How to beat jet lag fast

According to MedicineNet.com, our bodies typically adjust to a new time zone at the rate of one or two time zones per day. For example, if you traveled from the East Coast of the U.S. to a location in western Europe like France or Italy, you traveled across six time zones and displaced your body's internal clock by about six hours. It should take your body between three and five days to adjust, but by preparing in advance you can cut down or even eliminate this adjustment period.

The week before your trip, try going to bed an hour earlier (if you're flying east and losing hours) or an hour later (if you're flying west and gaining hours). If you can, alter the time that you wake up in the morning and your mealtimes as well, and gradually move towards a sleeping pattern that matches up with the time zone of your destination.

The dry air inside an airplane cabin and reduced fluid intake during a long flight makes it easy to become dehydrated on planes, which can exacerbate jet lag symptoms like headaches, fatigue, and irritability. The American Sleep Association recommends drinking plenty of water before, during and after your flight to maintain proper hydration. And while you may think caffeinated beverages will help keep you awake, or that alcoholic beverages will help you fall asleep, it's best to avoid these as both negatively impact quality of sleep.

For extreme displacements or greater than normal difficulty in adjusting to a new time zone, research suggests that medication can be helpful in getting your body's sleep patterns back on track. A 2016 study published in Laryngoscope, for example, affirms that melatonin, an over-the-counter sleep supplement, has a meaningful effect on human sleep in the treatment of jet lag. Another study in the Journal of Lung, Pulmonary & Respiratory Research found that properly administered drug therapy was associated with reduced sleep disturbance in patients with jet lag.

Displacement to the west, when you gain hours, is typically easier to adjust to than coping with hours lost in eastward travel, since you're adding time onto your day in which to implement these adjustments. If you're worried about dealing with jet lag symptoms on an upcoming trip, try out these methods and see if they help you have the best travel experience possible.