Time change, meals... How to avoid jet lag and recover quickly

A vacation mind but a biological clock still at home: this is the dilemma for those who opt for a vacation to the other side of the world. While air travel has the advantage of speed, it has a well-known and unpleasant side effect: jet lag. How can it be avoided? What can be done to speed up this calibration period? Sleep doctor Jonathan Taieb explains to BFMTV.com.

But what is this "jet lag"? "It's when the body and biological clock are no longer on the right time. Our body has to adapt to living on the schedule of the destination, while it is set to that of the departure point," explains the specialist.

In short, our bodies secrete hormones to signal us to sleep or eat... without taking into account whether it's too early or too late at the vacation spot. This can lead to fatigue or misplaced insomnia.

To avoid this time difference as much as possible, here are some tips to help you get into the right rhythm as soon as you board the plane. It's recommended to set the time on your watch and phone to the time at your destination, which will help you judge whether it's a logical time for a particular activity.

"The question is: when do we sleep, when do we eat or drink coffee ? There are windows for sleep and others where we have to hold back," explains the director of the Medical Institute of Sleep. If it's time to go to bed at the destination, it's helpful to try to sleep at the same time, for example.

Caffeine at the wrong time, meals and naps out of sync, or a fussy body clock: for some people, despite good advice, the slump can still occur. And the sequence can be relatively long.

"The body will adapt and gradually recover. Generally, one time zone crossed corresponds to one day (of jet lag, editor's note). So if there's a 7-hour time difference, it will take a week to feel completely comfortable," calculates Jonathan Taieb.

For a Paris-New York flight, it takes six days to get back into alignment, while it will take about eight for a Paris-Tokyo flight. To speed up the adjustment period, you should make sure to adjust as much as possible to the local rhythm of life in terms of meals and sleep, the indicators that help the body settle.

"The biological clock will be sensitive to several parameters such as diet, but especially to light. This blocks the secretion of melatonin (the hormone that influences sleep, editor's note). We can also influence physical activity, screen use, or caffeine consumption." But the best remedy remains time.