The fabulous life has its drawbacks.
So you’ve made your way from NYC to London or maybe Paris or Rome. Whether you’re there for work or play, that evil companion to the time-zone jumper – jet lag – will have you sleepless and feeling like a zombie unless you take a proactive stance and show your body who’s really in control.
Jet lag is your body’s confusion to what time it is. Your body has a cycle that’s adjusted for the time zone you live in. It knows when you awake and when you go to bed. Switch that up by jumping time zones, and suddenly your body has NO idea what is happening. The unfortunate truth is, that your body needs one day to recover for each time zone you jump. Fly from NY to London, and your body will need 6 days to recover. It sounds extreme, but we’ve lived through it.
You may not escape jet lag entirely, but you can be one of those people in “the know” who seem to more or less breeze through it.
PREVENTION IS BEST
The best way to deal with jet lag is prevention.
1) Take 5 mgs of melatonin the day BEFORE you travel, at what would be 5pm in that new time zone. So if you’re flying from NY to London you’d take it at 1pm NY time. Take another dose on the plane, same time if you’re traveling eastward.
2) Continue taking 2 mgs at bedtime in your new location to help with your body’s adjustment.
3) If you arrive during the day, STAY AWAKE until nighttime. If you need to take a 30 minute nap. Staying awake until nighttime will help recalculate your body for your new time zone.
4) If you find you just can’t sleep, try taking 600-900 mgs of valerian root nightly. This will help get your body to sleep naturally.
Melatonin is the body’s sleep hormone. Melatonin is a natural hormone made by your body’s pineal (pih-knee-uhl) gland. This is a pea-sized gland located just above the middle of the brain. During the day the pineal is inactive. When the sun goes down and darkness occurs, the pineal is “turned on” and begins to actively produce melatonin, which is released into the blood. Usually, this occurs around 9 pm. As a result, melatonin levels in the blood rise sharply and you begin to feel less alert. Sleep becomes more inviting. Melatonin levels in the blood stay elevated for about 12 hours – all through the night – before the light of a new day when they fall back to low daytime levels by about 9 am. Daytime levels of melatonin are barely detectable. Following this regime will trick your body into the sleep cycle you WANT regardless of your new time zone.
Other Natural Remedies…..
Jet Lag Pills from The Organic Pharmacy- £8.50
Homeopathy is a safe, effective and gentle form of medicine. These jet Lag pills are a combination of Rye Alcohol, Cocculus, Sucrose, Arnica (Arnica Montana).
Directions
Suck one pill before flight and one pill every 4 hours during flight and one dose after flight. Homeopathic remedies come in dilute or drop form. In either case the medication should be placed on the tongue at least 15 minutes away from food and drink. Dosage will depend on the illness but generally speaking they can be taken more frequently at the onset of an illness (eg. five to six times a day) and reduced later on (two to three times a day).
Try these tips the next time you go jet-setting around the globe, and may jet lag be a thing of the past!
