The technical way of describing jet lag is a disruption of your regular circadian rhythm synchronization due to air travel over numerous time zones. The way most people describe jet lag is like somewhere between a hangover and a migraine. Jet lag mainly affects your sleep cycle causing insomnia or extreme tiredness, depending on which way you’re traveling. Traveling in an eastwards, like U.S. to UK or Europe to Asia, means you’re traveling in the opposite direction to the Earth’s natural rotation which generally makes the jet lag much worse for these travelers.
If you travel westwards you’re chasing the sun so the time difference won’t be as severe, making the jet lag also less severe. Because we’re dealing with sleep you’ll also most likely experience some irritability, brain fades and even disorientation. In this article I’m going to cover some of the best and most common jet lag remedies.
Purpose
All jet lag remedies have one thing in common, that is they are all trying to do the same thing, which is to reset your internal body clock to whatever time zone you happen to be in. No matter what kind of jet lag remedy you decide to use they will all take time to actually work and are mostly designed to either keep you awake or make you go to sleep.
Melatonin
Of all the jet lag remedies, melatonin is the most commonly used and most popular choice. Melatonin is a sleep hormone which plays a role in controlling your body’s internal clock. You can buy melatonin at most drug stores and health stores and you don’t need a prescription. You can use it to adjust your body clock to help you get too sleep. For example, if you fly from New York to London your body clock will need to move forward 5 hours so you can take melatonin to help you go to sleep earlier to adjust to the new time zone.
Natural
Melatonin release is naturally affected by light. So the best way to adjust yourself to your new time zone is to alter your environment to suit your new time zone. For example if your traveling east to west you’ll need to try and make yourself stay awake, so try to keep in well lit areas, stay active and drink coffee if you get desperate. If you’re really organized you should try to stay awake longer a few days before the trip to make the transition easier. If you’re traveling eastwards you’ll need to adjust to going to bed earlier, that’s where the sleep aids come in handy.
For Kids
The best jet lag remedies for kids are natural. There are a couple of good natural jet lag remedies and they are valerian root and also a homeopathic option called No Jet Lag. Homeopathic remedies are watered down versions of very strong naturally occurring substances. They are diluted down to the level that they’re no longer detectable but are still believed to work based on water memory. No Jet Lag is the most trusted and well known homeopathic jet lag remedy.
Valerian is a herbal remedy because it is a natural sleep aid. It can be used in a similar way to melatonin as mentioned above.