Whether traveling for pleasure or business, you must be as surprised there’s a direct relationship between jet lag and weight gain. Jet lag occurs when crossing more than one time zone during a short period.
You may experience the common jet lag side effects of fatigue, insomnia, irritability, and gastrointestinal symptoms. These symptoms occur within a day or two of traveling and are more intense depending on how far you travel.
Jet lag and weight gain go hand in hand due to the disruption of your body’s circadian rhythm due to changing time zones. Spending more than four hours on a plane can contribute to fluid imbalance which can trigger a weight increase. When you understand jet lag’s impact on obesity, you can get insights into maintaining a healthy lifestyle while traveling.
Exploring the Jet Lag Side Effects on Obesity
Change in Circadian Rhythm
Jet lag develops into obesity by impacting your metabolism, appetite, and sleep patterns. It influences your body’s circadian rhythm, which can alter the hormones that regulate your hunger and satiety levels. Such imbalances lead to disrupted eating patterns that could lead to obesity.
Poor Dietary Choices from Jet Lag
Jet lag is associated with poor dietary choices and late meal times in individuals with obesity-related illnesses. Disrupting the gut’s bacteria leads to cravings for junk food. Individuals with social jet lag have a higher calorie intake and consume foods with higher fat and cholesterol levels.
Jet lag makes individuals have later meal times, which can impact their weight and metabolic control. Late food intake leads to an increase in the daily intake. Effectively, it decreases your satiety, leading to weight gain.
What Causes Jet Lag and How to Avoid It
Cause of Jet Lag
Jet lag is amongst the many challenges common travelers face. It’s no secret that individuals have sought remedies to mitigate its side effects. So, what causes jet lag and how to avoid it? Jet lag develops from time zone changes to disrupt the body’s circadian rhythm. The body struggles to adapt to the time zone you have traveled to.
The direction of travel, duration of the flight, and time zones you cross can cause jet lag. The longer you sit on the plane, the more you’re exposed to decreased air pressure and inadequate oxygen. The low humidity and warm temperatures also accelerate dehydration. It’s why more often you experience bloating after travels due to dehydration.
Ways to Avoid Jet Lag
It often takes a day per time zone covered to recover from jet lag. Better yet, you can mitigate against possible side effects and avoid it by:
- Ensuring you get adequate sleep: Enough sleep ensures you can maintain a healthy weight. A good sleep schedule as you travel between different time zones can help you minimize susceptibility to obesity.
- You can also adjust your meal schedule to align with the local time zone to regulate metabolism and ensure you can regulate your appetite.
- Hydration is essential as it improves your health levels before, during, and after the flight. Dehydration can trigger horrible symptoms of jet lag.
- Avoid alcohol and caffeine to ensure you are not dehydrated or lack sleep.
- Get exposure to the sun to ensure your body adjusts to the lighting of day and night.
- Get on the sleep-wake schedule when you reach your destination.
- Avoid new foods to ease the digestion process.
Does jet lag cause high blood pressure?
You can’t help but wonder and ask yourself: Does Jet Lag Cause High Blood Pressure? One common side effect is sleep deprivation. Lack of sleep is associated with high blood pressure which worsens the fewer hours you sleep.
Our bodies control stress hormones with sufficient sleep. High blood pressure also increases the risk of heart complications. It’s advisable to consult your healthcare provider before taking a long flight if you already have hypertension. They’ll advise on ways to handle possible jet lag and manage your blood pressure.
Try to avoid the jet lag
Jet lag and weight gain can be a surprise to some travelers. The ripple effects of jet lag side effects directly impact gaining weight. Your circadian rhythms change as you travel across time zones. This affects metabolism in your gut leading to an increase in weight. It’s essential to internalize what causes jet lag and how to avoid it for a healthier lifestyle on the move avoiding jet lag and weight gain.
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