The longest flights in the world are just getting longer.
Emirates’ latest route from Dubai to Auckland clocks in at a startling 16.5 hours flying east and 17.5 hours on the way back—it’s the lengthiest flight on the market.
Qantas plans to launch a new 17-hour route between Perth and London in 2018.
But painful as long-haul flights can be, it’s their aftermath—jet lag—that you should really be dreading.
That might soon change, though.
The medical community has taken the next step toward finding a jet-lag cure, thanks to a Salk Institute study published last year in Cell.
According to Dr. Ronald Evans, the lead author of the study, a protein called Rev-ErbA (pronounced ree-verb-AY) may be the key to unlocking a regular, healthy circadian rhythm no matter where (or when) in the world you are.
Rev-erbα and Rev-erbβ coordinately protect the circadian clock and normal metabolic function
The endogenous circadian clock ensures daily rhythms in diverse behavioral and physiological processes, including locomotor activity and sleep/wake cycles, but also food intake patterns.
Circadian rhythms are generated by an internal clock system, which synchronizes these daily variations to the day/night alternance.
In addition, circadian oscillations may be reset by the time of food availability in peripheral metabolic organs.
Circadian rhythms are seen in many metabolic pathways (glucose and lipid metabolism, etc.) and endocrine secretions (insulin, etc.).
As a consequence, misalignment of the internal timing system vs. environmental zeitgebers (light, for instance), as experienced during jetlag or shift work, may result in disruption of physiological cycles of fuel utilization or energy storage.
A large body of evidence from both human and animal studies now points to a relationship between circadian disorders and altered metabolic response, suggesting that circadian and metabolic regulatory networks are tightly connected.
After a review of the current understanding of the molecular circadian core clock, we will discuss the hypothesis that clock genes themselves link the core molecular clock and metabolic regulatory networks.
We propose that the nuclear receptor and core clock component Rev-erb-α behaves as a gatekeeper to timely coordinate the circadian metabolic response.
INTRODUCTION: CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS ARE DAILY FLUCTUATIONS IN BEHAVIORAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESSES
circadian rhythms are daily fluctuations with a period of approximately 1 day (“circa diem”) observed in many physiological processes and behavior.
They are driven by an endogenous clock and are defined as cycles persisting when organisms are isolated from environmental cues (“free-running”), the subjected circadian “night” and “day” being, in this case, predicted by the endogenous oscillator. Obvious circadian rhythms are the sleep and wake alternance, as well as daily variations in body temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate.
In humans, sleep onset is accompanied by a fall in body temperature, while blood pressure and heart rate start to increase in the late dark phase to prepare for the awakening. Along the same line, catabolic functions are turned on during the active awaken phase, whereas anabolic processes usually take place during the rest phase.
These rhythms allow the organism to anticipate, adapt, and optimize its metabolic, hormonal, and locomotor activity to predictable environmental daily changes imposed by the rising and setting of the sun .
Understanding Your Biological Clock
What most frequent travelers feel like at some point or another on every trip.
Turns out, the circadian rhythm, a physiological cycle that roughly matches up with the length of a day, doesn’t just regulate when we feel sleepy—it also regulates when we get hungry and when we feel most active.
“Under normal circumstances,” Evans said, “we sleep when it’s dark and wake up and eat when the sun rises.”
Eating is a key point: Circadian rhythm is about both sleep and metabolism. In other words, you can fight jet lag by consuming (and burning) calories at the right times as well as trying to sleep at proper times.
Over-the-Counter Jet Lag Pills?
A cure for jet lag could be on the way.
Pinpointing that master switch and understanding how it works is the first step to controlling it artificially. By regulating both the amount of Rev-ErbA in the body as well as how much it fluctuates over the course of a day, we might eventually find a cure for jet lag. And it doesn’t end there: The same science may eventually offer relief to people with chronic sleeping issues and other chronic conditions that can develop as a result of a disrupted circadian cycle.
Taking Control of Your Body’s Master Switch
Sunlight and exercise are two underexplored keys to curing jet lag.
A pill that prevents jet lag is still years down the road, but plenty of simple but specific strategies let you take matters into your own hands. Yes, different strokes work for different folks—frequent road warriors tout everything from popping a pill before takeoff, to doing yoga on arrival, to apps—but the more we understand the mechanisms that create jet lag, the better equipped we are to pick and choose our tactics.
Evans’s biggest takeaway is to place equal importance on all three of those pillars of circadian rhythm when resetting your schedule in a new time zone. The sooner you’re moving around, sleeping, and eating at the right times, the sooner you’ll adjust.
The Easiest Solution Everyone Should Follow
The heightened role of diet in fighting jet lag led us to call in nutritionist Kimberly Snyder for extra advice; her clients include such A-listers as Kerry Washington, Channing Tatum, and Ben Stiller, and she’s recently co-written a book with Deepak Chopra that discusses circadian rhythms at length. Her pro tip: Skip the hotel breakfast. And don’t even think about room service.
Instead, said Evans, you should wake up at a normal hour and head off-site for a morning meal: It’ll reset both your activity and feeding cycles while getting you some fresh air and forcing you to wake up at a reasonable time. Counterintuitive as that sounds, it’s far better than easing into your morning under the hotel duvet with a cup of coffee. “We can use food and light exposure to adjust more rapidly by timing when we eat, sleep, wake up, and are exposed to natural light,” she advised. Sunlight, she said, “helps signal and reset our circadian rhythms,” allowing our bodies to adapt more quickly.
Snyder added that what you order for breakfast can also make a difference. To combat the stresses of travel, avoid those fatty, sugary foods we all crave when we’re sleepy and instead eat foods rich in amino acids and antioxidants, such as asparagus, broccoli, avocado, spinach, and garlic. Avocado toast and veggie omelets never looked better.
More Tips for Weary Travelers
Sleeping at the right time is just the start.
Get ahead of the game. Some shift their sleep schedules before a trip; thanks to Evans’s study on Rev-ErbA, we now know that you can shift your meal schedule, too.
Snyder said “we should fast while on the plane, and then eat soon after landing, in order to reset our rhythm.” A
nd if you land with a ravenous appetite at midnight, try to avoid an absurdly late dinner. Instead, “time your first meal to match the nearest meal time of your new time zone,” she said.
Do the opposite of this.
You are what you eat. “Be sure not to eat a protein- or fat-rich dinner the night before travel,” said Snyder. “Not only will that make you feel heavy [on the plane], but it also directs energy into digestion through the night.” This makes it harder to fall asleep in flight—as if it weren’t challenging already. Skipping the plane food doesn’t hurt, either.
You’re also what you drink. “Drink plenty of water and bring natural vitamin C or antioxidant packets to mix into your water on the plane and after your flight,” advised Snyder. She said travelers should also avoid alcohol and caffeine prior to, during, and after travel, since both are dehydrating and can have deleterious effects the nervous system.
If you do drink, go with the frequent travelers’ rule of thumb: two glasses of water for every glass of wine or cup of coffee.
Remember: two glasses of water for every cup of coffee or wine.
Supplements help. You know to take melatonin if you can’t fall asleep in your new time zone. But what about magnesium oxide?
It can keep your digestive health in check (we’re talking about the end process of nutrition here), which contributes a “regular” circadian rhythm.
Be realistic. If you don’t recover from jet lag in the first day or two, don’t beat yourself up. Some travelers are faster adapters than others, and circadian clocks can be adjusted only bit by bit.
