Jet Lag - 5 Pre-travel Steps to Reduce the effects of jet la

In reality of course no magic formula exists - and there is surely no magic pill or tablet. There is, however, a great deal that you can do in preparation for your departure to help you overcome or eliminate jet lag and here are just a few tips:

1. Maintain a consistent sleep pattern.

If you are not following a consistent routine in the days and weeks before your journey (going to bed and acquiring up at the same time each day) your body's internal clock wish be discontinuous even as before you start your journey and your flight wish just magnify the effects of sleep disorder elicited by jet lag.

2. Ensure you are acquiring a balanced and healthy diet.

Diet plays an important role in ensuring that you get a nice night's sleep and an appropriate balance of whole grains, proteins, fruits and vegetables in your diet is essential.

Alcohol and caffein are two elements of your diet that are particularly important in relation to jet lag and these should be reduced, or eliminated, in the run-up to your journey if at all possible. If, however, asking you to give up your twelve cups of coffee each day is rather like asking you to cut off your right hand, then try to limit your intact to the afternoon between just about 3 pm and 5 pm.

Caffein once taken late in the day tends to speed up your body clock, piece taking it in the morning has the opposite effect. Taken during the middle of the day, caffein has little or no effect on your body's time unit rhythms.

3. Take regular exercise.

Regular exercise can importantly improve the consistency, quality and duration of your normal sleep cycle. Several form of daily aerobiotic exercise, lasting at least twenty minutes, wish go a long way to preparing your body for your forthcoming journey.

4. Start to slowly adjust your bedtime.

You should begin to "manage" your body clock by bit by bit and slowly adjusting your hour and wake up time in the days before your journey, to bring these into line with the local time at your destination.

If, for example, you usually go to bed at 10 pm and you are flying to a country that is four hours ahead, at your normal hour the time at your destination wish be 2 am. So, in this case, you need to slowly bring your hour forward a little bit (say fifteen minutes) each night for a week or ten days before your departure. This mightiness mean that instantly prior to departure you are going to bed at say 7.30 pm. However, once you arrive at your destination this wish mean that you are now going to bed at 11.30 pm and that you have narrowed the four hour time difference to just one and a half hours.

5. Reduce stress in the days before traveling.

One often unmarked factor in the jet lag equation is that of stress and more of this stress is a direct result of the journey itself. How galore times have you found yourself running about at the last minute trying to do 1001 things at once?

Plan ahead and do sure that, as far as is possible, everything that you need to do some at house and at works is completed well in advance of your journey. In planning for your journey, clean as more as you can as early as you can and do specific time accessible in your pre-journey planning for plenty of relaxation in the days instantly prior to your departure.

These are just a few examples of things that you should pay attention to once planning any long-haul trip and, together with another specific measures taken some during your flight and following your arrival, wish well reduce the effects of jet lag, or even as lead to no jet lag at all!

Copyright 2005 Donald Saunders - http://help-me-to-sleep.com
Just just about the Author

Donald Saunders is the author of a number of health-related publications looking in detail at curing insomnia and managing another common sleep disorders. Drop by for more information on jet lag and to pick up your free copy of "How To Get A Nice Night's Sleep".