DO'S AND DONT'S

DOS AND DONTS PRE-FLIGHT:

· Take plenty of sleep before you travel
· If you are traveling westwards, try going to bed and getting up an hour late each day for three days before leaving
· Reverse the above process if you are going eastwards
· Adjust your sleeping and eating patterns to the new time zone a couple of days before your flight.
· Eat light meals on the day of flight
· Keep a list of your medicines and illness with you
· Put on some moisturizer to help you through dry air in the flight cabin
· Do not use contact lenses since they will dry out and further irritate itchy or burning eyes
· Consider anti-leg lag or sleeping medicines as the last resort.

DOS AND DONTS IN-FLIGHT:
· Drink plenty of water throughout the flight- one or two glasses an hour to avoid dehydration
· Avoid consuming alcoholic beverages as it will affect the quality of your sleep and cause dehydration
· Also, too much coffee can give palpitations and irregular heart rhythms
· Be active during flight.
· Try not to sit cross legs during flight. Stretch your calf muscles while you are sitting, walk up and down and also try not to sit cross legged
· Perform isomeric exercises in your seat – flex and point your feet, do round clock and anti clock wise rotations of your ankle joints
· Do not smoke and beware of unnecessary medications
· Eat several small meals through the flight

DOS AND DONTS POST FLIGHT:
· Prefer high protein breakfast and low protein/ high carbohydrate dinner to resynchronize the biological clock
· Naps for 10 to 30 minutes can help you make catch up on the lost sleep
· Try out sleep catching medicines as the last resort, of course after consulting a doctor.