Jet lag is a real health hazard! What is jet lag and how to deal with it naturally.

In this article we will talk about the concept of “jet lag”, which is hated by many travelers, and how it can be avoided.

Jet lag - adaptation human body to changing time zones - this is not a constant phenomenon, but is accompanied by such unpleasant symptoms, such as insomnia, dehydration, fatigue, headache, irritability, problems with coordination of movements and digestion. This condition may last for several days.

So, if you have a flight, say, from Moscow to New York or Vladivostok, and then further accommodation there, we recommend using the advice of experienced travelers. They will help you avoid the difficulties of acclimatization and you will not waste the first few days of your trip.

1. Main method To combat this phenomenon, switch to the rhythm of the desired zone in advance, spending several days before traveling at the time of your destination. But this only works when the difference does not exceed four hours, because living according to the Japanese schedule in advance simply will not work.

2. Simple, but extremely effective method– do not eat at all during the flight, plus take an effervescent aspirin at the beginning of the flight. Then jet lag can be avoided.

3. Doctors advise drinking a lot in such cases, since water reduces the risk of dehydration and prevents the development of deep thrombosis veins due to many hours of immobility during the flight. We recommend stocking up on water in advance, especially considering the fact that flight attendants save water and try to bring it in small glasses, which will make it quite difficult for you to drink water.

4. It is recommended to avoid caffeine and alcohol, as they lead to dehydration and disrupt the functioning of internal biological clock. If caffeine invigorates, then alcohol makes you drowsy, but both make it even more difficult.

5. Natural sleep will be helped by 3 mg of melatonin (the main hormone of the pineal gland). It is recommended to take it at night when flying west and between 6 and 7 am when flying east.

6. Take care of your sleep - already in the hotel you should wear headphones to protect against noise and special eye masks to protect from light while you sleep. It is best to sleep in a cool room, since for our body a drop in temperature is a signal that the right time for sleep has arrived.

7. Having a protein-rich breakfast the day after your trip will help your brain get everything it needs. normal operation. At the same time, you should arrange your meals according to your usual schedule. It is not recommended to get up at night to eat, as this will only make the problem worse.

By the way, experienced travelers believe that the most best way coping with jet lag is not fighting it at all. If, for example, you fly from Russia to America, then you live in your previous usual rhythm, gradually entering the local time and daily routine.

Jet lag (other names: jet lag syndrome, desynchrony or desynchronosis) is an ailment associated with changing time zones.

It's pretty common problem, accompanying many people on flights.

Nowadays air travel is becoming more and more accessible. Many people go for work or travel using the services of airlines. This significantly reduces time, is very convenient and helps you quickly get from one continent to another. But along with all these positive aspects“reefs” associated with long flights emerge.

One such problem is jet lag, which is not familiar to everyone due to its intricate name.

What is jet lag?

Jet lag is a human condition characterized by unpleasant symptoms that arise as a result of a sudden change in time zones and require the necessary adaptation. Translated from English language it sounds like the phrases "jet" and "get behind."

The primary role in this ailment is played by the change in time zones, and not the flight distance, although a long stay in flight is also unpleasant in its own way and can affect well-being.

The main symptoms of jet lag include:

  • fatigue;
  • digestive problems;
  • irritability;
  • drowsy state;
  • great feeling of depression.

No one wants to experience these unpleasant symptoms immediately after landing. Yes, and only at first glance it may seem that there is nothing serious in this condition.

Passengers often experience blocked ears and are diagnosed with seasickness. But this is most often a consequence of the flight.

Unfortunately, jet lag is sometimes accompanied by very severe headaches, which are especially dangerous for people who suffer from migraines. Nausea, disorientation, dehydration and other quite dangerous signs may appear.

From this it follows that it is impossible to turn a blind eye to such a condition. After all, many people fly for a specific purpose. Some people have to rush to a meeting almost immediately and resolve organizational issues.

Others are due to give a concert in a couple of hours. Even if the flight was carried out on a tourist package in order to relax and walk around unfamiliar city you need to feel satisfied. Therefore, jet lag should be considered as an ailment that requires special attention and treatment.

Fortunately, pharmacists and researchers took care of the person in this case as well.

There are tips, methods, and medications that can be used to normalize a person’s condition after a flight.

Etiology of jet lag

A traveler who has changed several time zones during a flight experiences changes in daylight hours and nights.

There is a divergence between the concept of the internal clock and the time zone at the destination. This leads to disruption of the usual rhythm of life, consisting of eating, sleeping, melatonin production and even body temperature.

