Avoiding Jetlag

By Catharine Allado

Jet lag is a temporary disorder as a result of the change in time zone when traveling. It causes disruption to our body clock, which may affect our physical, emotional and mental condition.

As our body struggles to cope with the current time, we might experience some common symptoms like: headaches, difficulty in sleeping at night, fatigue, loss of appetite, disorientation, dehydration and other discomforts.

Actually, there is no cure for jetlags, but there are several things you can do to avoid it. Please be advised that not all of these tips apply to all travel destinations, but some might be useful for you.

Here are 10 helpful tips:

1. Adjust your sleep time. Try to be accustomed to the new time zone by adjusting your regular sleeping hours an hour a day several days before your departure. This will help your body to adapt easier to the new environment.

2. Consult your Doctor. If you are taking any medications, be sure to talk to your doctor to find out the best strategy for adjusting your medication schedule and doctor appointments.

3. Adjust your watch. It will be helpful if you adjust your watch as soon as you board the plane. This will help your mind adjust to the time zone of your destination.

4. Drink lots of fluids. During your flight be sure to drink plenty of water to hydrate your body as remedy to the dry air environment.

5. Avoid coffee and alcoholic beverages. These can cause dehydration and disrupt your sleeping schedule.

6. Move around during your flight. It is advisable to exercise while on the plane as this will help with your body's circulation. You can walk around once in a while, move your ankles and do some stretching.

7. Maintain a healthy diet. Be sure to watch what you eat. Remember, too much carbohydrates or sugar will affect your body's desire to sleep. Try to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

8. Adapt to the local time. If you are expecting to arrive during the day, it will be best if you stay awake during the flight. However, if you're arriving during the night, go ahead and grab some sleep. This should help adjust your body clock.

9. Get enough rest. It is key to have a good amount of sleep for couple of nights to help adjust your body clock naturally.

10. Relax and enjoy when you reach your destination.

Writes articles for http://www.ladolceliving.com, your one-stop website for senior care, helping seniors and baby boomers find FREE and RELIABLE information from senior housing care such as assisted living and nursing homes, in-home care, articles and tips, health information, senior discounts and services, a senior online community, plus more.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Catharine_Allado

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Jet Lag Exposed

By Chance Buckman

It's no secret that traveling takes a toll on your body, but to be honest, jet lag is often one of the most misunderstood ailments. I cannot tell you the number of times i have heard aobut a "new remedy" that was supposed to be the cure all. Well, I am here today to expose jet lag for what it really is so you can avoid it. In addition I will show you a few things to steer clear form.

First off jet lag is simple a disruption in your bodies biological clock, plain and simple. Your body gets accustomed to a certain way of life over time and when that is changed your body has to adjust and this causes jet lag. Its not the air, the airline food, or the stewardess, although they all play a small role.

So being that we know why you feel jetlagged in a new time zone, we must do some things that will allow us to get back to normal so we are not awake at 4 am any more watching infomercials.

First, you need to be active during the day for two reasons. One, activity makes you tired, easy enough. Two, the sunlight you get from being outside is a natural hormone that aides in the regulation of your bodies natural sleep cycles, so you can fall asleep when it gets dark out. This is also why you feel so tired after a long day in the sun, well that and the eight games of volleyball and case of beers.

Next, make sure you are taking care of your body by keeping it hydrated and feeding it quality food. As always, you want to drink about a gallon of water a day for optimal hydration. In addition, stay away from high sugar foods which can cause you to crash. Instead look for high protein and good carbohydrate foods such as granola bars or legumes (beans to the layperson). These will give you sustained energy throughout the day, but not keep you up at night.

Finally, you might want to employ the use of a travel supplement. Now there are a great many out there that vary in their claims, We actually only recommend the one below, but have tried many of the other names out there and have found some similar results.

