Research backs this up. A study of healthy adults aged 67 to 87, published in the Journal of Sleep Research, simulated jet lag by shifting participants\u2019 sleep schedules by six hours. Their body clocks were slow to adjust in both directions. Shifting earlier, the equivalent of flying east, caused the most disruption, with less sleep, poorer alertness and slower recovery.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s bad news for Aussies flying home from Europe, a journey that usually means crossing up to 10 time zones eastward.<\/p>\n
How The Jetlag Fix works<\/p>\n
The Jetlag Fix was designed by Flinders University sleep and circadian scientists Professor Sean Cain and Professor Andrew Phillips, and developed with Circadian Health Innovations. It\u2019s available for iPhone and Android.<\/p>\n
The app builds a personal plan for each trip, based on your flights and your usual sleep times. It then tells you when to seek out light, when to avoid it and when to try to sleep, before, during and after your trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cLight is the strongest signal that resets the body clock, and light at the wrong time \u2013 even natural light \u2013 can make jetlag much worse,\u201d says Professor Cain.<\/p>\n
He says jet lag has two causes. Your body clock has to shift to the new time zone, which takes time and needs light at the right moments. And there\u2019s travel fatigue, from poor sleep before, during and after each flight.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur science-backed computational model solves both of these problems simultaneously, providing the first general solution to jetlag for an individual traveller,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Because everyone\u2019s needs differ, each plan is worked out from the traveller\u2019s own sleep timing and preferred amount of sleep, as well as their route and travel dates. Once you\u2019re on the move, the app shows in real time how your body clock is adjusting to the new time zone.<\/p>\n
Why \u201cget some morning sun\u201d could be bad advice<\/p>\n
One of the most common pieces of jet lag advice is to get outside into the morning sunshine when you land. According to Professor Phillips, it\u2019s often a gamble.<\/p>\n
\u201cStandard generic advice about overcoming jetlag \u2013 such as getting some morning sunlight \u2013 is often a coin flip as to whether it helps or hinders jetlag adaptation,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
He gives the example of a typical London to Sydney flight that lands in the morning. \u201cGetting natural light on landing makes jetlag worse,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Professor Phillips says this widespread bad advice is also what has trained AI tools, which is why bespoke advice for each trip is needed.<\/p>\n
Rate your trip before you book<\/p>\n
The app also gives each trip a \u201cJetlag Pain Score\u201d out of 100, showing how hard the journey is likely to be on your body. It then shows how much the personalised plan could lower that score, and how many days sooner you\u2019ll be fully adapted to your destination.<\/p>\n
The scientists say many travellers will be surprised to learn that the same route can produce very different levels of jet lag, depending on the time of day you fly and which connecting flights you take.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis score allows travellers to find better options for popular trips to and from Australia,\u201d says Professor Cain.<\/p>\n
For older travellers planning a big trip, it may be worth checking the score before you book. A different departure time or stopover could mean you spend more of your holiday enjoying it, and less of it lying awake at 3am.<\/p>\n
This article is general in nature. If you have a sleep disorder, take medication that affects sleep, or are considering melatonin or sleeping tablets for travel, speak to your GP before you go.<\/p>\n
Do you struggle with jet lag after a long-haul flight? What\u2019s your best trick for getting back on track? Tell us in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Research backs this up. A study of healthy adults aged 67 to 87, published in the Journal of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":923454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,137,7061,3792,140855,157410],"class_list":["post-923453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health","tag-the-latest-news","tag-travel","tag-travel-essentials","tag-travel-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/923454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}