Researchers land upon a quick fix for jet lag

Jet lag can be absolutely brutal. Along with the general disorientation that comes from a lack of sleep and confused circadian rhythms, you might find yourself feeling considerably more anxious than normal, unable to eat very much, and generally feeling unpleasant.

Other symptoms include difficulty staying awake during the day, struggling to concentrate, indigestion, nausea, and constipation.

Sometimes you might get away with it and adapt quickly, but other times you might find yourself going a couple of days with very little sleep and feeling very much like that’s the case.

Jet lag can be a major problem when you head off on holiday (Witthaya Prasongsin/Getty Images)

Theories abound about how travelling west from the UK is less likely to trigger jet lag than travelling east, but the opposite has been true for this writer; a rough couple of days in San Francisco on one trip compared with another where I was sleeping easily from day one in Tokyo.

Regardless of how you personally fare with it, there’s always an element of unpredictability. Even seasoned sailors can get seasick, after all!

So, how can you best combat jet lag if you land in another time zone and find yourself struggling with it?

Rather than just ride it out or attempt to trick your body with particular sleep timings, it turns out there might be a simpler way to fend it off.

Research suggests that a single large meal first thing in the morning can help to reset your circadian rhythm – the system in your body that essentially manages when you’re awake and when you’re tired enough to sleep.

Apparently this can quickly remedy the issue, although the researchers said that older people may not get the full effect.

Getting plenty of sunlight is another good tip, as the brain responds to blue light with heightened wakefulness. An absence of blue light accelerates melatonin production to help you fall asleep; essentially, it’s the body’s way of knowing to sleep at night and to be awake during the day.

The 2023-published research came out of the Northwestern University and the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, with author Yitong Huang saying: "Having a larger meal in the early morning of the new time zone can help overcome jet lag.

A large meal could save the day, but do try to eat more vegetables with it than this man ( Peter Cade/Getty Images)

"Constantly shifting meal schedules or having a meal at night is discouraged, as it can lead to misalignment between internal clocks."

He continued: "Conflicting signals, such as warm weather during a short period of light or nighttime eating – eating when your brain is about to rest – can confuse internal clocks and cause desynchrony."

In other words, to get over the jet lag you need to get back in sync with the daylight cycle, and eating a large meal seems to help with the reset.