What jet lag does to your body

When you’re booking a holiday and planning to travel intercontinental, it can be really exciting choosing accommodation and researching the different culture that you’re soon about to experience. One thing that you may not think about, however, is the dreaded jet lag – or flight fatigue – felt after a long-haul flight.

Thanks to flying long distance and into a different time zone, jet lag is the temporary disruption to your body’s normal biological rhythms such as your sleep patterns. The more technical term is the circadian rhythms. The human body works on a 24-hour cycle and the circadian rhythms are regulated by your internal clock in the brain (body clock).

According the British Sleep Council: “In ideal situations, the circadian rhythm will naturally rise in the early morning, promoting wakefulness and alertness, and will reach a peak in the evening. After a waking period of around 15 hours the pressure to sleep becomes greater and in other words, we get tired. With the onset of darkness, the circadian rhythm drops to the lowest levels and helps to maintain sleep.”

Factors for your body clock going off track include changing the clocks from winter to summer time, shift work and, of course – jet lag!

There are other surprising things that jet lag does to the body alongside disrupting your sleep pattern, such as causing digestive upset, headaches and fatigue and even messing with the menstrual cycle.

In fact, jet lag disorder is a real thing! Let’s look at the most common symptoms.

1. Sleep problems

Let’s start with the most obvious symptom of jet lag disorder. Travelling across multiple time zones disrupts your circadian rhythm. Your body may expect to sleep when it’s now daytime or it wants to be awake when you are supposed to sleep. The severity depends on which direction you have travelled as flying east is more difficult of an adjustment than heading west. It’s estimated that it takes one day per time zone for your body clock to adjust to local time.

2. Stomach upset

It’s not just you, but everyone experiences bloating when flying and there’s a scientific reason as to why. Aside from feeling crammed into a small seat and having lack of physical movement, the change in cabin pressure during take-off and landing actually causes your belly to expand. As the cabin pressure falls when you’re going up in the air, the gas in the stomach expands, which leaves you feeling bloated like a balloon.

Ever stepped off a plane with a sore tummy? Well now you know why. It’s recommended to walk up and down the aisle every hour or so to increase bowel movement and to move the trapped wind. Avoid chewing gum, which results in swallowing air and don’t have any fizzy drinks that create extra gas in the body. For the next few days in your new destination, drink plenty of water and eat foods that are easy for your small intestine to absorb. Avoid milk, dried fruits and foods or drinks containing sweeteners, including honey.

3. Irregular periods

The circadian rhythm and menstrual cycles are influencing each other all of the time! It’s the hormonal relationship between the two that can change your cycle. Changes in appetite, sleep, healing, body temperature and heart rate are triggered by hormones that fluctuate up and down during certain times of the day and night. The circadian rhythm influences when these processes slow down, speed up or rest.

Travelling to a different time zone exposes us to light at different times of the day, which throws off your rhythms. Some women may find that their period is late, their period comes early, they skip a period or the period itself is longer/shorter or heavier/lighter. Changing the time of taking birth control tablets may also affect the menstrual cycle.

4. Land sickness – feeling like you’re swaying!

Hours after landing, you probably feel as if you are still rocking on the plane during your flight. Known as land sickness, this occurs when your brain is receiving mixed signals from your eyes and the vestibular system in the ears. Whilst your eyes tell your brain the body isn’t moving, the vestibular system feels a sense of motion – confusing much? In the majority of cases this subsides within hours or a day or two.

In extremely rare cases, however, this swaying feeling may persist for months or even years and is known as Mal de Debarquement syndrome, although this tends to occur after a long cruise. If you’re prone to motion sickness, you can wear an adjustable wristband that applies acupressure to help relieve symptoms.

5. Anxiety

There’s a link between sleep disorders and anxiety, therefore it makes sense that jet lag (linked to insomnia and disturbed sleep patterns) can lead to an increase in anxiety. As well as feeling exhausted from travelling in general, for those who have mental health issues already, flying can worsen symptoms – even for days afterwards. A combined effect of a disrupted body clock, and the stress of being in a busy airport can be a risk factor for mental illness. The good news is that you can prepare in the days beforehand and pack your bags with things that will make your flight more comfortable.

A lavender spray, cosy clothes to wear, a blanket and a new book that you’re excited to read may all help to make your journey more pleasant. Arrive early at the airport to avoid panicking. You can also talk to your GP before your trip to see if there is any medication that they can prescribe. Try not to plan too many activities for your arrival at your destination, or to dive back into work straightaway to minimise a flare-up of anxiety.

You can survive jet lag!

The list above may be enough to make you reconsider your trip altogether! However, by preparing beforehand and having a plan in place for your arrival at your new destination, you really can reduce the effects of jet lag and the stress of travelling.

So, how can we minimise the effects of jet lag?

Whether it’s for a nice, long summer holiday, or if you regularly take business trips across the globe, you can minimise the effects of crossing time zones by tricking your circadian rhythm.

• Slowly change your habitual hours before your trip – a few days before you leave, you can start to move mealtimes and bedtime a little closer to the schedule of your destination.
• Drink plenty of water during your flight – try to avoid caffeine or alcohol, which promote dehydration, contribute to jet lag symptoms and can also disturb sleep.
• Adapt to the bedtime of your new time zone straightaway – it may be really difficult, but try not to go to bed until it’s bedtime at your destination.
• Use sunlight to help you adjust – if you need to wake up early in your new time zone, then go out early in the morning sun. If you need to wake up later, then wait until late afternoon sunlight.
• Intermittent fast – Dr Clifford Saper and colleagues at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre identified in mice that a second ‘master clock’ can regulate circadian rhythms when food is scarce. In theory, humans may have a similar mechanism and a brief fast of 12-16 hours may reset the circadian rhythms. So, on a long-haul flight you would refrain from eating for a couple of hours before take-off and during the flight, but you would have a good meal when you land. You would still drink water during fasting time. Discuss intermittent fasting with your GP if it’s of interest.

How do you try to beat jet lag? Share your tips in the comments box below!