The processes of all animals and plants follow a 24-hour rhythm called body clock. This is our personal synchronization with the daylight-darkness cycle. When you travel in an airplane crossing time zones, say from New York to Houston, your body clock cannot adjust itself quickly enough. Your will lose sync with the new daylight-darkness cycle of where you left (NY) and does not recover quickly for the place that you are going (Houston). This causes a condition of disorientation called jet lag.

This disorientation can cause a person to be irritable, forgetful and tends to lose their concentration easily. The person may suffer from mild depression, disturbed sleep pattern and loss of appetite. Occasionally the person may suffer from dehydration and develop swollen or uncomfortable feet.

Jet lag is not caused by the actual time in the air spent but crossing time zones. A journey from Frankfurt to New York is likely to cause jet lag but a journey from Frankfurt to Johannesburg will not. These two cities, Frankfurt and Johannesburg, lie within the same time zone. The length of time in an airplane is sure to cause discomfiture mostly because you are sitting in a little seat in the same cramped position for a long time but not necessarily jet lag.

Jet lag does not affect all people all the time nor is its severity. The elderly seem to suffer much less from jet lag as compared to the younger ones. Also it seems to affect women of reproducing age group more often. It depends upon a person’s physiological adjustability. If you know you are prone to suffer from jet lag here are some of the precautions you can take that will cut down on the severity.

Prior to your flight get a good night’s sleep. Avoid embarking on the journey under strain; try to spend some relaxed time prior to the flight. Drink alcohol in moderation on the aircraft and, as always, DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. (Aren’t you tired of hearing that?) Get some light exercise such as walking up and down the aisle and a little stretching will help. Remove your shoes and try to stretch your feet, wiggle your toes some.

Many “anti jet lag” preparations are available on market; act on them with extreme caution. Some people suggest taking sleeping pills to get over jet lag; this may, however, have rather unpleasant consequences. Anti jet lag diets are available on the market; but efficacy apart, it is not a very practical solution; it is so cumbersome to carry diet around. An OTC (over the counter) homeopathic drug which said to be effective and it is free of side effects.

Drugs such as Melatonin are advertised as an anti jet lag drug; but you have to start taking it at specific times a few days prior to the journey and continue taking it for a few days after completion of the journey. Its anti jet lag claims are not really supported by research. On the contrary it may lead to worsening of the jet lag symptoms. In fact in UK Melatonin is banned altogether.

A jet lagged condition may carry on for many days. Recovery from jet lag at the rate of “one day per time zone” is considered quite reasonable. The easiest methods for rapid recovery are relaxation, good sleep, sensible diet and moderate exercise. No fun at all for a vacation. This is what you have to do at home. Give it go anyway and attempt to have fun. Bon voyage!

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