How to Beat Jet Lag & Sleep Deprivation
Let’s face it, flying across time zones is great for our spirit and soul, yet it wreaks havoc on our internal clocks. It typically takes the body about one day per time zone to fully recover from jet lag.
A recent New York – Hong Kong – Singapore – San Francisco – New York series of flights in one week reminded me of the challenges of fighting the effects of jet lag effectively.
We have become a tech-driven society globally, connected 24/7. Unplugging has become virtually impossible. We’re a chronically sleep-deprived society, thanks to the demands of our jobs and personal lives. We’re extending our waking hours, exchanging our sleep for other activities. We try to convince ourselves that “It’s OK, I don’t need to sleep as much.” But when we do this day after day and night after night, we end up with a “sleep debt,” and we’re fatigued.
“Fatigue is a state that results from sleep loss, continuous hours of wakefulness, disruptions of your body clock, and workload that affects you both mentally and physically,” says Dr. Melissa Mallis of M3 Alertness Management. “There are individual differences in how much sleep people need per night and how people respond to sleep loss,” she adds.
It takes about two days to eliminate any sleep debt within a person’s normal schedule. It may seem simple, but we can recover from sleep debt by being regimented in our sleep schedule and sleeping in on our days off. “What happens on a Saturday morning is that you don’t make up the lost sleep hours one-for-one, but you have more deep sleep, and then you end up sleeping a little bit longer. Your brain restructures your sleep cycle. It usually takes about two days – a weekend – to eliminate any sleep debt with a person’s normal schedule; three days if they’re working nights or going across time zones,” says Mallis.
Many long-term studies have been conducted since the late 1940s. One of the pioneers, Dr. E. L. Powers of the University of Texas, Dr. Van R. Potter of the University of Wisconsin, and Kenneth R. Debra of the University of Louisville, collaborated with Charles F. Ehret on chronobiotic (cells have clocks) studies. Other pioneers in the human body’s physiological and performance rhythms of long-distance trips are Drs. Frantz and Erna Halberg and Dr. Erhard Haus of the University of Minnesota, Dr. L. E. Scheving of the University of Arkansas, and Dr. Howard Levine of the New Britain General Hospital in Connecticut. The bestselling book “Overcoming Jet Lag” by Dr. Charles F. Ehret and Lynn Waller Scanlon, published in 1983, was also key in introducing new research and methods on how to beat jet lag.
In this book, I will explore the symptoms of jet lag and sleep deprivation, and several ways to combat them and recover faster to function optimally and feel comfortable, and research the latest academic, medical data, and practical experiences from air travelers and flight crews alike.
In fact, jet lag and sleep deprivation affect so many of us, not just travelers, so this book will be beneficial to pilots and air crews, shift-workers such as doctors, nurses, police, firemen, military, factory workers, technology programmers, digital and news media professionals, transportation workers, hotel, hospitality, and casino workers.
Athletes, anyone taking prescription drugs, women during their menstrual cycle, the elderly, and even gamblers are also affected by sleep deprivation symptoms.
Note: This project and book will be part of our “Art of Travel” series and will be edited, designed, and produced by our AirGuide Destinations (previously Frequent Flyer Magazine) website, news, magazine team, including needed infographics, illustrations, and photos. https://airguide.info/category/magazineonline/
We will be tapping into our airline and aviation partners to access their air crews for their feedback and methods they use to deal with their jet lag symptoms, as well as reaching out to our travel audience.
We will be reaching out to the academic, scientific, and medical community regarding their latest research.
We will also create an app based on the content. The book and its content will be distributed in our global network, reaching business and leisure travelers, aviation and travel professionals.
Lifestyle + Travel & Business Network – Apple News, AirGuide Business, AirGuide Destinations, Bloomberg, BBC News, Business Insider, CNN Business, Conde Nast, Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Town & Country, Dianomi, Forbes, FT Financial Times, Inc, Gale Cengage, LexisNexis, MarketWatch, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Wired, and many more, and through traditional book/ebook trade distribution such as Amazon, Apple books, Google plus, Ingram.
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Contact:
Aram Gesar
Publisher & CEO
Direct Tel: +1646 808 9057
agesar@AirGuideOnline.com