Listen up business travelers: there is a simple mineral that can help you sleep better and get over jet lag faster. For those of you all too familiar with the symptoms of jet lag, you know your body must muster through the fun range of symptoms like dizziness, excessive sleepiness, constipation, gastrointestinal problems, headaches, vertigo and muscle aches and pains. As someone who used to live overseas, I am all too familiar with these fun and exciting maladies that often take a few days to suffer through until your body adjusts to your new location. 

To get through this uncomfortable and highly unproductive adjustment period, business travelers can benefit from a magnesium supplement. Magnesium is great because it addresses the three most common ailments tied to jet lag: constipation, sleep deprivation, and muscle aches. First and foremost, jet lag affects your sleep. When you cross time zones heading east, it’s much harder to adjust to the time change. This would be like taking a flight from Atlanta to London. Going to the UK, you lose five hours and your body has a much harder time resetting its wake-rest cycle. How do you get through the hump? Expose yourself to sunlight as much as you can. Our sleep cycles are affected by sun exposure and you can get regulated faster if you go outside where there is sunlight. Taking a magnesium supplement can also help because low levels of magnesium are tied to insomnia.

When we cross time zones, another inconvenient condition often sets in: constipation. Our gastrointestinal tracts are actually sensitive to our natural circadian rhythms. To add insult to injury, the foods we eat at our new location aren’t usually the normal foods we prepare at home and this change in diet can add to tummy discomfort. Magnesium acts as a natural laxative and can help greatly help with travel induced constipation. Commonly known as milk of magnesia (magnesium hydroxide), this wonder mineral can also help with heart burn and indigestion.  

Sitting for long periods of time, like during a transatlantic fight, can lock up your back and legs. Movement and stretching are great ways to reduce the discomfort, but magnesium can also help reduce the soreness because magnesium is a natural muscle relaxer. Epsom salt is actually magnesium sulfate and is great for a pre-bedtime bath. The warm water and magnesium will create a very soothing therapy for those tired muscles and can improve the quality of your sleep. The last thing you want is to be sleep deprived and unable to sleep because your muscles are cramping up!

Research on magnesium and sleep and have found people who suffer from insomnia are often also deficient in magnesium. By eating magnesium rich foods like spinach, chard, pumpkin seeds, almonds and even dark chocolate, your sleep quality should begin to improve. Magnesium can interact with other medications, so before taking it, discuss it with your doctor. 

The next time you plan on taking a long haul flight, pack yourself some magnesium and get those much needed Zzzz’s that you need in order to perform well when you arrive at your destination. 

Davana Pilczuk, PhD, is an award winning kinesiologist who specializes in the field of human performance. She is an avid speaker and writer, and has consulted for several Fortune 500 companies, universities and medical groups. She can be reached at davanapilczuk@hotmail.com or follow her on twitter @DavanaHPG.