After the flight, all the listed points change and do not match. The body is not able to quickly adjust to a new rhythm, which causes desynchrony.

For each person, such phenomena are individual. What one person’s body can cope with in a matter of hours turns into long hours, or even days, of recovery for another. With a shift of an hour or two there is no significant change and there are usually no consequences.

Unpleasant symptoms are caused not by the time spent moving, but by the time difference between destinations. For example, a passenger can fly 10 hours from Europe to one of the countries of South Africa. They are located on the same meridian, so such a flight should not be complicated by jet lag.

A different situation will occur if a person flies from Russia to Spain. The flight duration is 5 hours, which is half as long as the previous case. But the condition of a passenger flying between Russia and Spain may be significantly worse due to the difference in several time zones.

Thanks to long-term research, scientists have found that many people find it relatively easier to fly from east to west than from west to east.

People who, due to their professional activity have to make frequent flights can be observed chronic course jet lag.

Social jetlag

There is such a thing as social jetlag, the occurrence of which is not associated with flights.

The symptoms of this phenomenon are practically no different from ordinary jet lag, but the reasons for its occurrence are different. These include:

  • shift work schedule;
  • processing at home related to homework assignments, upcoming exams, etc.;
  • clock change;
  • long rest, changing the adopted regime.

IN medical practice this is called sleep-wake disorder. Nowadays, many people are susceptible to social jetlag without even realizing it. Accordingly, they do not accept any methods to combat this, which is fraught with serious complications in the future.

It’s worth listening to your body and taking action immediately in case of poor quality sleep. If a person long time he tosses and turns and cannot sleep, he is tormented by nightmares in his sleep, he often wakes up at night and is depressed in the morning - this is an alarm bell from the body and a reason to think about his health.

In such situations, it is very important to establish a sleep-wake routine, try to fall asleep and wake up at the same time. If this method turns out not to be efficient doctors drug treatment is recommended.

How to deal with jet lag?

Medicines are the main and decisive means of combating such ailments. One of the assistants in this case is medicinal product"Melaxen", which regulates circadian rhythms and helps fight clear signs jet lag.

But, before buying and using this drug, you should consult with your doctor, who will consider all contraindications and, if necessary, give important recommendations.

As for the dosage of these anti-jet lag tablets, the issue is decided by the doctor on an individual basis. Usually, taking one tablet for 3-5 days is enough.

Another assistant in the fight against ailments associated with jet lag or social jetlag is the neurohormone “”. It has corrective properties and acts as a mild sleeping pill.

A milder cure for jet lag is herbal teas which are sold in pharmacies. But you should also consult your doctor about this remedy.

  • consumption of coffee and alcoholic drinks shortly before the flight, during and after it. Don't overload your nervous system;
  • It is not advisable to refuse to eat; a hunger strike will not bring anything good. But overeating is strictly contraindicated;
  • The risk of dehydration can be avoided by drinking enough fluids. Moreover, you should give preference to plain water rather than fruit juices. By the way, tomato juice is also not the best option, it is advisable to temporarily abandon it.

It is important to get a good night's sleep before flying. You should not listen to the advice of not sleeping at all in order to fall asleep faster on board. Preliminary rest should be complete. From use sleeping pills should also be abandoned. They thicken the blood, which is extremely undesirable during flight. In addition, such drugs can worsen a person's disorientation.

If you have a transplant

In order to save money on flights, some passengers refuse direct flights and get to their destination in several stages, with transfers. Many airlines are meeting such people by working to create convenient transport hubs and giving them the opportunity to get from one point to several at once.

If you have to take such a flight with transfers, then you shouldn’t sit around waiting for the next flight without benefit for yourself. Following some tips will help you avoid jetlag:

  • In this case, warming up for legs that are tired from hours of flights is very important;
  • You can eat if you want. It’s only better if these are not “fast carbohydrates”;
  • it is advisable to refrain from large quantity glucose, which for some reason you always really want in such situations;
  • food should be light, healthy and quickly digestible.

What to do during the trip?

