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Fasting May Fix Jet Lag

Posted by kdawson on from the lost-in-translation dept.

stoolpigeon writes "Reuters reports on a Harvard Medical School study on sleep patterns and how they relate to food. Researchers already knew that the sleep patterns of mice would change to match the opportunity to feed, but they did not know the mechanism that enabled the change. To find out, they looked for the part of the brain that was involved. They bred mice without a certain master gene that regulates the body's clock, and then targeted various parts of the brain with the gene, delivered in the shell of a virus. The results may, among other things, provide a new method for preparing to deal with jet lag: 'A period of fasting with no food at all for about 16 hours is enough to engage this [alternate body] clock,' the lead researcher said. The study appears in the journal Science."

5 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Some people don't eat after 12 noon by snsh · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I went to this 'Vipassana' meditation camp a couple years ago. It's a program where you go to this silent retreat for 10 days and just sit all day and meditate. One of the things that freaks first-timers out is that they feed you breakfast and lunch, but no dinner. You don't eat at all after 12 noon.

    Sure, you're sitting all day and not expending much energy. But one thing you discover is how much better you sleep on an empty stomach.

  2. Old news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...this was the recommended method back in 1980 when I traveled the Atlantic on a monthly basis.

    1. Eat a regular meal (usually lunch or supper)
    2. Fly and fast
    3. Eat a meal at the next regular meal time. (Usually 10 to 12 hours later).
    4. One day later in the new time zone (GMT+1), all is reset.

    Worked like a charm and was based on research available at the time so I don't see what is so new about the advice.

  3. Most people are missing the main point here by eniveld · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Judging from the replies, I think a lot of people are missing what they're saying in the referenced study: You start fast way *before* you get on the plane. Anyway, the reasoning behind why this works, is that your body thinks: "Hey, there's no food around. I better wake up Mr. Brain there to go find something to eat. And while you're at it, if you have to start hunting saber tooth tigers at night rather than day, then I'll reset your body clock so you sleep and wake at a different time."

  4. Re:I've got a better idea. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The reason is that airline customers care about price above all else. I recall a study (no, I don't have a cite, sorry) where people would ignore significant differences in amenities for as little as a $5 difference in price.

    People have become hyper-sensitive to price because airlines charge vastly different prices for the same service. You don't have to do much air travel before you have the experience of sitting next to a guy who paid half as much as you did.

  5. Re:I've got a better idea. by TheRedSeven · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This price competition is because of services like Priceline and Kayak.com that only allow you to compare based on price and time, and don't include any of the other amenities that carriers may/may not offer.
    If there are any enterprising developers out there, there may be a market for this...