Essentials: How to Defeat Jet Lag, Shift Work & Sleeplessness
Andrew Huberman, a Stanford Professor, provides science-backed protocols to combat jet lag, manage shift work, and optimize sleep. He details using light exposure and understanding your "temperature minimum" to regulate circadian rhythms for better recovery and well-being.
Deep Dive Analysis
10 Topic Outline
Protocols for Jet Lag, Shift Work, and Sleep Optimization
Understanding Circadian Rhythms and Their Regulation
Optimizing Light Exposure for Circadian Clock Setting
Introduction to Combating Jet Lag
The Science of Jet Lag: Travel Direction and Longevity
Temperature Minimum: A Core Principle for Circadian Adjustment
Melatonin: Its Effects and Limitations for Sleep & Circadian Rhythms
Managing Shift Work and Irregular Schedules
Sleep Strategies for Babies, Adolescents, and Caregivers
Conclusion and Key Takeaways
9 Key Concepts
Circadian Rhythm
A 24-hour rhythm in various bodily functions, most notably wakefulness and sleepiness, which correlates with body temperature changes. It is generated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus and entrained by the external light-dark cycle.
Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN)
A group of neurons located above the roof of the mouth that acts as the body's internal clock, generating a 24-hour rhythm and entraining it to the external light-dark cycle.
Travel Fatigue
One component of jet lag, experienced when traveling long distances north or south without changing time zones, due to the physical demands of travel.
Time Zone Jet Lag
The inability of local sunlight and darkness to match one's internal circadian rhythm after traveling across time zones.
Temperature Minimum
The lowest point your body temperature reaches in every 24-hour cycle, typically 90 minutes to two hours before your average waking time. It serves as a critical reference point for shifting your circadian clock.
Phase Advance
Shifting your circadian clock to wake up and go to sleep earlier, achieved by exposing your eyes to bright light in the four hours after your temperature minimum.
Phase Delay
Shifting your circadian clock to wake up and go to sleep later, achieved by exposing your eyes to bright light in the four to six hours before your temperature minimum.
Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (GNRH)
A hormone released from the hypothalamus that stimulates the release of luteinizing hormone (LH), which in turn affects estrogen and testosterone production. Melatonin inhibits GNRH.
Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR)
A protocol that helps individuals recover and maintain autonomic regulation, particularly useful for those who cannot sleep continuously or are sleep-deprived, by teaching the brain to turn off thoughts and transition to sleep without medication.
7 Questions Answered
Aim for at least 100,000 lux, ideally from sunlight, before 9 or 10 a.m. to properly wake up your system and prepare for good sleep later.
Very little photon energy is needed to reset and shift your circadian clock after 8 p.m., so avoiding bright light between 10-11 p.m. and 4 a.m. is crucial to maintain your natural rhythm.
Traveling westward is generally easier than traveling eastward because humans are better at activating and staying alert (pushing sleep later) than shutting down and falling asleep earlier on demand.
Jet lag consists of travel fatigue, which is general tiredness from travel regardless of time zone changes, and time zone jet lag, which is the mismatch between your internal rhythm and the new local light-dark cycle.
No, melatonin induces sleepiness and helps you fall asleep, but it does not help you stay asleep.
Yes, melatonin inhibits Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (GNRH), which indirectly inhibits Luteinizing Hormone (LH), and consequently, testosterone and estrogen levels.
Melatonin in babies is not cyclic but rather phasic, released at a constant and very high level per unit volume, unlike the cyclic release seen in adults.
19 Actionable Insights
1. Know Your Temperature Minimum
Determine your temperature minimum, which is the point in your 24-hour cycle when your body temperature is lowest, typically 90 minutes to two hours before your average waking time. This is a critical reference point for understanding and shifting your circadian clock.
2. Advance Your Sleep-Wake Cycle
To shift your circadian clock to wake and sleep earlier (phase advance), expose your eyes to bright light, exercise, and/or eat in the four hours after your temperature minimum. This strategy can shift your clock by 1-3 hours per day.
3. Delay Your Sleep-Wake Cycle
To shift your circadian clock to wake and sleep later (phase delay), view bright light, exercise, and/or eat in the four to six hours before your temperature minimum. This approach can also shift your clock by 1-3 hours per day.
4. Maximize Morning Light Exposure
Get as much light, ideally sunlight, into your eyes during the period you want to be awake and alert. Aim for at least 100,000 lux before 9-10 a.m. (assuming a 5-8 a.m. wake-up) by going outside, even on cloudy days, or using artificial lights if sunlight is insufficient.
