How to cure jet lag: Sunlight, short naps and no sleep debt

“Jet lag is the worst thing in my life,” DJ David Guetta once told The National upon postponing an interview when he arrived to play a show on Yas Island. “Everything is good in my life except this.”

Described as the effect of travelling across different time zones that causes a delay between the new time and the body’s own internal circadian clock, experts say jet lag not only disrupts sleeping and waking patterns, but can also upset appetite, digestion, body temperature, blood pressure and productivity.

If it can affect regular globe-trotters like Guetta, holiday-makers flying from or returning to the UAE may need to work harder to mitigate the effects of jet lag. Here are some tips and tricks from experts, airlines, fellow travellers and parents.

How do pilots and cabin crew manage jet lag?

There are directives on the Emirates and Etihad Airways websites, with the latter's guest services department offering the following advice to trainee cabin crew: “Plan to rest before your flight. Beginning a trip with sleep debt seems to increase the duration and severity of the jet lag. Stick to your home-base timings, which include meals, exercise and sleep if your stay is less than three days. If your stay is longer than three days, then adjust your timings to the local destination.”

The guide also suggests taking a brief nap once after arriving at a destination, and then being active until night-time, “so you will be able to fall asleep again and wake up fresh in the morning”.

Likewise the “after you arrive” precautions listed on the Emirates website advise travellers to maximise their light exposure if arriving in the daytime and “take a walk in the sunshine on the morning after your arrival if you have travelled eastward, as sunlight can help reset your body clock more quickly; and try to sleep at the new times and only have short naps during the day if you are very tired”.

Connection between food and flying

Experts say dehydration is one of the primary causes of poor quality sleep and agree that limiting caffeinated beverages before and during a flight, and avoiding alcoholic ones altogether, can ease jet lag. They advise drinking plenty of water instead to keep hydrated.

Conversely, Russell Foster of Oxford University, who co-authored a book on circadian rhythms, says coffee can offset effects when touching down at a new destination. “I’m not suggesting it’s an ideal thing to do, but caffeine will help override the sleepiness and cognitive impairment you might be feeling as a result of jet lag,” Foster told AP this month.

Eating at the same time as the locals is another effective strategy, with Emirates suggesting on its website that travellers “eat at the 'new' meal times. Some foods may promote sleep better, such as carbohydrates and milk, while high protein foods will improve alertness, but avoid caffeine after 4pm.”

The Etihad guide adds: “Eat light meals, and never go to bed on an empty or too-full stomach.”

Jet lag and children

The National's Melissa Gronlund travelled on two red-eye flights in a row, with her toddlers in tow, and offers the following advice: “Set your watch to the destination’s time zone as early as possible, and resolutely follow the new time zone – waking your kids at 7am, for example, rather than saying, well, it may be 7am here, but it’s 4am in Surrey. Surrey doesn’t matter any more.

“Then [go] outside. Just exposing your body to sunlight helps make it understand that day is day. If your kids are still napping, don’t let them sleep in their beds. The goal here is to make their nap as uncomfortable as possible so it doesn’t stretch into any night sleep. Put them in the stroller; leave them unblanketed on the sofa; let them stay in the car seat, if it’s safe.

“If they do wake up in the middle of the night, leave the lights dimmed, don't immediately make them breakfast, and do quiet things like reading books and colouring. Don't let them watch television – though, by gosh, if you've had a string of three nights of 2am starts, turn Paw Patrol on.”