Rob's thoughts on "How to Beat Jet Lag"
“The worst kind is when you can’t sleep for days. That happened to me once in Scotland. It was that period of the year when the sun doesn’t go down, and we had to get up at 6 am to do radio. When that happens, I smoke a joint.”
- Rob Thomas, Lead Singer, Matchbox Twenty
How to Beat Jet Lag
Two proven methods, and hard-won advice from some of the best-known travelers in the world.
By Darren Reidy
For more celebrity jet lag stories and strategies, click here.
Ten minutes after he woke up, around 5:30 am, Kevin Cusack started to panic. As he wiped the sleep from his eyes, he realized that he had no idea where he was or what he was doing there. With mounting anxiety, he called down to the front desk. “Where am I?” he asked. The voice on the other end answered hesitantly: “Beijing.”
Cusack, a 53-year-old investment adviser from Michigan, wasn’t going crazy - he was suffering from an extreme case of jet lag. “It was scary,” he says. “It was like things were happening, but I wasn’t part of them.”
Not all cases of jet lag involve amnesia, obviously. But whether you’re flying overseas or just across the country, the effects of rapid time-zone shifts can be surprisingly severe and even ruin a vacation. Some people reach for Ambien to ensure they snooze during the flight and wake up fresh at their destination. But besides possible side effects like aggression (it has been linked to air-rage cases), Ambien can have a hangover effect, further delaying the body’s adjustment to the new time zone.
Without an easy remedy at hand, most of us just struggle through. But doctors studying jet lag have discovered the hard science behind why we get it and how to get rid of it. “Every creature has circadian rhythms, or clocks,” says Horacio de la Iglesia, a professor of biology and neuroscience at the University of Washington. “There are clocks throughout the body, each with a different function.” Most of the time, these clocks work without a hitch: Liver cells beat to liver time, heart cells beat to heart time. Each clock also depends on a master clock, called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), located at the base of the brain’s hypothalamus. The SCN regulates the body’s 24-hour, or circadian, cycle and gives the individual cells their cues. This master clock gets its own cues from the sun. At night, the pineal gland releases extra doses of a hormone called melatonin, which induces drowsiness and also drops the body’s core temperature in preparation for sleep.
But long-distance flying renders the master clock inert. Receiving light, the retina sends a contradictory message to the dozing SCN. The SCN panics, thinks it’s lunchtime, and signals the stomach, which releases more acid and begins to growl. At the same time, a signal goes out to the heart, which then pumps faster. In the harsh light of day, the mind is suffering from an overload of melatonin, a condition linked to types of depression. In a last, futile burst of activity, the brain fires cortisol stress bombs, impairing memory: system breakdown. But thanks to two proven methods, it doesn’t have to be so severe.
1. The Natural Way:
Tom Reilly, a longtime consultant for Britain’s Olympic teams, needed a way to help his athletes stave off jet lag without drugs that could bog down their performance or, worse, get them disqualified.
Reilly tried different approaches over a 20-year period and found that what works best is gradually resetting the body clock through carefully planned exposure to light. According to Reilly’s program, if you cross five time zones, the equivalent of flying from New York to London, you need to avoid light until 9 am (most flights from west to east arrive in the morning). If you cross six zones (New York to Rome), avoid light until 10 am, and so on. Wear sunglasses as you leave the plane, then go someplace dark, like your hotel room. After avoiding light, you must actively seek it out. If you cross five time zones, seek light until 3 pm. If you cross six, seek it out until 4 pm. If you cross eight (New York to Dubai), seek it until 6 pm. Each subsequent day, move this routine up by an hour until you’re on the proper schedule for the time zone.
2. A Better Drug:
For years melatonin has been used as a natural supplement to try to induce sleep on airplanes and thus ward off jet lag when you land. But, says Harvard’s Dr. Elizabeth Klerman, “just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s pure, and you can’t be sure of the dosage.” Klerman believes that tasimelteon, a drug that should reach the market in the next two years, can fix both of these problems. “The difference between tasimelteon and melatonin,” she says, “is that tasimelteon has been modified chemically to be more active, especially at the receptors that affect sleep and circadian rhythms. We can make a chemical that has a stronger effect, and we can make it so it stays in the body longer.”
