American Scientist

To the Editors:

I’m sure I’m far from alone in relating to the article “Adapting Your Body Clock to 24-Hour Society” by Alexis Webb and Erik Herzog in the November–December issue. Although I have not been subject to the effects of shift work, I have made numerous east-west international trips and encountered many of the effects noted in the article. And I have utilized many of the authors’ recommendations to minimize the effects of jet lag.

I had always assumed that the greater the time change, the greater the difficulty adjusting to it. Then twice in the last two years I found myself dealing with what I expected would be the worst case: A 12-hour time change. As it turned out, I found the adjustment easier than on shorter trips—for example, to Europe or Australia from the West Coast.

The key to that difference, I believe, is as the text block on page 353 states: “One of the…rhythmic signals that may help realign the clock faster is shifting meals to local time at the destination as soon as possible.” With a 12-hour time change, breakfast and dinner times basically reverse: When your body is expecting breakfast, it gets dinner instead, and vice versa. If lunch is a lighter meal, it is easily accommodated, almost as a “midnight snack.”

One other factor in the severity of jet lag that an individual experiences that is not mentioned in the article is the psychological. If one expects to suffer more or less, I suspect that expectation influences the outcome, perhaps rather like a placebo effect. If so, the best outcome likely would result from following the advice in the article and being confident it will work for you.

James Royle
San Diego, CA