Courtesy of Katie - katie's Travel Toolkit
"StopJetLag.com will actually create a custom plan just for you.
They'll take into account your exact itinerary and recommend things like
- when you should be waking up,
- when you should be going to sleep,
- what you should be eating, drinking,
- when you should be opening your windows,
- when you should be exposing yourself to sunlight,
- when you should eat."
"All of these things really do make a difference. So this is a big issue and something that Stop Jet Lag is a great resource for."
Sarah Spagnolo from Travel+Leisure
Your Stop Jet Lag travel specialist reviews and resolves the recommended times for using melatonin in relationship to your flight departures and arrivals before sending your Stop Jet Lag advice.
The effects of melatonin supplements for preventing jet lag have been well researched.(1)(2) Your Stop Jet Lag Plan will apply this research using your personal profile and flight schedule that you provide us with to furnish you with the correct time for you to use optional melatonin supplements.
Correctly timed
melatonin supplements
help prevent jet lag
Melatonin is a substance naturally produced by the pineal gland. It is a synthesis of two compounds, tryptophan (an amino acid) and serotonin (a neurotransmitter) and is central to your body's preparedness for sleep. Thus, melatonin is another powerful influence on your body clock and the recommendations for the use of melatonin supplements in your Stop Jet Lag Plan are based on the latest research of Dr. Alfred Lewy and reviewed by Dr. Charles Ehret. Although the proper types and timing of meals helps your body produce melatonin naturally and at precisely correct times, the addition of melatonin pills can enhance this effect.
The timing for using melatonin is based on both your personal profile and the flight times in your itinerary. At the recommended times for melatonin on your Stop Jet Lag Plan, take a 3 to 5 mg melatonin pill. It is also recommended that you take this same amount of melatonin at precisely correct times for no more than 2 days following the change to a new time zone. Thereafter, its' routine use is not recommended as long as proper meal and sleep regimens are maintained.
Since the use of melatonin supplements is optional, you should consult your physician before using melatonin supplements if you have an auto-immune condition, depressive disorder or are a pregnant/nursing woman. Not for use by children under 12 years of age.
(1) Arendt J, Aldhous M, Marks V. Alleviation of jet lag by melatonin: preliminary results of controlled double blind trial. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1986;292:1170
(2) Lewy AJ, Bauer VK, Ahmed S, et al. The human phase response curve (PRC) to melatonin is about 12 hours out of phase with the PRC to light. Chronobiol Int 1998;15:71–83.