To test the drug, Klerman simulated a five-hour jet lag. Besides improving sleep, the drug was able to advance the participants’ clocks by three hours. That still leaves a little lag. But by the end of the second day, you’ll feel like your old self - and avoid a breakdown like the one Kevin Cusack suffered in Beijing.
Advice from some of the best travelers in the world:
Rock on.
“The most success I’ve had beating jet lag was when I traveled around the world in eight days. I raced the Australian swim team and held contests to find my best look-alike. I simply didn’t have time to get jet lag. Too much partying and too much fun to let it affect me.”
- Richard Branson, President of the Virgin Group
Toke up.
“The worst kind is when you can’t sleep for days. That happened to me once in Scotland. It was that period of the year when the sun doesn’t go down, and we had to get up at 6 am to do radio. When that happens, I smoke a joint.”
- Rob Thomas, Lead Singer, Matchbox Twenty
Power nap.
“I’m a big believer in the power nap. I even took a nap in the backseat of a humvee during a convoy in Iraq - at a time when every third or fourth convoy was getting hit by an IED. We had 20 minutes before it got dicey, so I set an alarm for 15 minutes. That morning, I found out that the convoy behind us was attacked.”
- John King, CNN anchor
Drink, drink, drink.
“In 2001 I flew back from a tournament in Tokyo to play in my first Davis Cup match in North Carolina. I had three stairs in my room, and I woke up in the middle of the night. I ended up falling down them because I was so tired and had no idea what time it was or where I was. I ended up being fine and just needed more rest. Getting on the right schedule and drinking enough are the most important things to do to get rid of jet lag. Staying hydrated is really key. I don’t think people realize that sometimes you can’t sleep because you’re dehydrated. I’ve never taken any sleeping pills; I recover as quickly as my body allows me to.”
- James Blake, the number two American tennis player
Get ahead of time.
“I once arrived early at my gate for a flight to Denver and set my watch ahead to the local time there. When the next flight was called, I boarded (with my watch set ahead, I believed I was getting on my flight), and settled in. I became curious, though, as the pilot kept updating us during the flight on the weather in Dallas. Let’s just say that my ‘detour’ taught me a lesson: Set your watch ahead after you take off.”
- Sanjay Gupta, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent
Go straight to work.
“One of the advantages of my line of work was that whenever I reached a distant destination, I had to run off the plane and get to work immediately. Generally I was going on the air a few hours later, often in the middle of the night from a remote airfield in Iraq, or a backstreet in Kabul, or some hellhole such as Mogadishu. What I quickly learned is that adrenaline is the best drug for jet lag.”
- Tom Brokaw, veteran NBC reporter and anchor
Forget about it.
“I can’t say my past experiments with jet lag remedies have been very scientific. When I’m flying, I usually take an Ambien and listen to one of my own speeches on my iPod. I’m out in seconds. But it doesn’t always work, and sometimes you’ll have some funny moments from being overtired. There was an incident in New Orleans, at Mardi Gras, in 1997. But the video has been destroyed and I gave the beads back.”
- Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Snack, don’t chow.
“When we fly to Nepal, we’re 12 hours off. That’s major jet lag. The key is getting proper rest on the plane. I don’t eat big meals - I simply can’t sit for hours with a full belly. I snack on crackers, cheese, and fruit. Then I usually take a half-dose of a sleeping pill and put on headphones with mellow music from my iPod.”
- Ed Viesturs, mountaineer, has summited Mount Everest seven times
Carry a knife.
“When you’re recovering from jet lag, it’s important you’re not disturbed. Hotel maids have this incredible urge to clean. Opening the door gripping a 10-inch blade makes my point.”
- Jason Mraz, Musician
Don’t buy the hype.
“Jet lag doesn’t exist. It absolutely doesn’t exist. It’s your own mind-set that’s the problem. When I’m in one country, I’m in one country. When I’m in the next, I’m in the next. I switch everything and move on. Being awake and in the present is a belief system. Those who travel often do so for a purpose, and that purpose is greater than fatigue.”
