Gradually shifting your body clock, largely regulated by the liver, by slowing digestion with nuts can help reduce jet lag after a long flight overseas.
Most nuts (and peanuts, which aren’t nuts) slow the digestion of carbohydrates by an average of two hours. For a 2-hour shift ahead, for example, simply eat 8 peanuts prior to eating at your regular mealtimes.
A 3-hour shift ahead requires eating an hour later than you normally would, with a small handful of nuts. For greater time differences or if you’re just bad at math, a short fast will engage your “feed clock”.
“If, for example, you are travelling from the US to Japan, you are forced to adjust to an 11-hour time difference.
“Because the body’s biological clock can only shift a small amount each day, it takes the average person about a week to adjust to the new time zone.
“A period of fasting with no food at all for about 16 hours is enough to engage this new clock.
“So, in this case, simply avoiding any food on the plane, and then eating as soon as you land, should help you to adjust and avoid some of the uncomfortable feelings of jet lag.”
Remember to reduce your overall calorie intake if you decide to use nuts to shift your body clock, since doing so can add an extra 100 calories per handful. Jet lag can not only ruin a trip by making you groggy the entire time, but it can signifigantly modify your decision making.
[photo by: Biel’s Gabriel Machado]
Very interesting, never tried it. I’m going to research further into this!
It’s also a good way to curb the insulin rush from eating lots of sweets 🙂
This is new to me- I must admite I had never heard about this before
Using peanuts before eating carbs is also a good way for dieting and such since it really extends the amount of time it takes to process sugar 🙂 Body hacking!