Jet lag is a primary cause for some seriously unfortunate vacation photos! (You can quote me on that.)
I don’t want to look like an extra from a Zombie movie (or miss a minute of fun) on my upcoming trip from New Jersey to China, so I decided to look into how to beat jet lag.
I started by asking one of my fellow PassPorter Guides for tips. Here is what DebiDebiDebi had to say:
Sandy, I know some people think we’re crazy for this, but when we’re am preparing to head to the east coast (3 hours ahead of our PNW time) we do this: We start getting up 3 hours earlier than normal for 5-6 days ahead of the departure date. That way we have adjusted to East coast time prior to arriving and we are good to go by vacation time! Like I tell people who question my sanity for getting up at 2:45 am instead of 5:45; it’s amazing how much housework I get done during that early morning, with no outside distractions (phone, TV, etc). Works well for us!
(Thanks, Debi Debi Debi)
PassPorter Author Dave Marx gave the following tips:
My biggest problems come from lost sleep on Eastbound red-eyes. I’ve had 3-4 hours of sleep, if I’m lucky, and since it’s morning wherever I arrive, I’ll have a long day ahead of me. So, I try to plan a few hours of nap time after I get home/to the hotel. If that’s not possible, I try to have nothing on the itinerary after dinner.
To get sleep either eastbound or westbound, I focus on being comfortable on the plane – non-restrictive clothing, slip off my shoes, enough leg room (not a lot of stuff under the seat), etc. I tend towards window seats, so my neighbors won’t have to wake me to go to the restroom. I usually bring over-the-ear headphones on long flights, which I find more comfy than ear buds over long durations. Then I can put on my favorite music and close my eyes.
If you have any tips, please share them in the comments below!
So, is Jet lag real? Let’s look at some facts from the experts. Symptoms include fatigue, lethargy, mood changes, cognitive impairment, gastrointestinal disturbances, and sleep disturbances (Parry, 2002). YIKES! Leger et al. (1993) surveyed 507 business travelers and found almost half suffered from fatigue, 78% had disturbed sleep and 27% felt they had “intellectual disability” from jet lag! OK, this is serious stuff! So, what is a traveler to do?
A well-known sleep expert, Dr. Chris Idzikowski, says that changing your watch on the plane alone won’t help. It seems as if light plays a key role in managing jet lag. Cromie (2009) found that light boxes help long-distance travelers and shift workers, and that blue light gives the best results. Apparently, sleepy people exposed to blue light for six and a half hours performed better, rated themselves as less sleepy, showed quicker reaction times, and had fewer lapses of attention than people exposed to other types of light, particularly green light. Blue light was even found to help people with vision loss. Who knew?
I learned this from experience during a recent stay at The Dream in NYC, where guest rooms are bathed in blue light. I left the light on all night, and it was wonderful! I woke with a sense of calm, alertness and a readiness to take on the day. I actually made plans to buy a blue light for home, I liked it so much! Here are some photos of Dream.
SO, I suppose if you are flying into New York, The Dream is the place to go!
But If you are not flying to NYC, and don’t have access to a blue light, all hope is not lost!
Several studies showed great results for using light to help with jet lag. Parry (2002) found positive results combining bright light with melatonin for jet lag. This study breaks instructions down for Westward and Eastward time zones, and is worth a peek if you are traveling. Since I’m not sure how I’ll react to Melatonin, and don’t want any surprises this close to a trip, I think I’ll stick with the light alone, though!
To make a long story short, if you are traveling to a country where day is night, limit the amount of light during the day and use a VERY bright light (five times the intensity of a normal room light) at night. Dark sunglasses and any source of bright light in front of your eyes should do it. Strangely enough, a friend of mine gave me a bright-light LED visor light just the other day, which should do the trick. I guess hitting the ground in China running was meant to be!
A great link for timing the light was created by sleep expert, Dr. Chris Idzikowski and British Airways. Using this jet lag advisor tool requires a bit of thinking, but it is worth it!
All the articles below should be available free on the internet, but you may need to use Google Scholar as your search engine.
So now I’m done with science and I’m ready for some wide awake fun and exploration! I hope you’ll travel with me as I visit Hong Kong Disneyland and the city nearby. Oh, and please just give me a nudge if you notice me nodding off from jet lag.
References
Clothier, J. (2006, April). Sleep doctor offers jet lag secrets. CNN Business Traveler. Retrieved from
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/04/06/biztrav.jetlag/index.html
Cromie, W. (2009, February). When the blues keep you awake. Harvard Science.
http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2006/02/when-the-blues-keep-you-awake/
Leger, D., Badet, D., & De la Giclais, B. (1993). The prevalance of jet-lag among 507 traveling
businessman. Sleep Res (22) 409
Parry, B. (2002, September). Jet lag: Minimizing its effects with critically timed bright light and melatonin
administration, Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology. 4(5) 463-466. Retrieved from
http://www.horizonpress.com/jmmb/v/v4/53.pdf
Nice article Sandy! Helpful for when I go to England in May. Be sure to tell us all about your trip to China when you get back.
OH! I didn’t know about the blue light…awesome!
Very interesting info on the blue light benefits.
cool post! Keep up the informative work!
I will have to remember this article when I head to San Diego next month. Heading west I should be fine – but coming home a week later always messes me up.
Great article Sandy! My mother has some vision issues, I am going to look into the blue light information, thanks!
What a helpful post! I’d never heard about the benefit of blue light so that is a tip I’m excited to try.
Also, I was not aware of Google Scholar as a search tool. I normally add site:.edu or site:.gov to my search phrase in Google when trying to filter out commercial sites. It’s odd that Scholar is not listed when I click on the More link in the left column. They really keep that tool under wraps.