- Dhani Jones, NFL Linebacker and host of Dhani Tackles the Globe
--
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2009 issue of Men’s Journal.
(source)
- Rob Thomas, Lead Singer, Matchbox Twenty
How to Beat Jet Lag
Two proven methods, and hard-won advice from some of the best-known travelers in the world.
By Darren Reidy
For more celebrity jet lag stories and strategies, click here.
Ten minutes after he woke up, around 5:30 am, Kevin Cusack started to panic. As he wiped the sleep from his eyes, he realized that he had no idea where he was or what he was doing there. With mounting anxiety, he called down to the front desk. “Where am I?” he asked. The voice on the other end answered hesitantly: “Beijing.”
Cusack, a 53-year-old investment adviser from Michigan, wasn’t going crazy - he was suffering from an extreme case of jet lag. “It was scary,” he says. “It was like things were happening, but I wasn’t part of them.”
Not all cases of jet lag involve amnesia, obviously. But whether you’re flying overseas or just across the country, the effects of rapid time-zone shifts can be surprisingly severe and even ruin a vacation. Some people reach for Ambien to ensure they snooze during the flight and wake up fresh at their destination. But besides possible side effects like aggression (it has been linked to air-rage cases), Ambien can have a hangover effect, further delaying the body’s adjustment to the new time zone.
Without an easy remedy at hand, most of us just struggle through. But doctors studying jet lag have discovered the hard science behind why we get it and how to get rid of it. “Every creature has circadian rhythms, or clocks,” says Horacio de la Iglesia, a professor of biology and neuroscience at the University of Washington. “There are clocks throughout the body, each with a different function.” Most of the time, these clocks work without a hitch: Liver cells beat to liver time, heart cells beat to heart time. Each clock also depends on a master clock, called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), located at the base of the brain’s hypothalamus. The SCN regulates the body’s 24-hour, or circadian, cycle and gives the individual cells their cues. This master clock gets its own cues from the sun. At night, the pineal gland releases extra doses of a hormone called melatonin, which induces drowsiness and also drops the body’s core temperature in preparation for sleep.
But long-distance flying renders the master clock inert. Receiving light, the retina sends a contradictory message to the dozing SCN. The SCN panics, thinks it’s lunchtime, and signals the stomach, which releases more acid and begins to growl. At the same time, a signal goes out to the heart, which then pumps faster. In the harsh light of day, the mind is suffering from an overload of melatonin, a condition linked to types of depression. In a last, futile burst of activity, the brain fires cortisol stress bombs, impairing memory: system breakdown. But thanks to two proven methods, it doesn’t have to be so severe.
1. The Natural Way:
Tom Reilly, a longtime consultant for Britain’s Olympic teams, needed a way to help his athletes stave off jet lag without drugs that could bog down their performance or, worse, get them disqualified.
Reilly tried different approaches over a 20-year period and found that what works best is gradually resetting the body clock through carefully planned exposure to light. According to Reilly’s program, if you cross five time zones, the equivalent of flying from New York to London, you need to avoid light until 9 am (most flights from west to east arrive in the morning). If you cross six zones (New York to Rome), avoid light until 10 am, and so on. Wear sunglasses as you leave the plane, then go someplace dark, like your hotel room. After avoiding light, you must actively seek it out. If you cross five time zones, seek light until 3 pm. If you cross six, seek it out until 4 pm. If you cross eight (New York to Dubai), seek it until 6 pm. Each subsequent day, move this routine up by an hour until you’re on the proper schedule for the time zone.
2. A Better Drug:
For years melatonin has been used as a natural supplement to try to induce sleep on airplanes and thus ward off jet lag when you land. But, says Harvard’s Dr. Elizabeth Klerman, “just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s pure, and you can’t be sure of the dosage.” Klerman believes that tasimelteon, a drug that should reach the market in the next two years, can fix both of these problems. “The difference between tasimelteon and melatonin,” she says, “is that tasimelteon has been modified chemically to be more active, especially at the receptors that affect sleep and circadian rhythms. We can make a chemical that has a stronger effect, and we can make it so it stays in the body longer.”
