Why is jet lag worse when flying east? Reset your body clock with exposure to light

West is best, east is a beast. Most travellers know that flying east, your body takes longer to adjust to a new time zone than flying west, and science has come up with some fresh ideas that explain this phenomenon.

In an article published in the journal Chaos, researchers concluded that our circadian rhythms – our internal sleep/wake clocks – tick to a slightly longer time frame than 24 hours. Therefore travelling west, and coping with a later sleep/wake time than at home, comes more naturally than travelling east, and hitting the sack at an earlier hour.

In other words for an Aussie traveller on holiday in Europe, the jet lag is likely to be worse when they get home than it is in Europe. There are a couple of external cues that help our body clock adjust and the big item is light. The bright light of day resets our circadian clock, and science says we can strategically use light to regulate our body clocks and get over the effects of jet lag more quickly.

Say you've travelled from east coast Australia to Italy, covering eight time zones assuming this is the northern summer. Travelling west, you want to delay your body clock. If you normally hit the sack at 10:30pm, that equates to 2:30pm in Rome. If you were to sleep for eight hours you'd be waking up at 10:30pm local time. That needs sorting, and exposure to bright light early in the morning will help you reset your body clock, and enjoy the charms of Roman life in daylight hours.