Understanding Your Body Clock: Awareness and Prevention
By: Hannah Fleming
Your body clock relies on a 24-hour cycle to operate as normal, and is required for main functions such as eating and sleeping. Throughout college, it can be hard to train your body to adjust to a schedule that seems to fluctuate every week. It’s even more difficult to maintain a routine if you throw traveling into the mix. Crossing time zones is a lengthy and grueling process, requiring an adjustment period that your body must endure, only to do it again on your way back. So, how do our body clocks work exactly? And what can we do to help us feel and perform at our best while traveling?
Your body clock “controls secretion of melatonin by the pineal gland, an important internal factor, and light turns it off” (Herxheimer & Waterhouse, 2003). When switching time zones quickly, it can take the body many days to adapt internally to external factors llike light, for example. In other words, when your body is completely out of sync with the sun, it may result in insomnia, emotional disturbances, and gastrointestinal distress. Our circadian rhythm, which is another term for our body clock, actually exceeds the 24 hours that are in a day. As a result, this means we can only move our body clock later by 2 hours and earlier by 1 hour. Based on this science, experts say it is easier to travel west than it is to travel east. The more time zones you cross, however, the longer it takes your circadian rhythm to retrain itself, causing one to experience even more severe jet lag symptoms (Kolla & Auger 2011).
However, there are a few solutions to help mitigate the symptoms that coincide with jet lag. For example, you should consider decreasing your alcohol and caffeine intake while flying; alcohol consumption further dehydrates your body, causing more tiredness. Caffeine stimulates and energizes your body, but by the time your flight lands, the effects will have already worn off. Melatonin is another known solution to get ahead of jet lag. According to a study published by Cleveland Clinic’s Journal of Medicine, individuals who took melatonin a few days leading up to their flight and during it had excellent outcomes such as improved sleep quality and less drowsiness upon arrival. Cleveland Clinic researchers found that individuals who took melatonin experienced less severe symptoms of jet lag when they needed to adapt to their new sleep schedule.
In 2016, the University of Maryland studied how light exposure affects the degree of jet lag intensity. When traveling eastward, it is suggested that you receive more morning light exposure, instead of evening light exposure. It is the opposite when traveling westward. Proper light exposure will realign your body’s internal clock (Locker 2018). If you are really serious about realigning your body quicker while traveling, the trick is to adjust your body’s exposure to light a few days before your flight, and this depends mainly on which direction you are traveling. For example, if you were traveling from Chicago to London, with a 6-hour forward time difference, in order to get ahead of jet lag, the best advice would be to go to bed an hour early each night and wake up an hour earlier each morning. Additionally, staying hydrated is a key component to avoiding the worst symptoms of jet lag. It’s very easy for the dry air during flights to further dehydrate your body, so it is especially important to be drinking as much water as possible during your flight. Another good way to mitigate jet lag symptoms is by staying away from foods that cause indigestion. Since jet lag can cause gastrointestinal issues, indigestion would only worsen it. Examples of foods that have been known to cause indigestion are any fried, processed, or greasy foods. Snacks that are high in fat can cause indigestion as well.
While I hope you have now found a few helpful tips to avoid jet lag, backed by science, unfortunately, many experts still say that it is nearly impossible to avoid it entirely. I have found that properly hydrating and eating a more clean diet in the days leading up to trips have made the most difference for me. This includes making lean dinners mainly using salmon and chicken, usually paired with veggies high in fiber like carrots and broccoli. Fruit salads with strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries help me curve cravings throughout the day for foods like fries and brownies. I have yet to try the melatonin trick, but all of these suggestions are worth a shot if it means more energy when traveling, right?
Reference List
Herxheimer, A., & Waterhouse, J. (2003, February 8). The prevention and treatment of jet lag. BMJ (Clinical research ed.). Retrieved February 10, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1125170
Kolla, B., & Auger, R. (2011, October). Jet lag and shift work sleep disorders: How to help ... - CCJM. Retrieved from https://www.ccjm.org/content/ccjom/78/10/675.full.pdf
Locker, M. (2018, September 18). The science behind jet lag-and ways to cure it. Time. Retrieved February 10, 2022, from https://time.com/5392876/science-cure-prevent-jet-lag/