Traveling to a different time zone can be exciting—but the time change can take some getting used to. Depending on how far you travel, it may be necessary to take specific steps to adapt to a new time zone and avoid the symptoms ofjet lag, which can make your journey less enjoyable.
Jet lag can cause you to feel ill as well as tired, and it can ruin a trip. Fortunately, there are ways to prepare for time zone transitions.
This article explains the signs of jet lag and strategies to help you avoid it or manage the symptoms.
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Symptoms of Jet Lag
The most common symptoms of jet lag include:
Being unable to move around during a long flight, dehydration, and disrupted eating schedules can contribute to these problems.
Light and Jet Lag
Light, whether from thesunor alamp, has a strong effect on the body’scircadian rhythms. That’s one of the factors determining when you’re alert and awake and when you’re tired and need to sleep.
When you travel to another time zone, there’s a dramatic shift in your exposure to light and a misalignment of your body’s sense of day and night. Until the circadian rhythm is reset, jet lag symptoms persist.
The sudden disruption of your circadian rhythms that occurs with jet lag can be distressing, especially the further you travel. If you fly from, say, the east coast of the United States to the west coast, you’ll be crossing only a few time zones, and adjusting will be relatively easy. But if you cross oceans and continents it will be more challenging.
In general, it can take one day per time zone changed for circadian rhythms and sleep to get in sync.
Finally, the direction of travel impacts circadian rhythms. You may have heard a frequent traveler say, “East is a beast, west is best.” What he means is that traveling in a westward direction is often easier to tolerate because it is easier to shift the circadian rhythm to a later time.To think about it another way, consider how easy it is to stay up a few hours later in the night and how challenging it can be to wake up that much earlier in the morning.
Adjusting to a New Time Zone
If you’re planning travel that will land you in a different time zone, severe jet lag isn’t inevitable. There are ways to help you prepare your body for the change so that you can enjoy your trip with as little disruption to your sleep as possible.
Plan Ahead
Before your trip, figure out how much you’ll need to shift your sleep and wake times to be in sync after you arrive. Allowing enough time to do it gradually, begin to go to bed earlier and get up earlier, or vice-versa depending on the direction you’ll be traveling in, to get your body used to the new time zone before you have to live in it.
Make Yourself Stay Awake
Delaying sleep generates a very robust sleep drive and may counteract some of the issues related to a misaligned circadian rhythm. Much like pulling an all-nighter, your desire for sleep will be exceptionally strong if youstay awake for a prolonged period, no matter what time zone you’re in.
To reset yourself, try to stay awake on the plane and when you arrive. Once you’re settled in, fight the urge to take a nap, and try to stay awake until your normal bedtime based on local time.
See the Light
The most important factor in resetting your body clock is light. If you can, get 15 to 30 minutes of direct sunlight as soon as you wake up. Go for a walk, eat breakfast outside, or just sit in the sun and read.
Keeping a regular bedtime and wake time with morning light exposure will help a great deal.
Deflect Drowsiness
When dealing with jet-lag-related daytime sleepiness, the same go-toremediesyou use at home can help:
How Long to Overcome Jet Lag?The longer the time discrepancy, the longer it can take to overcome jet lag. It is on average a day for each hour of time change.
How Long to Overcome Jet Lag?
The longer the time discrepancy, the longer it can take to overcome jet lag. It is on average a day for each hour of time change.
Returning Home
4 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Ambesh P, Shetty V, Ambesh S, Gupta SS, Kamholz S, Wolf L.Jet lag: Heuristics and therapeutics.J Family Med Prim Care. 2018;7(3):507-510. doi:10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_220_17Fowler PM, Knez W, Crowcroft S, et al.Greater effect of east versus west travel on jet lag, sleep, and team sport performance.Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2017;49(12):2548-2561. doi:10.1249/mss.0000000000001374Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Jet lag.Better Health Channel.Jet lag.Additional ReadingKryger, MH et al.Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine. Elsevier, 5th edition, 2011.
4 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Ambesh P, Shetty V, Ambesh S, Gupta SS, Kamholz S, Wolf L.Jet lag: Heuristics and therapeutics.J Family Med Prim Care. 2018;7(3):507-510. doi:10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_220_17Fowler PM, Knez W, Crowcroft S, et al.Greater effect of east versus west travel on jet lag, sleep, and team sport performance.Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2017;49(12):2548-2561. doi:10.1249/mss.0000000000001374Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Jet lag.Better Health Channel.Jet lag.Additional ReadingKryger, MH et al.Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine. Elsevier, 5th edition, 2011.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Ambesh P, Shetty V, Ambesh S, Gupta SS, Kamholz S, Wolf L.Jet lag: Heuristics and therapeutics.J Family Med Prim Care. 2018;7(3):507-510. doi:10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_220_17Fowler PM, Knez W, Crowcroft S, et al.Greater effect of east versus west travel on jet lag, sleep, and team sport performance.Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2017;49(12):2548-2561. doi:10.1249/mss.0000000000001374Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Jet lag.Better Health Channel.Jet lag.
Ambesh P, Shetty V, Ambesh S, Gupta SS, Kamholz S, Wolf L.Jet lag: Heuristics and therapeutics.J Family Med Prim Care. 2018;7(3):507-510. doi:10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_220_17
Fowler PM, Knez W, Crowcroft S, et al.Greater effect of east versus west travel on jet lag, sleep, and team sport performance.Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2017;49(12):2548-2561. doi:10.1249/mss.0000000000001374
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Jet lag.
Better Health Channel.Jet lag.
Kryger, MH et al.Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine. Elsevier, 5th edition, 2011.
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