9 tips to reduce the feelings of jet lag

As the saying goes, traveling can cost a “pretty penny.” It doesn’t matter if you are traveling for pleasure or business, you will have to make a pretty sizable investment if you are flying and staying in hotels. The last thing you want to do is arrive at your destination and get off the plane only to spend the next couple of days battling jet lag.

Jet lag is a condition that affects your body when you go through too many changes in a short period of time. If you fly into another time zone, your body temperature, blood pressure, glucose, and hormone levels will get interrupted. These abrupt changes can have a negative impact on your sleep. Primarily, you will be tired for the first couple of days of travel until your body is able to adjust.

If you are traveling to another time zone for more than a day or two, you will want to avoid jet lag if possible. Doing so would give you the opportunity to enjoy the first two days of your trip as much as you might enjoy the rest. With that in mind, here are eight tips you can use to help diminish the possibility of jet lag.

1. Take Melatonin Supplements

If you are traveling west to east, going to sleep at the right time could be an issue. To help your body feel sleepy, you could use melatonin supplements. Melatonin is a naturally produced hormone that the body produces to help prompt sleep. This process usually happens about two hours ahead of when your body clock says it’s time to sleep.

2. Get A Good Night Sleep Before Traveling

The night before your trip , get a good night’s sleep! Many people stay up late packing last minute items and forget how important a full nights sleep is to your body.

Make sure your sleeping on a comfy mattress and pillow. It’s important your body is well rested and recovered for a full day of travel. Many people  Get enough sleep to make sure you’re fresh and have energy the next day!

3. Adjust Your Exposure to Sunlight

Sunlight helps to regulate your body and so when the sun comes up, your body awakens under normal circumstances. When the sun goes down, your body starts to think about sleeping. Before traveling to a different time zone, you can increase or decrease the time you spend in the sun to help adjust your body clock.

4. Sleep on the Plane

Depending on the time zone of your final destination, you’ll want to sleep on morning flights and stay awake during evening flights. To help you sleep on the plane in the morning, you can do things like take a sleeping aid, avoid caffeine, wear loose-fitting clothing, take off your shoes, and elevate your feet. This will help you adjust to the time zone of the place you’ll be traveling to.

5. Time Your Flight Properly

According to experts, you should try to schedule your flights so you are landing as close to the time you would normally wake up as possible. The closer you get to your body clock’s wake-up time, the easier it will be to trick your body by sleeping on the plane.

6. No Caffeine or Alcohol

In the days leading up to traveling and the day of your flight, you need to avoid caffeine and alcohol. Obviously, caffeine products like coffee and carbonated sodas will make it harder to rest. Contrary to popular belief, alcohol also disturbs the ability of your brain to shut down and rest. Since dehydration worsens the effects of jet lag, you should be drinking a lot of water on travel days.

7. Avoid Short Layovers

Nothing will play havoc with your body clock more than crossing over multiple time zones. If you were to have a layover or two in other time zones, that would only serve to create more jet lag when you reach your final destination. If at all possible, you should try to book yourself on nonstop flights if you would be crossing multiple time zones, especially for international travel.

8. Manage Your Naps Properly

When you land, you might feel the need to take a nap. If that would be the case, you should limit your nap or naps to 30 minutes or less. You should also make sure that the mattress you’ll be sleeping on will help you get good sleep if you plan on taking a nap. The last thing you need is to interfere with your ability to get as much sleep as possible during the first night or two at your travel destination.

9. Be Active

If you arrive at your travel destination during the day, don’t just retreat to your hotel room and start settling in. You would be far better off in terms of avoiding jet lag if you were to stay outside and take part in some activities. While you might not be hungry, you should try to eat something when you first arrive. Both sunlight and food play a role in helping to regulate your body clock. 

Jet lag is something no traveler wants to experience on a trip. It can negatively impact your sleep schedule and hinder the activities you want to do during your trip. Following the tips in this article should help you lessen the impact/feelings of jet lag so that you can have fun and enjoy your trip.

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