Most effective anti-jetlag techniques revealed by Skyscanner

SINGAPORE - The findings of a new survey by Skyscanner, the world’s fastest growing global travel search site, has revealed the most popular anti-jetlag techniques used by Singaporean air passengers.

One thousand Singaporean travellers took part in the survey, with four out of five saying they’d flown long-haul in the past year. On average, participants stated they found that it took 2.3 days to recover from the effects of jetlag.

The most popular anti-jetlag technique was found to be stretching and taking light exercise on the flight, with almost two-thirds (61%) of respondents stating they’d tried this. Following closely behind was exercising and getting fresh air before the flight (60%), setting their watch to the new time-zone (48%) and staying awake for the duration of the flight (47%).

More intriguingly, 11% of respondents even said they have tried taking Viagra to combat the effects of jetlag, following historical reports that taking Viagra could aid jetlag recovery.* Sleeping tablets (21%) herbal remedies (19%), anti-jet lag pills (18%) and melatonin (14%) were also used by many of the air passengers in the survey.

Participants were also asked to rank which anti-jetlag techniques were most effective. While light exercise and healthy eating were popular activities for flyers, only around half of those who tried this said they were effective in offsetting the effects of a long-haul flight.

The survey raised some eye-raising findings on the effects of alcohol at 30,000 feet. While over a third (37%) of travellers stated that they had consumed alcohol in an attempt to offset jetlag, only a third of those (13%) said that this worked. However, 31% said they had avoided alcohol on-board with almost half (15%) saying it had been successful in negating the effects of jetlag.

Tony Gherardin, National Medical Adviser at the Travel Doctor – TMC, noted his tips for effectively combating the effects:

‘In an ideal world, to prevent jetlag we should begin taking on the habits of destination time zone before we leave home. That is, eating at the same time and sleeping or resting at the same time as what you would be doing at that destination. Of course this isn’t always possible at home or even while flying.’

‘What works reasonably well is to eat light meals and keep hydrated, avoiding heavy foods and alcohol.’ Regarding sleeping tablets, Tony advises that ‘safe use of sleeping tablets or melatonin once you’ve reached your destination can also assist in getting your body in sync with the time zone.’

Skyscanner’s Singapore Marketing Manager Ira Noviani said: “With the end of year holidays coming up, many will be preparing for long-haul flights, and our survey has shown that people will often try various methods in order to beat jetlag – but they may not work for everyone”.

Sourced: TravelDailyNews