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British Airways Top ten tips - quick reference
1 - Our body is 'programmed' to be more sleepy between 3-5am and
3-5pm, and more alert between 8-10am and 8-10pm. When travelling,
schedule meetings to fall into 'alert' windows, and naps and socialising
into the 'sleepy' windows.
2 - Crossing time zones probably means that you will be trying
to sleep at times when your internal body clock says you should
be awake. Improve alertness by supplementing reduced sleep with
a short nap (45 minutes), or a longer nap (two hours). Remember
that any sleep is better than no sleep.
3 - Remember if travelling for only a few days, it may be most
beneficial to keep your internal body clock on 'home time'.
4 - Scientific research has shown that complicated diets, which
involve patterns of eating carbohydrates and proteins, and feasting
and fasting, don't work. Rather, you might want to keep your stomach
on 'home time' while on a short trip.
5 - While in flight drink plenty of water. Be cautious about alcohol
use. Consumed within 3-4 hours of bedtime, alcohol can disrupt sleep
quality and quantity.
6 - Rather than drink coffee throughout the day, plan exactly when
you need a lift and maximise the effectiveness of the caffeine you
use.
7 - Light has a powerful effect on your circadian clock. Used correctly,
it can help your adjustment to a new time zone. Used incorrectly,
it can make things worse. The general recommendation to expose yourself
to light as soon as you arrive may not be helpful at all.
8 - Always talk to your doctor before using non-prescription or
prescription medications, and make sure you know the side effects
of any medication.
9 - Contrary to popular belief, exercise near bedtime will not
wear you out. What it will do is wake you up, making it harder to
get to sleep.
10 - Sound machines playing relaxing music for background noise
can aid sleep, but can be expensive. You can get the same effect
from your personal stereo, by turning on a fan or tuning into static
on a radio or stereo.
Advice
A separate advice pack has been written for the airline’s own globe-trotting
staff, including flight and cabin crew, dealing specifically with
how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
The whole programme has been developed by British Airways Doctor,
David Flower and Californian company, Alertness Solutions headed
by former NASA scientist, Dr Mark Rosekind.
Dr Rosekind, said: "One in five people think sleep’s a waste of
time. In fact it’s a vital physical need. Judgement and decision
making powers decline by half when sleep is lacking. It should be
considered like food, drink and air - vital for survival".
Working with air crew , he has carried out scientific studies looking
at flying and its impact on bodily functions particularly the time
keeper in the brain called the circadian clock.
Dr David Flower, said " All sorts of books, potions and pills have
promised to cure jet lag but what we are offering is a sensible
range of advice based on solid research. This is a service no other
airline provides".
Advice for a trip to Miami, Specialist Occupational Physician British
Airways Dr David Flower suggests. (also applies to Orlando)
Try and adapt to Miami time as soon as possible and it will not
be feasible to stay on UK time for 4 days.
Once you arrive in Miami, avoid unnecessary daylight exposure until
approx 16H00 as this will have the tendency to keep your body clock
on GMT. After that time, weather permitting, actively seek daylight
and so I suggest a walk for an hour or so. This will help to 'delay'
your body clock to local time. Beyond the first day it becomes very
much more difficult to be specific about light exposure. However,
in general on Day 2, adopt the same principle of avoiding unnecessary
early morning light and actively seek afternoon light.
· Eat a light meal, avoid caffeine containing beverages.
· Go to bed approx 21H00 - 22H00 local time (ie a late night for
you) having arranged and ordered a room service breakfast for approximately
04H30 - 05H00 as this is the time your body will wake you up as
I am sure you will know if you have done trips like this before.
· On waking - eat your breakfast (no caffeine) and then work/read/watch
television for a couple of hours. I suggest you then try to go back
to bed about 07H00 - 07H30 for an hour or two (schedule permitting)
and get the equivalent of a post lunch nap. The basis for this is
that your body clock thinks it is lunchtime and we have a natural
propensity to nap after lunch - so it is worth using it. Set your
alarm, then on waking, drink some caffeine and off to play.
· If you begin to feel sleepy at any stage whilst out, drink some
caffeine. It will take about 20 - 30 minutes to become effective
but is a very useful strategy. Even better if you can have a short
nap - any sleep is better than none, even just a few minutes.
· Eat during the day for comfort. Lunch will be the equivalent
of dinner in UK.
· Avoid caffeine within 4 hours of bedtime and aim to go to bed
about 22H00 - 22H30.
· You should hopefully sleep through till about 06H00 the following
morning but you will still be up early. Eat breakfast and go to
work. Use caffeine as an alerting strategy if necessary.
· By the time you have been in Miami for two local nights, you
should be closer to Miami time than GMT so go to bed at your normal
bedtime.
From this point on do everything on local time. However, you still
have 2 stategies up your sleeve if you need them:
Napping if you feel sleepy. Any sleep is better than none and if
you feel sleepy, trust yourself, you are! Limit the nap to 40 minutes
and you shouldn't wake up groggy. Avoid longer naps for two reasons.
One is that you will go into deeper sleep the longer you are asleep.
As you know when you wake from deep sleep you often feel disorientated
- this is known as sleep inertia. Also, a long nap will make it
more difficult for you to have a good period of consolidated sleep
at night.
Caffeine is a very effective stimulant used strategically. It takes
approximately 30 minutes to work and lasts 4 hours. Therefore avoid
it before bed time. Coffee generally has more caffeine than tea
and drip/cafetiere coffee more than other brews.
Exercise - In flight, follow the Well Being advice in High Life.
After arrival, gentle exercise is thought to enhance NREM (non dreaming)
sleep and so you may find this helpful. However, avoid a vigorous
work out close to sleep as this will delay sleep onset.
Diet - There are no foodstuffs which improve or worsen jet lag
and so as indicated above - eat for comfort.
Alcohol - Avoid more than 1 or 2 units of alcohol as this will
otherwise reduce the amount of REM (dreaming) sleep and also fragment
the sleep during the night. Both together have the effect of reducing
the restorative value of the sleep period.
On return to the UK the same sort of principles apply. On arrival
after the overnight flight, even if you have had some sleep on the
aircraft, go to bed, but set your alarm for 2-3 hours. Then get
up and have a 'normal' day but aim to go to bed early, say 22H00.
www.britishairways.com/health
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