On my first trip to Athens a few years ago, I crashed the second I arrived to my hotel room. It was the middle of the day. Instead of my planned walking tour of the Acropolis, shopping around for handmade leather sandals, and eating some delicious Greek salad, I groggily woke up in the dead of night confused where the time went. With restaurants long closed, I scavenged through the complimentary mini-fridge snacks to satiate my rumbling stomach, feeling guilty about having missed a full day of my trip.<\/p>\n
Those few days there, I couldn\u2019t stop thinking about how much long-haul travel scrambles your body\u2019s natural rhythm. Rather than accept my jet-lagged fate, I made it my mission to find a solution to all the typical symptoms: Whether it\u2019s dehydration and fatigue or irritability and digestive issues, I figured there had to be some way to help my body adjust quicker after flying halfway across the world.<\/p>\n
Vogue\u2019s Favorite Travel Remedies:<\/p>\n
But first: What even is jet lag? Simply put, it\u2019s a mismatch between your internal clock and your destination\u2019s local time. \u201cWhen those cues shift suddenly, your physiology cannot adjust immediately, resulting in fatigue, trouble focusing, digestive changes, appetite swings, and irritability,\u201d Taylor Fazio<\/a>, a New York\u2013based registered dietitian and wellness advisor for The Lanby<\/a> tells Vogue. \u201cMost of your body\u2019s essential processes run on a circadian system, a 24-hour cycle which sets the rhythm for sleep and wake cycles, hormone release, body temperature, appetite, and digestion,\u201d she adds. \u201cLight is the strongest signal for this system, but meal timing, movement, and when you sleep also play a role.\u201d By finding ways to counter these shifts, you can prepare your body ahead of time.<\/p>\n After many trials and tribulations, here\u2019s the expert-backed routine that\u2019s more or less cured my jet lag plus the essentials that ensure I always have more energy, better sleep, and smooth digestion once I land. And after over 50 flight this year so far, I can confirm I\u2019ve gotten it down to a science.<\/p>\n In This Story:<\/p>\n Before The Flight: Get Ahead of Time Zone Changes<\/p>\n I first discovered the Timeshifter<\/a> app a few years ago at a wellness retreat at the Six Senses Ibiza and it\u2019s a godsend for switching time zones. After inputting your flight details plus, sleep, caffeine, and supplement habits, it customizes a plan to help adjust your circadian rhythm to a new time zone\u2014essential for combatting jet lag. The plan typically starts a few days before travel. \u201cThe science in the app is incredible,\u201d says clinical psychologist and sleep medicine doctor Michael J. Breus, PhD<\/a>, who is a regular user. \u201cIt tells you when to get natural light, take a nap, have caffeine, use melatonin, and more in a very particular order to help your adjustment.\u201d<\/p>\n Before The Flight: Hydrate, Reinforce Your Gut, and Reinforce Immunity<\/p>\n \u201cI actually recommend that you start hydrating the day before you fly, making sure that your body is nice and hydrated by the time you get on the plane, and continue to hydrate during your whole flight,\u201d says Erica Casavecchia, MS, a New York\u2013based integrative nutritionist and founder of Casawell Health<\/a>.. \u201cFor extra hydration on a deep cellular level, I would also recommend drinking coconut water or adding electrolytes into your water.\u201d To take this up a notch, I also eat foods with high water content\u2014think hydrating fruits or vegetables like oranges, apples, cucumbers, broccoli, or zucchini\u2014to keep my body hydrated.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t already take a probiotic regularly, incorporating one before traveling to other countries can help. \u201cDoubling up on probiotics or probiotic-rich foods like yogurt or fermented foods can also be extra effective,\u201d says Cassavecchia. \u201cOther countries can have different rules and regulations when it comes to food and water which means it could contain bacteria foreign to our gut microbiome. It\u2019s a common response for new bacteria or viruses to affect our bodies if we ingest them.\u201d Diet aside, a probiotic supplement can come in handy, too. Before a trip to Zambia, my general practitioner recommended doubling my regular dose of probiotics to help reinforce my gut bacteria.<\/p>\n Trace Minerals<\/p>\n Staying hydrated is one of the easiest and most powerful things to help your body. And electrolytes are the first place to start. While I absolutely love Be Love\u2019s refreshing electrolyte drink<\/a> at home, when I travel, I use Trace Mineral\u2019s dissolvable packets for my dose of hydration. \u201cThis powder provides electrolytes and coconut water, plus trace minerals, which helps correct the dehydration of flying and supports adrenal and metabolic processes that can become taxed during travel,\u201d says Fazio. \u201cRestoring fluid and mineral balance is one of the fastest ways to feel more stable, energized, and get things moving in a new environment.