There are tips for people suffering from jet lag. If you follow them, you can quickly cope with ailments:

  • It is advisable to spend the first day after arrival outside. Thanks to positive influence sunlight The body will be able to quickly adapt to the new rhythm. Staying indoors for a long time only worsens the symptoms of jet lag;
  • Movement has a positive effect on a person. It is worth paying attention to sports. With its help, the body is invigorated and its internal clock is quickly reconfigured;
  • You should not exercise shortly before bed. This may cause even greater disruption of the circadian cycle;
  • it is not advisable to sleep in daytime, this is fraught with an even greater disruption of the rhythm. If you are still tired and want to rest, you can take a nap, but no more than 2 hours. A set alarm clock will help you avoid oversleeping;
  • the nervous system should not suffer from unnecessary noise and light. Earplugs and an eye mask will help with this. Thanks to good sleep it will be possible to cope with the problem of biological rhythm disturbance much faster;
  • A visit to the swimming pool is a great way to cope with jet lag. Thanks to this, the muscles become toned faster, fatigue and tension are relieved;
  • Instead of coffee and alcoholic drinks, it is better to calm the excitable nervous system with herbal teas. Calm night sleep It will happen if you drink chamomile and valerian first. The aroma of lavender also has a positive effect on the nerves;
  • if the planned trip lasts only a couple of days, there is no need to rebuild your body. It is better to eat and stay awake at the time to which a person is accustomed.

As it turns out, jedlag is hard to protect yourself from. For each person, changing time zones occurs individually. But the right approach to resolve this issue and follow all the doctors’ recommendations help to significantly improve the condition and reduce negative symptoms jet lag to a minimum.

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When preparing to go on vacation, we try to plan for everything - we make two copies of documents, distribute money into different pockets, plan a route and buy guidebooks, take a huge suitcase of things with us.

But often, in the wave of anticipation of the trip and the upcoming vivid impressions, we forget about such phenomena as acclimatization, jet lag and jet lag.

“Jet lag” is the travel slang for the time difference when you have to fly from another hemisphere to the east - for example, from Chicago to Moscow with a transfer in London or from Moscow to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. The only thing worse than jet lag for the body is a radical change in climate or pressure changes.

The process of adaptation of the human body to time zone change is not a constant phenomenon, but is accompanied by unpleasant symptoms, including insomnia, dehydration, fatigue, headache, irritability, problems with coordination of movements and digestion. Regular exposure to all these factors can lead to sleep disturbances, obesity and depression.

They say that traveling west across multiple time zones is easier than traveling east. But both such trips can cause serious disorders of the body.

1. Adapt early. The main method of combating jet lag is to switch to the rhythm of the desired belt in advance. Spend a few days before your trip based on the time of your destination, ideally starting the day a few hours earlier than usual 1-2 weeks before your planned trip. This method works only when the difference does not exceed four hours, because living in advance according to the Japanese schedule simply will not work.

2. Drink a lot. To cope with the malaise, you need to drink a lot, as it does not allow deep vein thrombosis to develop due to many hours of immobility during the flight. We recommend stocking up on water in advance, especially considering the fact that flight attendants save water and try to bring it in small glasses, which will make it quite difficult for you to drink water.

3. Eat the night before your flight- studies have shown that rich in carbohydrates Eating the night before your flight will help you fall asleep faster.

4. Avoid coffee and alcohol. Caffeine and alcohol should be avoided as they lead to dehydration and disrupt the internal body clock. If caffeine invigorates, then alcohol makes you drowsy, but both make jet lag even more severe.

5. Get enough sleep. Natural sleep will help restore 3 mg, which protects us from stress and premature aging. But if you can’t get enough sleep or simply don’t have the time and opportunity, then you can artificially replenish the hormone with the help of special drugs. It is recommended to take them at night when flying west and between 6 and 7 am when flying east.

6. Don't hide in the shadows. Upon arrival in a new place, it is best to go out into the sun during the daytime so that the body can produce melatonin and vitamin D.

7. Protect your sleep— already in the hotel you should wear headphones to protect against noise and special eye masks to protect from light while you sleep. It is best to sleep in a cool room, since for our body a drop in temperature is a signal that the right time for sleep has arrived.

8. Switch your diet to a new schedule. It is worth organizing your meals according to your usual schedule, consistent with local time. It is not recommended to get up at night to eat, as this will only make the problem worse. And don’t forget about a hearty breakfast, which should be rich in proteins. It is especially important to have a good breakfast the day after travel - this will help the brain get everything it needs to function normally.

9. Transfer medication to a new schedule. If you need to take medications regularly, you should work with your doctor in advance to create a new schedule for taking them so that it does not disrupt your sleep-wake cycles.

10. Don't fight jet lag. Many experienced travelers believe that the best way to deal with jet lag is to not deal with it at all. If you, for example, fly from Russia to America, then you live in your previous usual rhythm, gradually entering the local time and daily routine. Note that this method is especially good for long-term trips.

Feeling tired and exhausted after a flight? Or maybe headache or nausea? This is jetlag, a syndrome that occurs when human biorhythms do not coincide with daily or geographical ones.

