How to Get That Sleep Rhythm down Pat When Flying Long Distances

Jetting off to a vacation is exciting. Being jet-lagged when you get there isn’t.

Crossing multiple time zones upsets your circadian rhythm, the internal clock named for the Latin circa (around) and diem (day) that regulates your sleep-wake cycle. For example, suppose you leave New York on a 6 p.m. flight to London. Seven hours and 27 minutes later, when you arrive at Heathrow International Airport(LHR), it’s already early morning the next day for the Brits, but your American body says it’s 1 a.m. and you’re ready for bed.

The attempt to get your body in line with your destination can take some time and produce a number of unpleasant but temporary problems ranging from fatigue to mood swings. Happily, after interviewing sleep specialists, the ever-resourceful New York Times has suggested ways both to prepare for the shift and to ameliorate the effects once you land.

First: Plan ahead and practice what you plan. If you are traveling on business, you might try to leave a few days early to give yourself a chance to acclimate so you’re sharp as a tack at that first meeting. Or, one day at a time before you leave, shift your clock from where you are to where you’ll be. In other words, when heading east to London which is five hours ahead of New York, get into bed an hour earlier for five nights before flying. (If you’re flying west, say from New York to California where the time is 3 hours behind, go to sleep an hour later than normal.) At the same time, move your watch and all the clocks ahead so you remember what time you’re faking, and stick to the schedule so your body knows you mean it. On the plane, if possible, pass up food to be ready for breakfast when you land. And stay awake. The Mayo Clinic says resist the urge to nod off, perhaps by drinking repeated cups of water to stave of the dehydrating effects of dry cabin air.

Second: Sunlight is a major circadian regulator, so when you land in the London morning, Alon Avidan, director of the University of California, Los Angeles Sleep Disorders Center told Times you should avoid direct sunlight until early afternoon lest your confused circadian clock “mistake early-morning light for evening sunset.” And no matter how tempting that bed in your hotel room, have a cup of coffee and ignore the urge to sleep midday which, Avidan says, exacerbates the difference between internal and external time.

As for food, if possible, time your mealtimes to the new location says, Sairam Parthasarathy, director of the Center for Sleep, Circadian and Neuroscience Research at the University of Arizona Health Sciences.

Finally, the following morning, move. Emily Schmitt, who runs the Circadian Rhythm and Exercise Research Lab at the University of Wyoming told Times just 20 minutes of exercise stimulates bodily functions such as digestion. No need for a major workout, she says, even something as simple as “wandering down to the local coffee shop” will do.

Then relax and enjoy your trip while getting ready to reverse things heading home.