Travel expert reveals the unusual reason you should have a huge breakfast after a long flight

A TRAVEL expert has revealed a simple hack to ensure you’re prepared for your long haul flight.

Savvy researchers shared the trick to teach frequent flyers a way to revolutionise their travel.

Getty

A travel expert has revealed their tips on why we should eat big meals[/caption]

If you don’t fancy suffering from the inevitable long haul jet lag, make sure you eat a big breakfast for a few days after you land.

Jet lag is caused by a difference between the body’s internal clock -or circadian rhythm, and the surrounding environment.

Scientists concluded that as well as getting your Vitamin D fix, eating a large breakfast three days in a row while skipping dinner hugely decreased jet lag by 44%.

The team from the Chaos journal found a link between meal times and circadian rhythm.

Yitong Huang, from Northwestern University said: “Meal timing is important for circadian health, particularly as we now know almost every cell has a circadian clock which can be influenced by cues such as light or eating.”

Dr Huang said: “Constantly shifting meal schedules or having a meal at night is discouraged, as it can lead to misalignment between internal clocks.”

Dr Jamie Zeitzer from Stanford University, who was not a part of this study said: “By eating a large breakfast early in the morning, you’re helping to reset your gut clock.

“These peripheral oscillators (the circadian rhythms in the body’s cells) can often shift faster than the central one in the brain, and that helps shorten the period when you might experience jet lag.”

Dr. Huang continued: “Conflicting signals – for example, eating when your brain is about to rest – can confuse internal clocks and cause desynchrony.”

And a simple hack for blocking out light is opting for blackout curtains, but if you don’t have access, a sleeping mask will do the trick.

The study found that it takes a staggering total of five days for a traveller’s circadian clock to completely adjust to a six hour time difference flying west.

They found that it takes an extra day for a flyer to adapt when travelling eastbound with the same time difference

And for older adults, it may take even longer – seven and nine days respectively.

Dr Zeitzer also explained that if you’re a frequent flyer – you’re in luck as you usually would have learned to cope with jet lag by now.

He added: “For some people, it might be having an alcoholic beverage to help them fall asleep. Even though that’s not ideal, if it helps them sleep, I’m not opposed to that.

“For others, it might be yoga or a morning run. So when you travel, try to pay attention to what works and what doesn’t.”

But he stressed that it’s not just food and drink habits travellers need to take into account.

“Getting sunlight first thing is also great. Especially if you’re flying eastward, it’s a good thing to get that kind of big dose of sunlight that helps reset the circadian clock.

“Even if it’s cloudy or overcast, you get way more helpful light going outside than you could ever get from indoor lighting.”

He also advised: “Toughing it out is not a good plan – that sometimes makes it a lot worse.”

While he is fine with people taking supplements that have been prescribed to them by a doctor to help with sleep, such as melatonin, you must time it properly.

He hails melatonin as an effective sleep aid but says it’s all down to timing.

The Mayo Clinic advises that if you are flying eastwards and want to reset your internal clock to an earlier time zone, take it nightly.

But if you fly west and want to reset it to a later schedule, take it every morning until you adjust to the new time zone.