Literal translation: jet (jet) - reactive, lag (leg) - delay, lag, jetlag - desynchrony, desynchronosis, circadian rhythm disorder, jet lag. What is jet lag, how to deal with it? Let's try to figure it out.

Jet lag is common unusual name- jet lag

Causes and symptoms of occurrence

The syndrome can occur when clocks are changed to daylight saving time or when working night and day shifts, but more often it occurs after a long flight. Moreover, the duration is measured not in hours, but in time zones. That is, if you fly for several hours along the meridian (in the same time zone), then jet lag does not occur. In the case of a flight within the same time, but crossing several time zones, the consequences can be bleak.

When changing time zones, the body does not have time to adapt to the new daily rhythm, and this causes a shift in metabolism. For example, a person flew from Europe in the morning and arrived in America at lunchtime (local time). But according to his internal setup, he already needs to go to bed. A discrepancy arises between external and internal needs, and hormonal background, diet and rest.

Not all people suffer from jet lag. Some people don’t notice any changes at all and feel great. And others suffer and return to normal only after a few days. It is believed that eliminating jetlag requires time calculated at the rate of one day per time zone.

Most often, jet lag manifests itself as headaches, digestive problems, fatigue, drowsiness, or insomnia. Some people experience depression. Manifestations can vary in intensity and depend on the number of crossed belts.

Anti-jet lag tablets

There are no special pills that alleviate jet lag. If necessary, for insomnia, take Melatonin. This is a sleep hormone that is produced in our body and controls the circadian rhythm.

For the offensive sleepy state It is enough to take one tablet containing 3 or 5 mg of melatonin. Usually sleep comes within half an hour. The drug Melaxen was created based on melatonin. In addition, there is a commercially available product that alleviates jet lag - NoJetLag. It is based on medicinal plants.

Gadgets and apps

To prevent the manifestations of the syndrome from being too disturbing or completely absent, you can use special gadgets. So, given that the correspondence of human rhythms and external environment It is regulated in the thalamus (a department of the central nervous system), scientists from Australia have come up with a special device. Resembling glasses in appearance, it emits light that affects this area of ​​the brain. Thus, the synchronicity of biorhythms is regulated.

Various applications are very popular. For example, JetLagApp. After downloading the flight dates and times, you will be informed about all the necessary actions: when is the best time to fall asleep, when to eat, and so on.

Another app is Entrain. To get help from him and prevent jet lag from occurring, you must first provide certain information about yourself: time zone, sleep and wakefulness patterns. A few days before your flight, enter the days and hours, as well as the location you're going to, into the app. As a result you will get detailed information, when you should go to bed and at what time to adequately tolerate the change of belts. Additionally, you will be presented with a schedule of your working capacity during the day.

Entrain app for adapting to time zone changes

How to prevent jet lag?

Below are tips from people who have to fly frequently and for long periods of time. By sticking to them, you can avoid jet lag.

  • When you fly to the West, have a good snack on meat products. They won't let you sleep. And if you have a flight towards the East, it is better to sleep at this time. Carbohydrate foods will promote sleep.
  • Alcohol intake significantly provokes the appearance of jet lag. If you don’t want to arrive in a completely broken state and be out of life for several days, don’t drink alcohol.
  • It is important to change your diet a few days before departure, and not the day before. In addition, after arrival it is also important to observe food restrictions. Eating too much food will put additional stress on the body, which already has a hard time. The advantage of restriction will be the gradual absorption of other foods by the intestines. This will make it possible to avoid digestive problems.
  • During the flight, try to adjust to the time of the place you are flying to. For example, if it’s morning there, then tune in to being awake and having breakfast, and under no circumstances sleeping. If it is night, try to fall asleep or take a nap, put on a blindfold. By the way, at the very beginning of the flight, change your watch: set the time that is now at your destination. This technique psychologically prepares for proper synchronization.

To quickly get used to the new time zone, you need to change the clock hands at the beginning of the flight

  • There are suggestions that jet lag is caused by stagnation in blood vessels. Prolonged restriction of movement deprives the body's tissues of oxygen and nutrition. Therefore, try to move around the cabin more often and make simple movements.
  • You can try to completely avoid jet lag. To do this, a few days before departure, you need to shift your sleep and wake-up times an hour a day closer to the time you will be in. Thus, once you find yourself in a different time zone, you will be ready for changes.

Of course, each person will have their own way of dealing with jet lag. Use the advice of experienced “flyers” and let your vacation or work be carried out with maximum efficiency.