by Kirstie McCrum
Anyone who has suffered from jet lag will know the feeling well, but what causes it? And can it be beaten?
Anyone who has been on a long-haul flight around the world will probably have hadexperience of jet lag, one part of travelling that most of us could really do without.
It's the sleepy, unreal grogginess that hits when you feel like you're starved of sleep, but often can't doze off, making travelling to another time zone for a holiday a bit of a trial sometimes.
So what exactly is jet lag?
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Rise and shine: Jet lag affects our body's relation to the environment
It's a condition that's related to our 'body clock' or circadian rhythm, a biological process which is part of the brain.
It means we can react subconsciously to changes in our environment and know when we should sleep in the normal cycle of 24 hours.
What influences the body clock?
Time team: Light and darkness naturally influence our sleeping patterns
Light and darkness naturally influence our sleeping patterns - which is no problem when we're working on our normal schedule.
But the body gets a bit annoyed when we go through speedy and sizeable changes in those environmental influences, which is what happens when we fly through several time zones.
What are the symptoms of jet lag?
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Head down: Jet lag symptoms include feeling sleepy during the day in your new time zone
Jet lag is what we call it when your body is reacting to these changes in your environment, which is basically your body taking time to adjust to its new place and time.
Symptoms include feeling sleepy during the day in your new time zone, but also having a troubled sleep at night. You may also feel less able to concentrate or motivate, exhibit decreased mental and physical performance, perhaps have headaches and irritability, loss of appetite and gastro-intestinal problems such as constipation.
How does jet lag differ from travel fatigue?
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Bus stop: Travelling in a car, bus, train can be uncomfortable and make you tired and irritable
Travelling in a car, bus, train can be uncomfortable and make you tired and irritable, but these are temporary symptoms which clear quickly after you've stopped travelling.
Travel fatigue can happen after any long-haul flight, but you will only suffer from jet lag if you cross several (probably more than three) time zones. You only cross time zones if you travel eastward or westward, so you won’t suffer from jet lag if you fly more or less directly north or south, for example from the UK to Africa or from North to South America.
What affects the severity of jet lag?
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Wakey wakey: The number of time zones you cross has an impact on how you feel
The number of time zones you cross has an impact on how you feel and, sometimes, so does the direction of travel.
Symptoms are commonly worse if travel is eastwards rather than westwards. Symptoms may also depend on whether you are a morning person or a 'night owl'. Age and gender are not thought to hve any effect on the symptoms of jet lag.
How can you beat jet lag?
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Sleep tight: Try to get as much shut-eye as normal to help recover from jet lag
If you're really worried, there are some measures you can take to help beat the severity of your jet lag.
Before you travel, make sure you're caught up on your sleep, and if you can, change your routine - start getting up and going to bed earlier (if you're travelling east) or later (if you're travelling west).
While you're travelling, drink plenty of water, make sure you settle down for sleep and beware sleeping medication which won't help your body adjust.
Once you land, try to sleep as much as you normally would, even if it means napping. Also remember to get exposure to daylight, which will help your body adjust all the better.
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