Our recent trip to Greece was excellent, with one exception…the long flights.  A 10-hour flight to London plus a 4-hour flight to Athens was a lot to bear.  In all Los Angeles and Athens are separated by 9 time zones which led to my first real experience with jet lag.  I’ve traveled back and forth from the east and west coasts of the U.S. without too much problem, but a 9-hour difference means that Ruth and I were having to go to bed around mid-afternoon LA time and wake up when we’d usually find ourselves just getting to bed back in LA.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), jet lag is, ”a temporary disorder among air travelers who rapidly travel across three or more time zones. Jet lag results from the slow adjustment of the body clock to the destination time, so that daily rhythms and the internal drive for sleep and wakefulness are out of synchrony with the new environment.”  Also, Mark Sisson of Mark’s Daily Apple writes that jet lag is, “an “unnatural act” and shouldn’t be dismissed as merely a nuisance. The truth is that changing three, four or nine times zones in as little as half a day can wreak havoc on all your delicate internal “wiring” and hormonal systems and can leave you exhausted or sick for much of your trip.”  Ruth can attest to this as she caught a cold that dampered the first part of the trip.

So what causes it and what can we do to combat the ill effects of jet lag?  According to the CDC, our body’s intrinsic clock resides in the suprachiasmatic nuclei at the base of the hypothalamus, which contains melatonin receptors. The body clock receives information about light from the eyes and is also thought to receive input via the intergeniculate leaflet that carries information about physical activities and general excitement. The hormone melatonin is manufactured in the pineal gland from tryptophan, and its synthesis and release are stimulated by darkness and suppressed by light; consequently, the secretion of melatonin is responsible for setting our sleep–wake cycle. The body clock is adjusted to the solar day by rhythmic cues in the environment known as zeitgebers (time-givers). The main zeitgebers are the light–dark cycle and this rhythmic secretion of melatonin.  When these cycles are out of whack we may experience symptoms like:

• Poor sleep, including delayed sleep onset (after eastward flight), early awakening (after westward flight), and fractionated sleep (after flights in either direction).
• Poor performance in both physical and mental tasks during the new daytime.
• Negative subjective changes, such as increased fatigue, frequency of headaches and irritability, and decreased ability to concentrate.
• Gastrointestinal disturbances (indigestion, frequency of defecation, and the altered consistency of stools) and decreased interest in and enjoyment of meals.

Mark Sisson gives some tips on ways he’s learned to minimize the effects:

• The cardinal rule of avoiding jet lag (once you have arrived at your destination) is to go to bed only when it’s the normal bedtime at your arrival destination and to awaken when it’s normally time to get up at your arrival destination. The biggest mistake people make is to take a nap upon arrival to take the “edge” off. Never nap during the day at your travel destination no matter how short a nap you think you can take. Keep yourself busy and do whatever it takes to stay awake until it is bedtime in your destination. Take a shower or go for a walk, and avoid heavy meals or alcohol. If you are just dead tired, then at least try to stay awake until 7:30 or 8 PM.
• The #2 rule is to use the supplement melatonin to help you reset your internal clock and to allow you to fall asleep more easily. Melatonin is a natural hormone produced by the pineal gland to begin the sleep process. It releases every twenty-four hours when you are in your normal routine at home. While I am generally against interfering with natural hormonal systems, the “unnatural act” of crossing time zones requires an equally unnatural act of supplementing the hormone melatonin to reset your internal clock. Take 3-6mg (I use 5mg) of melatonin one hour before you plan to fall asleep. I recommend using it each of the first two nights, then taking a half-dose the third night and taking none the remainder of the stay.
• It’s important to manage your sleep during the flight as well. On flights lasting longer than five hours, try to get some sleep during the trip. When traveling east, I always look for flights that leave late in the day. I treat those long flights as a short night and a short day, since the flight will eliminate several time zones en route. The fact that I might only get a few hours sleep during the flight is mitigated by the other fact that I won’t have much daylight left when I arrive, so I’ll be reasonably tired when nighttime rolls around. I treat long flights going west as a very long day (or a very long night, depending on when I leave). If it’s a long day flight, I take enough of a nap to take the edge off and to be able to stay awake until bedtime at my destination. If it’s a night flight going west, I sleep as much as I can, knowing I will likely have a full day at my destination.
• Don’t use sleeping pills to sleep on the plane. They will not provide quality sleep and can interfere with your adjustment upon arrival. Get one of those neck pillows you see in the airport stores. They help cradle your head while you sleep and prevent sore necks. Drink lots of water on the plane and try to avoid alcohol. Walk around a little when you’re not sleeping or if you can’t sleep and stretch a little in the galley area.

REST DAY 05.16.10