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Jet Lag

Learn what causes jetlag and how to avoid it.

What is jet lag?
It is nothing more than a confused body "clock". The more time zones your body crosses, the further behind your body clock lags. Some symptoms include dizziness, headaches, and sore muscles, and physiological processes are out of sync. For example, you may be wide awake at 3:00 a.m. and hungry at 3:00 in the afternoon.

What factors influence the severity of jet lag?
  • The direction you travel: Traveling east usually produces more severe jet lag than west.
  • The number of time zones you cross; each time zone you cross multiplies the effect of jet lag.
  • Stress
  • The quality of your flight: low humidity, excessive noise and vibration, turbulence, sitting for long periods, and a warm, stuffy atmosphere can compound the effects of jet lag.
  • How much you drink: If you drink or eat more than you normally would before, during or after your flight, you may be asking for discomfort.
  • How much caffeine you consume; the caffeine in coffee and soft drinks can ward off the initial fatigue, but will only intensify the effects of jet lag later on.

How can I prepare my body for jet lag?

  • Try to schedule your flight according to the direction you are traveling. Book an early flight if you are traveling east, an afternoon or evening flight if traveling west.
  • Adjust your schedule before you leave. Go to bed earlier and get up earlier three days before your trip if you are heading east, and later if heading west.
  • Consult your physician about a jet lag diet. Also, many health food stores sell special "anti-jet lag" vitamin and amino acid products, but there is no clinical evidence that proves their effectiveness.
  • During your flight, you can minimize the effects of jet lag by drinking plenty of fluids, eating light meals, wearing loose-fitting clothing to reduce stress, avoiding caffeine and alcohol, doing simple isometric exercises, and, if all else fails, keeping your home schedule while traveling.

How to avoid jet lag

1. DETERMINE BREAKFAST TIME at destination of day of arrival.

2. FEAST-FAST-FEAST-FAST on home time. Start three days before departure day.

On day one, FEAST; eat heartily with high-protein breakfast and lunch and a high-carbohydrate dinner. No coffee except between 2 and 5 p.m.

On day two, FAST on light meals of salads, light soups, fruits and juices. Again, no coffee except between 3 and 5 p.m.

On day three, FEAST again.

On day four, departure day, FAST; if you drink caffeinated beverages, take them in the morning when traveling west, or between 6 and 11 p.m. when traveling east. Going west, you may fast only half day.

3. BREAK FINAL FAST
at destination breakfast time. No alcohol on plane. If flight is long enough, sleep until normal breakfast time at destination, *but no later*. Wake up and FEAST on high-protein breakfast. Stay awake, active. Continue day's meals according to meal times at destination.

FEAST on high-protein breakfasts and lunches to stimulate the body's active cycle. Suitable meals include steak, eggs, hamburgers, high-protein cereals, green beans.

FEAST on high-carbohydrate suppers to stimulate sleep. They include spaghetti and other pastas (but no meatballs), crepes (but no meat filling), potatoes, other starchy vegetables, and sweet desserts.

FAST days help deplete the liver's store of carbohydrates and prepare the body's clock for resetting. Suitable foods include fruit, light soups, broths, skimpy salads, unbuttered toast, half pieces of bread. Keep calories and carbohydrates to a minimum.

Countdown

On Home Time: Day 1 Feast Day 2 Fast Day 3 Feast Day 4 Fast
Breakfast Feast Protein Grapefruit Feast Protein Grapefruit
Lunch Feast Protein Apple Feast Protein Apple
Supper Feast Carbo Broth Feast Carbo Broth

Coffee, tea, cola, other caffeinated beverages allowed only between 3 and 5 p.m.

BREAK FINAL FAST
Westbound: If you drink caffeinated beverages, take them morning before departure. Eastbound: take them between 6 and 11 p.m. If flight is long enough, sleep until destination breakfast time. Wake up and FEAST, beginning with a high-protein breakfast. Lights on. Stay awake and active.

ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY
ANTI-JET-LAG-DIET
The Argonne Anti-Jet-Lag Diet is helping travelers quickly adjust their bodies' internal clocks to new time zones. It is also being used to speed the adjustment of shiftworkers, such as power plant operators, to periodically rotating work hours. The diet was developed by Dr. Charles F. Ehret of Argonne's Division of Biological and Medical Research as an application of his fundamental studies of the daily biological rhythms of animals. Argonne National Laboratory is one of the U.S. Department of Energy's major centers of research in energy and the fundamental sciences.
Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439

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