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6 Tips For Beating Jet Lag While Traveling

6 Tips For Beating Jet Lag While Traveling

Have you ever experienced disturbed sleep?

Dangers of Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation has reached epidemic proportions. According to the authoritative Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Sleep Medicine and Research, as many as 70 million Americans have ongoing sleep problems¹ that interfere with their daily routines. The recommended daily sleep duration for adults is 7 to 9 hours, and children need more. 

Losing sleep has been associated with:

  • Lower overall blood flow to the brain
  • Negative effects on cognition, mood, and memory
  • Greater appetite linked to increases of the hunger hormone ghrelin
  • Loss of focus and willpower
  • Mood issues and occasional anxiety

Have you ever experienced disturbed sleep, daytime fatigue, difficulty concentrating and functioning, or stomach problems following international travel or frequent flying? If so, then you were likely experiencing the symptoms of jet lag.

What is Jet Lag?

Also known as desynchronosis or time zone change syndrome, jet lag is a physiological disorder that disrupts your body's circadian rhythms. It occurs when you travel across two or more time zones which results in your body’s internal clock being out of sync with cues, such as light exposure and eating times, of the new time zone.

The more time zones you cross, the worse the jet lag will be. Additionally, traveling from west to east is associated with more severe jet lag. It can take up to a full day for each time zone crossed for your body’s internal clock to adjust fully to the local time.

Jet Lag Symptoms

Symptoms of jet lag vary widely and can be affected by a variety of factors such as number of time zones crossed, age of the traveler, and general state of health. Typical symptoms of jet lag include:

  • Headaches
  • Lethargy
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Insomnia
  • Loss of appetite
  • Irritability
  • Mild depression
  • Slight confusion
  • Gastrointestinal disturbances

Although you may not be able to eliminate jet lag entirely, you can greatly lessen its effects by following 6 simple strategies.

6 Simple Strategies to Prevent Jet Lag While Traveling

How to Prevent Jet Lag While Traveling

1. Stay Hydrated

Dehydration reduces your body’s ability to produce melatonin, making it hard to both fall asleep and stay asleep when you want and need to. In addition, being dehydrated often makes the symptoms of jet lag much worse. It is recommended that you drink at least 84 ounces of water a day.

2. Avoid Alcohol and Caffeine

While it may be tempting to try a cocktail to get drowsy or caffeine to stay alert, these two beverages can contribute to dehydration (see #1) and negatively affect your sleep patterns.

3. Start Your Trip Well-rested

Starting your trip out sleep-deprived can make the symptoms of jet lag worse.

4. Simulate Your New Schedule Before You Leave

The long-standing recommendation is that if you are traveling east, move your bedtime earlier by 30 minutes per day for a few days prior to your trip and do the opposite if you are traveling west. New research has demonstrated that that changing your meals to match the time in your destination prior to your trip can help synchronize your internal body clock to help beat jet lag.

5. Establish Your New Routine

One of the best ways to combat jet lag is to get in the rhythm of your destination the second you get off the plane. If you arrive in the morning or early afternoon, resist the urge to nap and do your best to stay awake until the local nighttime. Your body may beg for sleep, but stand firm and force your body's transition to the local time.

6. Try Melatonin

Melatonin is released by your body produced when it gets dark to let your brain know that it’s time for your body to sleep. You may find it very helpful to use a supplement containing melatonin to help you sleep at night when your body is finding it difficult to adjust to the new time zone. BrainMD’s Restful Sleep combines melatonin with four other ingredients to help you fall asleep, stay asleep and enjoy a better quality of sleep.*

Restful Sleep

Restful Sleep contains the body’s own sleep hormone, melatonin, to help you get you to sleep.* It also includes the calming neurotransmitter GABA, as well as the relaxing mineral magnesium, vitamin B6, and valerian, to help keep you asleep.*

This nutritional-herbal combination produces a soothing effect that can help ease you into a peaceful sleep.*

These capsules include:

  • Melatonin – melatonin is a hormone naturally produced by the brain to initiate sleep and promotes healthy sleep patterns.*
  • Vitamin B6 – vitamin B6 helps with the production of neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and GABA), which need to be balanced for healthy sleep.*
  • Magnesium – sometimes called “the relaxation mineral,” magnesium helps calm the mind and enhance overall sleep quality.*
  • GABA – GABA is the brain’s major inhibitory (calming) neurotransmitter, inducing calm by inhibiting excessive firing of neurons distributed throughout the brain.*
  • Valerian – an herb used traditionally for centuries for its calming and sleep-inducing effects, valerian supports deep, restful, quality sleep.*

Restful Sleep eases you to sleep and helps you stay asleep all night so you can wake up feeling refreshed in the morning.*

Beating Jet Lag

Traveling is so fun and fulfilling, even if it can be a bit exhausting. No matter how challenging, try your hardest to follow these 6 tips and you'll be living like a local in no time!

 

At BrainMD, we’re dedicated to providing the highest quality supplements to improve your physical health and overall well-being. For more information about our full list of brain healthy supplements, please visit us at BrainMD.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This content is for informational purposes only. It is not meant to substitute for medical or healthcare advice from a physician, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your healthcare provider before beginning a new health regimen.

 

References:

¹Colten, H. R., & Altevogt, B. M. (Eds.). (2006). Sleep disorders and sleep deprivation: An unmet public health problem. National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/11617

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