Crossing the Pond with No Jet Lag!

I used to spend the first week in England sleeping in like a teenager and staying up till 2am every night, which was sort of fun, but also a bit annoying not being able to get up in the morning- I do love the morning.  It was always easier for Jonathan, maybe because England is his homeland and that time zone feels more familiar to him. Well, finally, here is the key to avoiding jet lag and it really works. 

I like to listen to Andrew Huberman's podcast. He is an American neuroscientist and an associate professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford University School of Medicine. I gathered the following info from his podcast- his podcast is so interesting and really fun.  

In order to avoid jet lag, you must manipulate your circadian rhythm. First determine your minimum body temperature. 

To do this, you need to average your waking times over five days (the time you wake up and stay awake). To clarify, you are not looking for an actual temperature reading, but rather the time/hour when your body temperature is lowest. For example, let's say you wake up on average at 6:00am. Your minimum body temperature will occur somewhere between 90 minutes and two hours before your average waking time, so about 4:00am. 

In order to change your circadian rhythm, and help you to feel good and function without jet lag, you need to train your body. It's actually not difficult or time consuming. 

First, determine your minimum body temperature time. About 90 minutes to two hours before that particular time (since I wake on average around 6am, for me that would be about 4am) you need to expose yourself to as much overhead light as possible for about four hours AFTER your minimum temperature time. 

This means that for the three days before I travel, I need to get up at 4am and expose myself to bright overhead lights for the following four hours. It also is really helpful if I can exercise- (say my daily walk) and if I can handle it, to eat sometime in the 4 hours after my waking time of 4am.

It is possible to shift your circadian rhythm up to 1-3 hours per day of practicing these patterns of behavior. Thus, you will not experience jet lag if you can do this for 2-3 days before you travel east from Michigan to London/Europe.

In addition, once you are overseas, be sure to go outside as soon as you wake up in order to get the early morning light rays- stay outside for at least 10 minutes- longer is even better.  Do the same at sunset- go outside to expose yourself to the evening light rays. This helps to properly set your circadian rhythm, which is so important to our health. This is something you should do each and every day, no matter where you are. 

Hope this is helpful, it works so well for me. And wherever you are going, I hope you have a wonderful trip!