Scientists believe coffee is the answer to beating jet lag but there’s a catch

FINALLY there is an answer to curing the dreaded jet lag, and it’s not what you think. This simple trick will have you bouncing back from a long-haul flight.

Scientists believe caffeine may help kick jet lag.

IN A surprising finding, scientists have revealed that the trick to beating jet lag could be drinking coffee, but only if you’re travelling west.

According to the study, caffeine tricks your body into thinking it is around an hour earlier in the day, helping those travelling west who need to push back their body clocks.

Published in the journal,Science Translational Medicine, scientists from the University of Colorado and the Medical Research council in Cambridge explain how caffeine affects the circadian rhythm.

“This is the first study to show that caffeine, the mostly widely used psychoactive drug in the world, has an influence on the human circadian clock,” said University of Colorado’s Department of Integrative Physiology Professor Kenneth Wright.

News_Image_File: A double espresso should have you sorted if you’re heading west.

The study found that drinking a double espresso in the evening delayed the rise in the level of melatonin, the main sleep hormone released by the body, helping the body adjust to changing time zones.

“The effect of caffeine on sleep and wakefulness has been long established, but its impact on the underlying body clock has remained unknown,” said MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology joint lead researcher Dr John O’Neill.

“These findings could have important implications for people with circadian sleep disorders, where their normal 24 hour body clock doesn’t work properly, or even help with getting over jet lag.”

Those travelling east however, may make jet lag worse by drinking coffee.

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