Jim vs. Jet Lag Part 1

I’ve been experimenting with fasting to help with the negative effects of jet lag. I know from personal experience that I have crazy amounts of energy during a fast. I’ll often wake up 2-3 hours earlier than usual if I’m fasting.

Research by Dr. Clifford B. Saper (summarized here) suggests the following approach:

• Avoid all food from the time you get to the airport (i.e., about two hours before departure)

• Don’t eat during the flight — but still drink plenty of water

• Eat soon after you land, as close to a local meal time as possible

I throw in my own twist which adds a caffeination window around breakfast time at my final destination.

To provide context, I was in Kauai for a week, followed by 4 nights in Los Angeles. I’m currently in Frankfurt in transit to Tel Aviv which is a 10 hour time difference from Los Angeles. This should be a good test. My last meal was a pork packed dinner in Los Angeles at a Thai street food place called Night and Market WEHO. I quote from their menu.

• Fried Pig Tail - the perfect proportion of skin, fat, tendon and meat. Crispy and chewy.

• Chiang Rai Herb Sausage - homemade spicy pork sausage served with nam prik noom (aka Thai salsa) and cucumber *specialty*

• Chiang Rai Style Larb - earthy northern style larb of hand-chopped pork, pork liver, pork blood and a dry spice mix hand-carried back from the motherland by Chef Kris

I did my best to sleep on the plane and get some coffee after 6:30AM Israel time.

My flight left LAX at 3:30 PM and lasted 11 hours. I’m currently in the middle of a 6hr 25 minute layover in the Frankfurt airport. Next on the agenda is a 4-hour flight to Tel Aviv which arrives at 11:00PM.

To summarize, a 10 hour time difference with close to 24 hours between hotels. I’m going to start eating again tomorrow at breakfast in Tel Aviv. I’m feeling pretty bagged at the moment but if I can approximate a night’s worth of sleep in Tel Aviv I’ll be off to a good start.