Because a lot of the "jet lag remedies" are homeopathic or tincture in nature the effects are a bit up in the air if not placebo. We look for a supplement with proven ingredients to help you regulate your sleep cycles and hopefully boost your immune system as well. You always want to keep your immune system up when traveling as a disruption in your circadian rhythms can put you at greater risk for infection.

Good luck out there!

To learn more on how avoid Jet Lag click on the link.

*Bonus* - A top notch educational no jet lag video to help you avoid jet lag.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZslZZDMVoo
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chance_Buckman

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Stop Jetlag

By Chance Buckman

Jetlag has been a problem for air travelers ever since air flight was invented. Our bodies are creatures of habit and once we have adjusted to a specific time zone, they don't like things to change.
When we do disrupt our circadian rhythms or biological clock to the layperson, we experience jetlag. Depending on how far we have traveled, in which direction and what shape our body is in, we will experience varying levels and degrees of jet lag symptoms.

Some common symptoms include insomnia, headaches, fatigue, anxiety and even constipation. Now these are not things you associate with a relaxing vacation, so we need to be able to stop, avoid, prevent or at least mitigate these jetlag effects. So, what can you do next time you travel?

Well, you can start by staying hydrated. This is probably the single most important factor when travelling. It is very common for you to become dehydrated while traveling and when you do, you become more susceptible to diseases as well as jet lag symptoms.

Next, stay comfortable by wearing comfortable non-binding clothes and using a supplement such as the one below to help you to rest and enjoy your flight and potentially regulate your sleep patterns. Also remember that even more so when you are traveling, you are what you eat. Stay away from all the greasy, fatty foods at the airport and stick to the healthy and easily digested foods. High protein and low carbohydrates is a good rule of thumb while travelling.

Finally, do a little planning. If you can regulate your sleeping cycles ahead of time by trying to sleep more in line with your destinations time zone, then you will already have a jump start on becoming acclimated.

Oh and don't forget to avoid alcohol and caffeine, these are both no-no's if you want to stop jet lag.

So, there you have it, jetlag does not have to ruin your family vacation or business trip. You can travel to China and back in perfect health, we just have to be smart about it.

This is our top recommended jetlag supplement.

For even more jetlag information you can also watch this jetlag video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZslZZDMVoo
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chance_Buckman

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All About Jetlag

By David Saltonstall

If you've ever travelled across a substantial part of our planet by plane, you may have experienced the misery that is jetlag. This annoying sleep disorder can last from one day to a week, depending on how many time zones you've flown through to get from point A to point B.

Jetlag works by upsetting your body clock and causing you to take a lot longer than normal to adjust to a time zone. It is more likely to affect people as they get older and children are often completely unaware of any problems.

How to get the better of Jetlag

While it is scientifically proven that there is no way to completely avoid jetlag when travelling through time zones, there are a few things you can do to help reduce the effects.

Most importantly, try not to sleep the moment you arrive at your destination. You may be overly tired from the joys of airline travel, but studies have shown that holding out until after 10pm on the night of arrival makes it easier for your body clock to start getting back in sync.

A trick used by frequent flyers is to set their watches to the destination time before there plane even takes off on the journey. That way they are already programming their brains to believe that it is destination time and nothing more than another long day.

When travelling West, frequent flyers recommend going to bed an hour later each night for a week before your flight and waking up an hour later than you normally would.

When travelling East reverse the process, waking up and going to sleep an hour earlier than you normally would for a week before you travel. The aim in both cases is to expose yourself to more/less evening light in order to help your cicadian rythmns change without the jetlag.

If you must use sleeping tablets to help with your jetlag, over the counter sleeping tablets will help for a few days and may help you adapt to your new time zone faster. As with any medication, please make sure you discuss this with your doctor before self-medicating, and be sure not to drive a vehicle under the influence of sleeping tablets.

The best solution for jetlag is just to let it run its course. There is a reason why your body is tired and you should let it sleep to reset your body clock. A couple of nights in a comfortable bed in your destination city should have you back to normal within a day or 2. Just in time to take the trip home and get jetlagged all over again!

