Surviving jet lag

Whether you travel for fun or for work there’s no escaping the jet lag….or is there? On all the previous trips I’ve taken I’ve always resolved to a few days of feeling pretty rotten on arrival. However this time we were traveling with two kids so I really wanted to minimize the effects of long haul flying, both for us & them. So I did some research, added in some of my own tweaks and came up with a plan that would leave us feeling fresh on arrival and jet-lag free.

No Caffeine, No junk
The first thing we did the morning of the flights was vow to keep it clean for the day, which meant no coffee for breakfast, no indulging in the free alcohol on the flight and no processed sugary snacks. “Why would you do such a thing, this is what gets me through intense days?” I hear you, however, there’s always a come back for pushing our bodies, the crash has to come. We want to avoid the caffeine & sugar highs which ultimately end in a low and the need for another fix. When you’re traveling for a long period of time and across multiple time zones, this constant high to low is extremely draining & tiring on your body, specifically your nervous system & your lymphatic system. We want to try and keep your bodies in a state of homeostasis as this is when we use less energy, rejuvenate, digest food and can keep focused and going longer. Instead of our usual coffee in the morning we had our favorite herbal tea, instead of all the airport junk food, we packed healthy snacks & meals (fruit, nuts, potatoes, salad, keep it simple :). Also, drink all the water, more than you think you need, airports & planes use a lot of recycled air so its easy to get dehydrated.

Set your clock to destination time
Once the plane cabin doors lock, change the time on all your devises to destination time. That way before you’ve even landed your mind & body start to sync with your new local time. Our bodies circadian rhythm are ruled by what scientists hilariously call zeitgebers: “time-givers” things like bright natural light, meal times, exercise and dark, quiet rooms all clue the body to the time of day. The quickest way to switch our body’s clocks is to apply all our usual ‘time givers’ to our new destination time. For example if you usually eat breakfast at 7am, eat a meal at this time, if you usually work out at 12, get up and move about at lunchtime, if you have a nighttime routine, wash face, brush teeth, comfy clothes etc, carryout this routine at destination time whilst on the plane. Those who travel a lot, flight attendants, etc swear by this.

Entertain your brain, don’t numb it
The first thing that comes to mind when I think about long haul flying is watching two or three movies back to back, getting some laptop work done, browsing Instagram basically all the screens, anything to pass the time. However, we all know screens are overstimulating and the bright lights block the production of melatonin needed for rest and sleep. So this trip I decided to try an alternative & didn’t watch a single movie or look at my phone for 24h of travel. Instead I ….. I’m not really sure what I did? I basically did nothing, rested, mediated, got in the zone, peopled watched, played with my kids, tried to be really present and honestly those flights where the quickest & easiest I’ve ever taken. Doing things like reading, chatting to fellow travelers, mediating, playing sudoku etc, all stimulate your brain, allow time to pass quicker and allow you to rest easier when you need it.

Supplements (Vit C, Magnesium, Melatonin, Lions Mane)
The last thing we did was stock up on a few supplements that are known to help keep you healthy whilst flying and restored once you arrive. High doses of Vitamin C are great for keeping your immune system working efficiently and able to flight of all the bugs you’ll be exposed to whilst traveling. Lion’s mane mushroom tea we drank in the morning and mid-trip to help keep the brain fog at bay. Loin’s mane mushrooms also have strong anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and immune-boosting abilities. We also invested in Melatonin supplements, these things are magic! I never sleep on planes but with the supple aid of melatonin, I was able to snooze. Melatonin is the hormone naturally produced by the brain just before heading off to sleep, it lets your body know that it is night-time so you can relax and fall asleep easier. Melatonin alone wont make you fall asleep and you are also fully alert and focused if sleep doesn’t occur, it just helps your body get ready to drop off. We also took these for the first two nights, an hour before bedtime and sure enough we all fell asleep with ease.

They say for every hour of time difference, you get a day of jet lag, we are 7 hours ahead here in Vietnam, so it should have taken us 7 days to be jet-lag free, however with the above precautions by night two all of us were on Vietnam time. Success!

If you have a trip coming, I would love to hear where your traveling too! And do let us know if these tips work for you, find me on Instagram @charlotte_knee https://www.instagram.com/charlotte_knee/

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