5. Minimize Nighttime Light Exposure
Get as little light into your eyes when you want to be asleep or drowsy. Crucially, avoid bright light and even not-so-bright light between 10-11 p.m. and 4 a.m. to prevent unwanted clock shifts.
6. View Evening Sunlight
Look at sunlight around the time the sun is setting to adjust down the sensitivity of your eyes, which helps prepare your system for a good night’s sleep.
7. Pre-Shift for Eastward Travel
For eastward travel (e.g., California to Europe), 2-3 days before your trip, start getting up earlier (e.g., 5:30 a.m.) and expose yourself to bright artificial light, exercise, and/or eat a meal. This helps advance your clock before arrival.
8. Delay Clock for Westward Travel
For westward travel (e.g., New York to California), use stimulants like caffeine, exercise, and/or sunlight (or artificial light if no sun) in the late afternoon/evening (e.g., 6-8 p.m.) to help you stay up later and delay your clock to the local schedule.
9. Eat on Local Schedule
When traveling or adjusting to a new schedule, eat your meals according to the local schedule for alertness to help entrain your internal rhythms effectively.
10. Avoid Long Jet Lag Naps
When adjusting to a new time zone, avoid taking naps that extend beyond a short duration (e.g., 20 minutes to an hour), as longer naps can disrupt your ability to fall asleep on the local schedule later.
11. Use Red Lens Glasses at Night
Wear red lens glasses in the evening after the sun goes down to filter out short-wavelength light from screens and LED lights. This prevents melatonin suppression and improves your transition to sleep.
12. Consistent Shift Work Schedule
If you are a shift worker, aim to stay on the same schedule for at least 14 days, including weekends, to maintain circadian rhythm stability and minimize negative health effects.
13. Avoid Weekend Sleep-Ins
Even if you are not a shift worker, avoid sleeping in significantly on weekends to prevent disrupting your circadian rhythm, which can lead to a form of social jet lag.
14. Light During Work Shift
During your work shift, especially if it’s at night, see as much light as you safely can during the phase of your day when you need to be awake and alert to support your circadian rhythm.
15. Align Light with Body Temperature
As a general rule for circadian alignment, if your body temperature is decreasing, avoid light; if your body temperature is increasing, seek light to support your natural sleep-wake cycle.
16. Utilize NSDR for Recovery
When sleep-deprived (e.g., new parents, caregivers) or struggling to fall back asleep, use Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) protocols to recover, maintain autonomic regulation, and teach your nervous system to turn off thoughts and go to sleep.
17. Use Temperature to Shift Clock
To shift your clock, take a hot shower to induce a subsequent cooling effect, which will delay your clock. Alternatively, use a cold shower or ice bath to induce a thermogenic effect, which will increase your body temperature and advance your clock.
18. Stay on Home Schedule for Short Trips
For trips lasting 72 hours (3 days) or less, try to stay on your home schedule as much as possible to avoid significant jet lag and the need for clock adjustment upon return.
19. Melatonin for Sleepiness (Caution)
Melatonin can induce sleepiness and help you fall asleep in a new location, but it does not help you stay asleep and has endocrine effects. Behavioral protocols involving light, exercise, and temperature are generally preferred for clock shifting, but consult a doctor if considering melatonin.
4 Key Quotes
Traveling westward on the globe is always easier than traveling eastward, okay?
Andrew Huberman
You don't have to travel to get jet lagged. Many of you are jet lagged. You're jet lagged because you're looking at your phone in the middle of the night. You're jet lagged because you're waking up at different times a day.
Andrew Huberman
The most important thing about shift work is to stay consistent with your schedule.
Andrew Huberman
When you understand mechanism, it's not about being neurotically attached to a specific protocol, it's the opposite. It can give you great confidence and flexibility in being able to shift your body rhythms however you want.
Andrew Huberman
1 Protocols
Shifting Circadian Clock
Andrew Huberman- Determine your temperature minimum (approx. 90 minutes to 2 hours before your average waking time).
- To advance your clock (wake/sleep earlier, e.g., for eastward travel): View bright light, exercise, and/or eat in the four hours after your temperature minimum.
- To delay your clock (wake/sleep later, e.g., for westward travel): View bright light, exercise, and/or eat in the four to six hours before your temperature minimum.
- Apply these actions for 1-3 hours per day, 2-3 days before travel and upon arrival, to shift your clock by 1-3 hours daily.
- Eat on the local meal schedule to further aid adjustment.