Harvard sleep physician help you to beat jet lag
What is jet lag: It is a temporary sleep disorder caused by multi time-zone travel that disrupts your internal clock – or circadian rhythm – putting it out of sync with the external environment.
This clock tells your body when it’s time to wake and when it’s time to sleep.
Experts say the more time zones crossed, the more likely you are to experience jet lag.
While jet lag affects people differently, it can cause daytime fatigue, headache, stomach troubles and insomnia.
Remedy: Your body will shift itself back to normal about one day per time zone, though its interaction with light – both natural sunlight and artificial light – can help speed up the process.
Harvard sleep physician Lawrence Epstein, co-author of The Harvard Medical School Guide to a Good Night’s
Sleep, says bright sunlight or blue light delivered at the right time – early in the day if you’ve travelled east and later in the afternoon if you’ve travelled west – can quicken adaptation.
He also suggests the hormone melatonin.
When to take it is important: in the evening, if you’re trying to reset your body clock to an earlier time and in the morning if you’re trying to reset your clock to later in the day.
Why it works: This works by the shift of light and dark in the natural 24-hour cycle, “tricking” your body clock into believing it is earlier or later than it is.
As light diminishes throughout the day and dark sets in, the pineal gland – an endocrine gland in the brain – releases melatonin, which signals your brain to start its decent to rest and sleep.
Light stops the release of this hormone.
Once your circadian pattern is thrown off by time-zone jet lag, reintroducing these naturally occurring therapies at the appropriate time helps speed up your body’s return to its normal rhythm.