How to avoid jet lag?
I know lots of people love travelling, but travelling to a new time zone can result in jet lag. Personally I did so much business travelling in my late 20’s and then in my 30’s I travelled for pleasure, that more recently I have been happy to stay put in England and simply pop over to Europe when I wanted some sun. This year I am planing to go on a training course in Canada so when I saw some recent research on avoiding jet lag it caught my eye.
Jet lag occurs when your circadian rhythms are slow to adjust to the new time zone and remain on their original biological schedule for several days. This results in your body telling you it is time to sleep, when it’s actually the middle of the afternoon, or it makes you want to stay awake when it is late at night.
Here are some tips for minimizing the occurrence of jet lag:
- Select a flight that allows early evening arrival and stay up until 10 p.m. local time. (If you must sleep during the day, take a short nap in the early afternoon, but no longer than two hours. Set an alarm to be sure not to over sleep.)
- Avoid alcohol or caffeine at least three to four hours before bedtime. Both act as “stimulants” and prevent sleep.
- Try to get outside in the sunlight whenever possible. Daylight is a powerful stimulant for regulating the biological clock. (Staying indoors worsens jet lag.)
- On the flight set the time on your watch to the local time of your destination so you can mentally start adjusting to the new time zone.
- When you arrive eat with the locals.
Traditionally people have just slept off jet lag. Recently university researchers in Surrey tested their theory that instead of sleeping, you should start eating meals at the same time as the locals. They tested the theory on 60 long haul cabin crew workers, who either ate meals regularly on their days off in the destination city or followed no meal plan and ate when they felt like it. Although both groups suffered some jet lag, the symptoms were less severe among those who followed a regular meal plan based on the local time. They were also more alert.
Reference
Cristina Ruscitto, Jane Ogden. The impact of an implementation intention to improve meal times and reduce jet lag in long-haul cabin crew. Psychology & Health, 2016; 1 DOI: 10.1080/08870446.2016.1240174
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- Take a zinc supplement: Take zinc lozenges or syrup within 24 hours of the start of a cold, as this may reduce the duration of the cold. The important thing is to take the zinc within 24 hours.
- Rest. You body needs rest to heal.
- Soothe a sore throat. I personally like to gargle with sea salt water - 1/2 tea spoon of sea salt dissolved in a large glass of room temperature water. Note: This is in appropriate for children as they may not be able to gargle properly.
- Sip warm liquids. This could be chicken soup, team or warm apple juice. Personally I like a wedge of lemon in hot water with a little chunk of ginger sweetened with manuka honey.
- Vitamin C. The scientific jutry is still out on Vitamin C. Personally I dose up with 1000mg of vitamin C throughout my cold. Taking vitamin C before the onset of cold symptoms may shorten the duration of the symptoms. Vitamin C may provide benefit for people at high risk of colds due the the frequency of exposure.
- Echineacea. Study results on whether echinacea prevents or shortens colds are mixed. Some studies show no benefit. Others show some reduction in the severity and duration of cold symptoms when taken in the early stages of a cold. Different types of echinacea used in different studies may have contributed to the differing results.Echinacea seems to be most effective if you take it when you notice cold symptoms and continue it for seven to 10 days. It appears to be safe for healthy adults, but it can interact with many drugs. Check with your doctor before taking echinacea or any other supplement.
Holistic holiday first aid kit – part 2
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Massage Therapy and Neck Pain
One of the most common conditions we treat is neck pain which can range from a simple stiff neck, to inability to turn your head to either the right or left.
So in this blog post I wanted to discuss the recent scientific research regarding massage therapy for neck pain in people with neck arthritis.
Background
- 1 in 5 people who visit a massage therapist do so because of neck pain
- 28% of people with neck pain due to neck arthritis are likely to book a massage
Until the most recent research the scientific literature on the effects of massage therapy on neck arthritis pain was mixed. In this study an attempt was made to enhance the effects of weekly massage therapy by having the participants massage themselves daily.
Methods
Forth eight participants from a medical school, suffering from neck arthritis pain, were randomly split into two groups, one that received massage treatments and a wait list control group. The first group received a course of four 30 minutes weekly moderate pressure massages and supplemented this with 15 minute daily self-massage. The control group started the same course of treatments after four weeks without massages.
The effectiveness of the treatments were measured through self-reports and range of motion assessments, completed after massage treatments on the first and last days of the monthly study period.Results
The group that received the monthly course of weekly massage treatments, showed significant reductions in pain and improvements in range of motion. These ROM changes occurred specifically for nodding your head (flexion) and right and left lateral flexion motions. Between the first and last day of the course of treatments showed on average a 50% decrease in pain during flexion. Conversely the control group reported increases in pain and reductions in range of movement while waiting for massage treatments.
The study Field T, Diego M, Gonzalez G and Funk C G (2014) Neck arthritis pain is reduced and range of motion is increased by massage therapy, Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 20(4): 219 - 223 supports my subjective experience that massage therapy helps reduced neck pain and increase clients range of movement when it has been compromised.
