Jet lag makes you cranky and it sparks more infections, because your body can not defend itself effectively against the recirculated, germy air in the plane. NASA estimates that a person needs about one day of recovery for every time zone crossed. So going transatlantic and crossing five time zones means you need five days to recover.

Generally speaking, this article is not intended to treat, cure or diagnose your condition.  But we believe you will find this information useful.  What are the main jet lag remedies?  Some of them are pretty simple and obvious.  Thus, people who suffer from jet lag are recommended to go to the spa after traveling by air or have a vigorous body massage treatment.  This jet lag remedy will help you to shrug off disorientation, muscle cramp and fatigue from travel jet lag.  Other jet lag remedies are more exotic, like glowing glasses developed by scientists in Australia.  This special device with glowing blue and green lights is mounted on the frame of a pair of eyeglasses. They say that the glasses should be worn for at least three hours a day for two days prior to travel, and another three hours during the long international flight.  Another jet lag remedy - 'Jet Lag watch' - supposedly helps you to 'psychologically adjust' to the new time zone.  There are quite a few suggestions as to fighting jet lag symptoms, but some of them are impractical and doubtful.  So to understand the problem let us find the key to it.

With more and more people traveling longer and longer distances, medical science is finally starting to focus on a better understanding of what exactly influences the body's clock and how to speed its adjustment to a new time zone.  It appears that the body's clock is influenced by the secretion of an amino-acid derivative hormone, Melatonin. This is made by the pineal gland in response to the lack of light.  Stated simply, when it is dark, the pineal gland makes Melatonin, and the rest of the body gets it. That means it must be time to go to sleep. Understanding the interaction of light and melatonin is the key to a really simple jet lag remedy that help to speed up your body's adjustment.  First of all, during the day, try and expose yourself to as much sun as possible, so as to inhibit Melatonin production that might otherwise occur. Second, in the evening take a supplementary dose of Melatonin before going to bed.  Melatonin may or may not work for you. If you are taking other medicines, it might be prudent to check with your doctor or pharmacist to ensure there are no interactions between Melatonin and the other drugs.  However, research shows that generally Melatonin treatment does work.

Here are some other tips.  Try not to board an airplane when you are overly excited, stressed out or hung over, since these states beg for a bad case of jet lag. Also, travelers who are accustomed to humid climates are hit harder because the dry atmosphere on a plane causes accelerated dehydration which results in headaches, dry skin, dry eyes and scratchy throat, setting you up for more discomfort and infection.  So drink lots of water on any flight - a generous cup of water every hour would be ideal.  Drink as much water as you can.  Besides, it will cause you to go to the bathroom more often, and the forced exercise will reduce your risk of deep vein thrombosis at the same time. Water will stop your blood from thickening up, and that gives double protection against DVT and appears to be another simple jet lag remedy.