A question I’m often asked is “what is the easiest thing I can do to get over jet lag?” As an advocate of healthy flying and natural remedies for jet lag my explanation invariably comes back to handling the environment. For most fliers doing this means using methods they are comfortable with and methods that suit their lifestyle (more about that later).
The environment in question is the one you experience on the plane and the one created in your body during the flight and even before you board the plane. In short I am referring to the plane and your biochemistry. Your biochemistry is the most important of the two because it processes the planes environment.
Although modern airlines pressurize the cabins of aircraft the atmospheric pressure on planes is more like the atmosphere on a mountain. The air is thinner, just as it would be if you stopped at base camp (at 8000ft) while trying to ascend Mt Everest. The technical term for this atmosphere is a hypobaric environment. It means there is less oxygen.
Our bodies produce energy in the form of heat by burning glucose in the presence of oxygen. This process becomes less efficient when there is less oxygen present. The entire body’s ability to function efficiently is hampered. This inefficiency causes more damage and more acidic toxins. Add alcohol and poor quality airline meals and you have an over acidification of the body and blood stream in an alien environment.
Making the body more alkaline should be the starting point for all healthy approaches to jet lag. Upset sleep rhythms and other symptoms all have their roots here in over acidification and an unbalanced homeostasis. This is where the use of pharmaceuticals to cure jet lag fall down. Chemical compounds in the form of tablets add to the acidity, so any benefit from them is a quick fix which eventually becomes less effective.
So to answer the question I usually say they can use the quick method or the slow and painful method. No guesses to which one they prefer! However as a frequent flier a long-term approach will serve you better and help preserve your health. The slow and painful method is the path of abstinence. Going without food for a 12 hour trip to Singapore would shatter most people’s idea of a good trip regardless of how they felt at the other end.
The quick method would be to ground or earth yourself immediately on arrival at your destination. Take off your socks and shoes and connect with the earth. Do this for about forty-five minutes or half an hour as a minimum. As strange as this sound it really works. The earth emits an inexhaustible source of negative ions which bring the human body back to balance and help neutralize the accumulated positive charge. I know that might not always be possible so your back up plan would be to use some grounding technology like a grounding sheet, or if you are on holiday taking a dip in a natural body of water.
The smart money is on the long-term approach which involves living an alkaline lifestyle. Habitually consuming a diet that alkalizes and nourishes the body leaves you with more reserves to neutralize acids and handle the stresses we all face due to modern-day lifestyles.
For more information on Earthing check out the great book – Earthing,The most important health discovery ever? by Clint Ober, Stephen T. Sinatra M.D and Martin Zucker. Great information on how to start to live an alkaline lifestyle can be found by investigating the work of Dr Robert O. Young at www.phmiracleliving.com
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