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Chicago: Starving yourself before a long-haul flight may help prevent jet lag, US researchers revealed.
Normally, the body's natural circadian clock in the brain dictates when to wake, eat and sleep, all in response to light. But it seems a second clock takes over when food is scarce, and manipulating this clock might help travellers adjust to new time zones, they said.
"A period of fasting with no food at all for about 16 hours is enough to engage this new clock," said Dr Clifford Saper of Harvard Medical School, whose study appears in Science. Saper said when food is scarce, the second clock can override the body's primary clock. He said these same clock genes are known to be in all mammals, including humans. While skipping meals ahead of a long flight has not been proven to work in humans, it may be worth a try. "I'm certainly going to do it the next time I go to Japan," Saper said.
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