\u201d<\/p>\n Seed<\/p>\n \u201cA pre- and probiotic supports the gut barrier and helps maintain a stable microbial environment which is helpful for reducing the constipation, bloating, or loose stools that often come with disrupted schedules, different foods, and travel stress,\u201d explains Fazio. \u201cWhen traveling, stick with a probiotic you already know works for you.\u201d While I try to get my essential probiotics and prebiotics<\/a> through whole foods, Ritual\u2019s capsule offers an easy, multi-strain synbiotic formula for full-spectrum, comprehensive support to fill any nutritional gaps. It helps keep my gut in check with probiotics\u2014the live bacteria that support your microbiome\u2014help maintain balance in your gut, crowd out harmful bacteria, and support immunity, mood, and digestion, as well as prebiotics, which act as fuel and nourishment for the good bacteria.<\/p>\n Bio.me<\/p>\n Daily Prebiotic Fiber Packets<\/p>\n \u201cFiber can help maintain regularity when your meal timing and routine are inconsistent, which is one of the most common issues during travel,\u201d says Fazio. \u201cLook for a well-tolerated soluble fiber that supports microbial diversity, short chain fatty acid production, and gut motility.\u201d Bio.me\u2019s is made with two types of slow-fermenting soluble fiber, partially hydrolyzed guar gum, and resistant potato starch (the latter is being studied<\/a> as one of the best dietary fiber options to support longevity of the gut), to help reinforce and nourish the good bacteria in the gut, support microbial diversity, improve GI discomfort, and maximize nutrient absorption. I love that it has a lower dose (7 grams of soluble fiber to help me reach the recommended daily fiber intake of 25-35 grams), dissolves instantly in any hot or cold beverage, and is incredibly gentle on my system.<\/p>\n Armra<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to get sick on a plane when you\u2019re in close quarters and your defenses are naturally down. \u201cThe cabin air is extremely dry, which weakens the mucosal barrier in the nose and throat,\u201d says Fazio. \u201cThat barrier is one of the first lines of defense against pathogens and when it dries out, it is easier for viruses to get in.\u201d One easy way I\u2019ve supercharged my immune system (and gut) is through nature\u2019s \u201cliquid gold\u201d aka, colostrum<\/a>. It contains a few super-ingredients studied for their ability to potentially help prevent infections<\/a>\u2014oligosaccharides, IgA and IgG antibodies, white blood cells, and a protein called lactoferrin. \u201cColostrum delivers immunoglobulins that support both the gut and respiratory mucosal barrier,\u201d says Fazio. \u201cThis is valuable during travel when exposure risk is higher and the mucosal lining is compromised by dry cabin air.\u201d Since taking it regularly, I\u2019ve noticed I haven\u2019t gotten sick as easily as I have in the past.<\/p>\n On The Plane: Soothe Inflammation, Sleep, and Keep Hydrating<\/p>\n \u201cBringing your own sleep kit is essential,\u201d Breus says. \u201cMine usually includes an eye mask, earplugs, and my favorite meditation or light music on my iPhone, some lip balm, a pair of socks, and a pair of sweatpants.\u201d My personal sleep kit consists of the Drowsy eye mask (it feels like a personal blackout curtain, perfect for blocking out any possible light), VIO2 mouth tape (helps me do more deep breathing which I find instantly to be more calming), ideally noise-cancelling earplugs (comfortable for side-sleeping), and an aromatherapy oil made with immune boosting, antiviral, decongestive essential oils like lavender, pine, peppermint, lemon myrtle, and other herbs.<\/p>\n The First Day: Combat the First-Night Effect<\/p>\n Breus recommends choosing flights where you land earlier in the morning at your destination. \u201cIf I can, I like to go on a walking tour of wherever I am to get some sunlight and vitamin D<\/a>, both of which help retrain my circadian rhythm,\u201d he says. Upon arrival, I try to shower quickly (which wakes me up) and opt for a less intense sight-seeing moment (do not do a museum that you really care about, or you may glaze over, like me, and have to go twice), and jump right back into my routine with probiotics<\/a>, omega-3s, and more to stay consistent and reinforce my inflammation response as well as immunity defense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On my first trip to Athens a few years ago, I crashed the second I arrived to my…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179010,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1246,45411,45412,16494,16495,1247,1244,134,111,139,556,69,1248,1243,16496,5290,1251],"class_list":{"0":"post-179009","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-_commerce","9":"tag-_presets_commerce_vogue","10":"tag-_presets_commerce_vogue_beauty","11":"tag-_sensitivecontent","12":"tag-_seo","13":"tag-_syndication_noshow","14":"tag-beauty","15":"tag-health","16":"tag-new-zealand","17":"tag-newzealand","18":"tag-nutrition","19":"tag-nz","20":"tag-onecolumn","21":"tag-shopping","22":"tag-storytypecategory-guide-comparison","23":"tag-textabovecenterfullbleed","24":"tag-web"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179009"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179009\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}