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Weight Loss Travel Tips
Peter Greenberg January 29, 2007
See our slideshow of 10 weight-loss tips for travelers.
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OK, please don't hate me... but I don't get jet lag. And to the best of my recollection, I have never been afflicted with it. But I feel your pain.
No matter how much you talk about diet, exercise, fitness, food and travel, the great imponderable has always been sleep. How much we need, how much we get, how it affects our performance, both physical and mental, and especially when we travel. Additional research indicates a direct link between sleep, or lack of it, and weight gain.
Scientists argue that jet lag is first and foremost a physical condition that is worsened by high altitudes, dry air or stress. Jet lag is merely a result of our biological clocks all being broken at the same time. So is it simply a matter of how much sleep you can get, and when you can get it? Not quite. It's really a matter of being... sleep deprived. One reason we become sleep deprived on airplanes is the flight is too short. Couple that with our sleep patterns on the ground, and you have a full-tilt recipe for jet lag.
One study concludes that those with jet lag don't just eat at irregular times, they eat larger-than-normal portions. The worst part is the link between sleep deprivation and weight gain: The brain may send out false signals of hunger. And therein lies a big problem among travelers -- combine a rigorous travel schedule and sleep deprivation, and there's a direct correlation with obesity.
People who are sleep-deprived get hungry. When we restrict sleep duration in healthy, lean, normal adults, we quickly observe two alterations. Leptin, the hormone that regulates appetite and promotes satiety, the feeling of fullness, decreases. (When leptin levels are high, you feel satiated. If you're feeling hungry, your leptin levels have dropped). That, coupled with increased levels of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, sends false signals to the brain that you're starving. Hunger increases even when your caloric intake has been more than sufficient.
In the end, it's not just about jet lag, or how well you adjust. It's really all about sleep deprivation and how that affects your ability to think clearly, and in particular, how it affects your brain's ability to allow you to register how hungry you are versus how hungry you feel. My advice for jet lag hunger pains? Water, and lots of it.
Peter Greenberg's best-selling book, The Traveler's Diet, is available to purchase online at PeterGreenberg.com.
See our slideshow of 10 weight-loss tips for travelers.
BEST RESTAURANT
Chambar.
BEST GIFT FOR A SPOUSE
Something from Leone (fashion) or Palladio (jewelry).
BEST GOLF COURSE
Westwood Plateau, Morgan Creek, and Furry Creek.
BEST DAY TRIP
A floatplane to Victoria and whale watching on a high speed 40' Scarab with Eaglewing Tours and a helicopter transfer to the Wickanninish Inn for lunch, followed by an eco-walk through the Temperate Rain Forest. Then take a helicopter back to Vancouver to freshen up for "Bard on the Beach," Shakespeare under the tents at Vanier Park as the sun sets.
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