How to overcome jet lag ?
Although you may not believe it, jet lag (properly termed jet‐lag disorder) is a recognised sleep disorder.
Jet lag is aproblem because your body clock is unable to cope with the lengthening or shortening of the day that isinvolved when travelling across multiple time zones; body rhythms become out of sync with local time.
The consequences of jet lag mean that you may be fully awake at odd hours, or very sleepy during important meetings; your appetite is affected and your mental and physical performance is reduced.
Almost all travellers will suffer some of the effects of jet lag. A very rough rule of thumb is that it will take about 1–1½ days to recover for each time zone you cross e.g. it can take more than a week to get back to normal after a flight from New York to London.
The following advice may help reduce the effectsof jet lag.
1. The sun entrains our body rhythms so if it is light when you arrive go outside for a walk to get some sunshine and fresh air then try and stay awake till it is dark and then follow your normal bedtime
routine.
2. If it is dark when you arrive go to bed as soon as is practical. Try to follow your usual bedtime routine to encourage sleep and set your alarm for the desired wake‐up time.
3. Adjust your watch to the new time as soon as you get on the plane.
4. Try to eat your meals at the correct local time, including those on the aircraft, even if you don't fancy
it.
5.Dehydration is thought to make jet lag worse, so drink plenty of water on the flight; and it is wise to avoid drinking excess alcohol during the flight.
6.If you are on a daytime flight then get a window seat and keep the window blind open until it gets dark.
7. If at all possible don't drive or have important meetings immediately after the flight.
8. If you have an overnight flight try and maximise the amount of sleep you can get by eating before you get on the aircraft.
You may wonder why, on a daytime flight, the cabin crew encourage you to put the window blinds down and sleep. Well it isn't to help you reduce the symptoms of jet lag it is merely so they can get some rest without your constant requests for more beer. It is not normal to have lunch and then have a long nap
during the day so resist the temptation to do so when you are on an aircraft. If it is daylight outside, stay awake.
You may have seen the stories that new aircraft from the big manufactures are somehow designed to reduce jet lag. The claim is that because they have slightly bigger windows, are pressurised to a slightly lower level, and have funky lights that change colour, that this is going to ameliorate the experience of jet
lag. It is not. It may have some small benefit for the way we feel but jet lag is caused by getting on a metal tube and flying rapidly across numerous time zones. By its very definition it is an unavoidable consequence of flying by jet. Rather than boasting about how clever the design of the aircraft is, why don't airlines just make it a more comfortable experience? Why is the seat pitch on an aircraft designed for a 2‐
hour flight the same as that on one capable of flying 17 hours non‐stop? Indeed, some short‐haul aircraft
actually have better seat pitch than most long‐haul configurations. Do airlines really think there is no difference in the comfort needed for these two scenarios?
Remember the only effective way to prevent jet lag, is to go by boat.😂😂😂
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