’s internal clock (circadian rhythm) and regulating the way you take in natural light could mean a better travel experience for you. If you’ve traveled westwards, getting more evening sunlight will help you adjust, and if you’ve traveled eastwards, getting more early morning sunlight can be very helpful.

 5. Sleep and Rest
Sleep and rest both offer so many benefits to our body. Apart from improving our immune system to keep us healthier when we arrive at our goal destination, getting enough rest also helps to reduce the likelihood of jet lag. The more tired you are prior to your trip, the more the severity of your jet lag. Also, rest and sleep in the plane when possible especially if it’s nighttime. That decreases your risk of getting severe jet lag.

Treatment of Jet lag

Jet lag is best treated by sleeping it off, however, some travelers have found relief by making some behavioral modifications and using some natural remedies including – planning ahead, light therapy, use of sleeping pills, exercising, eating right, and reducing alcohol and caffeine consumption. You may have to try a few remedies to see what works best for your body.