You can count on symptoms of jet lag whenever you cross more than five time zones whether you fly east or west.
Recent studies have found that middle-aged and older passengers are more likely to experience breaks in sleep during the flight and difficulties after arrival than younger passengers.
Each body reacts in its own way to long journeys with different conditions.
At the beginning of the article "One Thousand and One Nights Lost", you can read about the beginning of a trip where one of us suffers from severe insomnia, one of the most annoying effects of jet lag.
The most common symptoms of Jet Lag are:
– Insomnia and intermittent sleep that usually manifests itself differently depending on the direction of flight.
To the West: early night drowsiness. wake up before dawn
The number of days that jet lag lasts is equivalent to half the number of time zones crossed.
To the East: Difficulty falling asleep at the destination's bedtime. Difficulty waking up on the morning of the destination
The number of days the jet lag equals about 2/3 of the number of time zones crossed.
– fatigue, nausea, general malaise, headache, irritability, stress, difficulty concentrating, poor performance in physical tasks, digestive problems, loss of appetite.
The most effective tips to fight Jet lag are:
1- Arrive days in advance to allow the body to adjust to the new time zone before starting to explore the new destination
2- Sleep and rest as much as possible before the flight. Landing with a lack of sleep will only aggravate jet lag. However, you should only sleep during the flight if it's already at night in the Destination.
To do this, he uses all possible means (blindfold, ear plugs, relaxing music, etc.). If it's daytime, resist the temptation to sleep.
3 - Adjust sun exposure
If you're still traveling east, expose yourself to a lot of light early in the morning in your own time zone.
If you're still traveling west, expose yourself to lots of light at night in your own time zone.
4 - Try not to sleep until Fate's bedtime
It is one of the most difficult to fulfill. Sometimes it generates desperate situations. If you can't take it completely, try just taking a short nap.
5 - Stay hydrated
Before, during and after the flight. It is obvious that alcoholic beverages do not count towards hydration, quite the opposite.
6 - Eat meals as close as possible to the time you will be eating at your destination.
They must be small and easy to digest.
And the most effective tips to facilitate the body's adjustment at the time of the new destination are:
1 – Book a flight that allows you to try to sleep from the beginning of the night until the next morning
2 – After landing at your new destination, avoid heavy meals
3 – Avoid intense exercise around bedtime
4 – Protect yourself from any noise and light with ear plugs and eye patches. Leave your cell phone in silence.
5 – If you have to wake up for some appointment or internal trip, ask for one or two additional wake-up calls to the cell phone alarm.
6 – If you've already traveled east, avoid sunlight in the morning. If you've already traveled west, however much it costs you, avoid sunlight a few hours before sunset for two or three days.