The author of the piece has recently traveled to Las Vagas and had noticed the effects of jet-lag on arrival to the hotel. Not wanting to waste any of that special holiday time, Saltonstall (the author) decided on taking a few hours rest in the hotels comfortable beds and slept for 14 hours missing his journalism seminar completely!
http://www.bedstar.co.uk/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Saltonstall

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Learn the Facts Behind Jet Lag and Melatonin Supplements

By Chance Buckman

As the world gets smaller and smaller through global media, globally published information, and an ever growing travel infrastructure it seems no place is out of our reach. Unfortunately for the internationally inclined traveler the true distances that need to be crossed still leave there mark on the Human Body. Melatonin is commonly known to people as a natural sleep aid, but the fact is that it is one of the best ways to offset the symptoms of Jet Lag.

According to the U.S. National Institute of Health, "Several human trials suggest that melatonin taken by mouth, started on the day of travel (close to the target bedtime at the destination) and continued for several days, reduces the number of days required to establish a normal sleep pattern, diminishes the time it takes to fall asleep ("sleep latency"), improves alertness, and reduces daytime fatigue."

The concept behind why Melatonin would aid the body in adapting to these new sunrises and sunsets is very simple. By inducing a healthy sleep pattern at the times your body should "go to sleep" not when it "wants to go to sleep" you are naturally acclimating yourself to a new set of time tables. The reason why Melatonin is such a great candidate to be used in this fashion is that is a natural over the counter remedy and not a prescription that you need to get from your Doctor and have it filled at the local pharmacy.

Poor sleep can have a dramatic effect on any trip whether it's for business or pleasure. You certainly don't want to be drowsy during a major customer presentation, and you most definitely don't want to tarnish the enjoyment of your well deserved vacations!

As always be safe and the next time you hit the blue skies give this simple tip a try.

This Information is provided by Travelers Defense.

To learn more on how to Travel Healthy click on the link.

*BONUS*- Special Report on the "5 Things The Airlines Don't Want You To Know". This report contains Air Travel Tips to help you enjoy your flight.
http://www.healthyairtravel.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chance_Buckman

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Jet Lag Remedies to Make Your Trip More Enjoyable

By Trevor Johnson

As any frequent flyer will tell you, jet lag is an irritating nuisance to your travel. Who wants to waste their entire trip tired and irritable, trying to cope with a new time zone? If you travel often and suffer from jet lag, read this article to pick up a few jet lag remedies that can ease your symptoms.

One way to try to prevent jet lag from even starting to affect you is to gradually adjust your bedtime and waking time each day for three days to your desired time zone. For example, if you were traveling west, you would go to bed one hour later and wake one hour later. The next night, it would move to two hours, and move up to three hours the following night. Conversely, if you were going east, you would go to sleep and wake one hour earlier each night for the three nights instead of later.

There are also supplements and homeopathic remedies for jet lag. Melatonin supplements increase the body's ability to adjust to a disruption in internal sleeping patterns. Homeopathic remedies also exist and are made from naturally occurring substances, no chemicals. A very popular homeopathic drug that many travelers will swear by is No Jet Lag. It is available in many retail and convenience stores.

Interestingly, there is an herb that is said to induce sleep. It is called Valerian. This herb helps with jet lag by aiding in sleep at your desired time if you are having trouble falling asleep on your own. Valerian is not as effective as a prescription sleep aid, but as it is natural, you can miss the groggy feeling the next morning. It is also not habit forming.

If you want to enjoy your next trip across time zones, try one of these jet lag remedies. Don't spend your whole trip with insomnia, irritability, or disorientation. Look into one of these methods of relieving jet lag symptoms and travel more comfortably!

Find more jet lag remedies with this simple jet lag cure.
http://hypnosisabc.com/2007/09/03/dealing-with-jet-lag/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Trevor_Johnson

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