To test the drug, Klerman simulated a five-hour jet lag. Besides improving sleep, the drug was able to advance the participants’ clocks by three hours. That still leaves a little lag. But by the end of the second day, you’ll feel like your old self - and avoid a breakdown like the one Kevin Cusack suffered in Beijing.
Advice from some of the best travelers in the world:
Rock on.
“The most success I’ve had beating jet lag was when I traveled around the world in eight days. I raced the Australian swim team and held contests to find my best look-alike. I simply didn’t have time to get jet lag. Too much partying and too much fun to let it affect me.”
- Richard Branson, President of the Virgin Group
Toke up.
“The worst kind is when you can’t sleep for days. That happened to me once in Scotland. It was that period of the year when the sun doesn’t go down, and we had to get up at 6 am to do radio. When that happens, I smoke a joint.”
- Rob Thomas, Lead Singer, Matchbox Twenty
Power nap.
“I’m a big believer in the power nap. I even took a nap in the backseat of a humvee during a convoy in Iraq - at a time when every third or fourth convoy was getting hit by an IED. We had 20 minutes before it got dicey, so I set an alarm for 15 minutes. That morning, I found out that the convoy behind us was attacked.”
- John King, CNN anchor
Drink, drink, drink.
“In 2001 I flew back from a tournament in Tokyo to play in my first Davis Cup match in North Carolina. I had three stairs in my room, and I woke up in the middle of the night. I ended up falling down them because I was so tired and had no idea what time it was or where I was. I ended up being fine and just needed more rest. Getting on the right schedule and drinking enough are the most important things to do to get rid of jet lag. Staying hydrated is really key. I don’t think people realize that sometimes you can’t sleep because you’re dehydrated. I’ve never taken any sleeping pills; I recover as quickly as my body allows me to.”
- James Blake, the number two American tennis player
Get ahead of time.
“I once arrived early at my gate for a flight to Denver and set my watch ahead to the local time there. When the next flight was called, I boarded (with my watch set ahead, I believed I was getting on my flight), and settled in. I became curious, though, as the pilot kept updating us during the flight on the weather in Dallas. Let’s just say that my ‘detour’ taught me a lesson: Set your watch ahead after you take off.”
- Sanjay Gupta, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent
Go straight to work.
“One of the advantages of my line of work was that whenever I reached a distant destination, I had to run off the plane and get to work immediately. Generally I was going on the air a few hours later, often in the middle of the night from a remote airfield in Iraq, or a backstreet in Kabul, or some hellhole such as Mogadishu. What I quickly learned is that adrenaline is the best drug for jet lag.”
- Tom Brokaw, veteran NBC reporter and anchor
Forget about it.
“I can’t say my past experiments with jet lag remedies have been very scientific. When I’m flying, I usually take an Ambien and listen to one of my own speeches on my iPod. I’m out in seconds. But it doesn’t always work, and sometimes you’ll have some funny moments from being overtired. There was an incident in New Orleans, at Mardi Gras, in 1997. But the video has been destroyed and I gave the beads back.”
- Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Snack, don’t chow.
“When we fly to Nepal, we’re 12 hours off. That’s major jet lag. The key is getting proper rest on the plane. I don’t eat big meals - I simply can’t sit for hours with a full belly. I snack on crackers, cheese, and fruit. Then I usually take a half-dose of a sleeping pill and put on headphones with mellow music from my iPod.”
- Ed Viesturs, mountaineer, has summited Mount Everest seven times
Carry a knife.
“When you’re recovering from jet lag, it’s important you’re not disturbed. Hotel maids have this incredible urge to clean. Opening the door gripping a 10-inch blade makes my point.”
- Jason Mraz, Musician
Don’t buy the hype.
“Jet lag doesn’t exist. It absolutely doesn’t exist. It’s your own mind-set that’s the problem. When I’m in one country, I’m in one country. When I’m in the next, I’m in the next. I switch everything and move on. Being awake and in the present is a belief system. Those who travel often do so for a purpose, and that purpose is greater than fatigue.”
- Dhani Jones, NFL Linebacker and host of Dhani Tackles the Globe
--
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2009 issue of Men’s Journal.
(source)