May 23 2008
Skip food to manage jet lag
May 23: A research conducted by the Harward university researchers has found that changing meal times will help a great deal to help travellers to recover from jet lag. The detailed study conducted on mice has found that the brain has a second “feeding clock” that monitors meal-times.
When one eat less the feeding clock gains control over the master clock that keeps the animal wakeful until the need for food is fulfilled. The finding of the research was published in the journal Science and it suggests that shift workers and long distance travellers can make use of this to avoid tiredness.
There is a powerful master clock in our brain known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus that controls the daily sleep cycles, behaviour and metabolism. The symptoms of jet lag can be effectively controlled and makes it lot more manageable.
While commenting on this Dr Neil Stanley of Norwich University Hospital opined that the disruption of the “circadian” rhythms is found to be connected with neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, heart disease, depression and insomnia. The Harward team has tried to find the relationship between “circadian” clock and “feeding” clock and its relationship with our eating patterns.”
The lead researcher of the study Clifford Saper said: “Frequent travellers and shift workers can make use of the feeding clock to adapt to changes in time zones and night-time schedules that make them feel groggy and jet-lagged.”
The research findings will benefit those people who used to travel frequently and work in unsociable hours of the day. The symptoms will not disappear completely but that can be managed to a certain extent.
