Beyond melatonin: How doctors and sleep experts really recommend you overcome jet lag
Crush flight fatigue before it hits with these proven techniques
Whether you’re flying across the country or across the globe, that mind-melting, time-warping experience can leave even the most seasoned traveler wrestling with a serious case of jet lag. An honest-to-goodness (albeit temporary) sleeping disorder, jet lag strikes when your body’s internal 24-hour clock (aka your circadian rhythm) gets completely out of sync with your new time zone. The result? You feel like you’ve sprinted directly into a wall of bone-deep fatigue and exhaustion.
“Jet lag usually occurs when you travel across more than two time zones,” says Dr. Joyce Adesina, a sleep medicine specialist with Keck Medicine of USC in Los Angeles. “So you’re either experiencing some sort of insomnia or excessive daytime sleepiness because of this trip.” But that’s not all — other symptoms can include feeling disoriented, changes in appetite, digestive issues or shifts in your menstrual cycle. Headaches and irritability are also common.
Even the idea of jet lag is enough to keep some would-be vacationers home: A 2024 survey discovered that one in five U.S. travelers would actually bow out of a trip if they thought jet lag was going to get the best of them. But there’s no need to panic: There are plenty of expert-backed, scientifically-valid jet lag remedies to help nearly every traveler. Here’s what you need to know — and how to get over jet lag.
What is jet lag?
You know how you often feel tired, headachy and even a little disorientated during or immediately after a long flight? That’s not jet lag; it’s something called travel fatigue, and it strikes thanks to a combo of icks like low humidity, dehydration, low air pressure and sleep loss. Jet lag, on the other hand, occurs in the next few days after your flight. The symptoms are similar and often go hand in hand, so many people refer to the entire post-flight travel experience as jet lag.
Factors that affect jet lag severity
The severity of your jet lag is affected by several factors:
Age: While everyone is susceptible to jet lag, research shows that people over the age of 60 experience circadian changes that can make it more difficult to recover from jet lag.
Number of time zones: Generally, the more time zones you travel across, the longer it’ll take to recover. There’s actually a rough formula: Expect about one day of recovery for each time zone you cross. “If you are going from the West Coast to the East Coast of the United States, then it’ll take about three days to adjust, since there is a three-hour difference. If you are going across seven time zones, it will take a week,” says Bryce Mander, PhD, an associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine.
However, jet lag affects everyone differently. “There are some people who travel one time zone, and that really bothers them. It really is very disruptive to their entire routine, to their sleep, to when they feel good. And there are other people who can travel for four or five hours, and it’s not a big deal for them,” says Jamie Zeitzer, PhD, co-director of the Stanford Center for Sleep and Circadian Sciences.
Destination: Your body’s natural clock actually runs slightly longer than 24 hours, which means it’s easier to stretch your day out than to compress it. That’s why traveling west (where you “gain” time) feels more natural than traveling east (where you “lose” time), according to research.
Sleep before travel: If your sleep is not great in the days leading up your flight, you’re at a higher risk of getting jet lag after traveling.
Top expert-recommended jet lag remedies
First, the bad news: You can’t eliminate jet lag completely. However, that doesn’t mean you’re destined for fatigue-fueled travel. “There are essentially two cues that can help you swing your circadian rhythm and soften the effects of jet lag,” says Dr. Sam Kashani, an assistant clinical professor of sleep medicine at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “One is bright light exposure, and the other is strategically timed melatonin.” The timing of each is key to your jet lag recovery.
Light exposure
Light is your secret weapon for beating jet lag because it directly controls your circadian rhythm. Here’s how it works: Light exposure suppresses melatonin, the hormone your body naturally releases about one to three hours before bedtime. By strategically timing when you get light, you can actually shift your internal clock.
The key is matching your light exposure to your travel direction. The exact timing will