8 Outrageous Jet lag Myths!

November 13,2018

By Uplift Contributor & Global Traveler: Kaitlyn Mentlick

Fighting jet lag is all about tricking your sleep schedule, right? Wrong! Why do we believe so many myths about jet lag? With millions of travellers swearing by their own cures for jet lag, how can we debunk what’s true and what’s myth?

 

Let’s take a deeper look into the most common myths:

 

1. Drinking alcohol while flying will help you relax, and reduce your jet lag once you land.

On the contrary, drinking excessively on your flight will cause dehydration, leading to more severe jet lag than not drinking alcohol at all. Drinking too much also ensures that your sleep in-flight won’t be quality.

 

2. Putting iodine drops in your water will help.

Iodine is a good to control the base metabolic rate of the body. However since jet covers so many other aspects of your physiology, there is no proof that adding iodine to your water will do anything for you to eliminate or even reduce jet lag.

 

3. Jet Lag happens when you don’t get enough sleep

No matter how much or how little you sleep before or during your flight, your circadian rhythm will still be off balance. Flying through different time zones confuses your body’s internal clock, which is largely impacted by light. Sleep disruption is just one of many symptoms of desynchronosis (jet lag).

 

4. Overnight flights will prevent jet lag

Although overnight flights may seem ideal it’s important to remember there are tons of disruptions during that flight such as turbulence, crying babies, and that chatty couple behind you. Not to mention battling with the time zone that you’re landing in. It’s actually easier for your body to adjust to a daytime flight. Upon landing, you can eat dinner and then go to sleep, instead of forcing yourself to stay up for an entire day without sleep.

 

5. Try to sleep as much as possible on the plane

Most people try not to sleep before a flight, in hopes that they will sleep during their flight. However airplanes again usually don’t make for a good night's sleep. Being well rested before getting on the flight will actually help to minimize the effects you feel from jet lag.

 

 

6. Avoid napping once landing in another time zone

Ok, this one may be partially true: you should avoid long naps when settling into a new time zone. But if you’re really sleepy, it’s ok to take a short early-afternoon nap, which could be as little as 15 minutes. However the nap shouldn’t exceed the natural sleep cycle of 90 minutes.

 

7. Take a sleeping pill on the plane

A sleeping pill may help you fall asleep, but as we’ve just discussed, the amount of sleep you get on the plane doesn’t have direct correlation to preventing jet lag!

 

 

8. Stop eating halfway through the day before your flight, and don’t eat until your breakfast in your final destination

The thought process behind this is that it will trick your body into sleeping, since you haven’t eaten for an extended period of time. Avoiding eating will just make you hungry, and for most people keep them awake and uncomfortable during their flight! Both food and alcohol should be taken in moderation while flying.

 

Jet lag is a bigger problem now than it has ever been especially with the addition of longer haul transcontinental flights by top carriers. There is of course a simple natural solution via the Uplift App that combines 30+ years of acupressure and neurology. Now that you know the truth about these common myths and a new revolutionary solution, you’re ready to fly without misconceptions about jet lag holding you back!