The Impact of Holiday Travel on Circadian Rhythms: Functional Medicine Approaches

Holiday travel is a time of both excitement and stress. The cheer of the season, the festive celebrations, and the adventure of travel can bring joy but also negatively impact your circadian rhythms. The human body operates in circadian rhythms, regulating hormones, sleep, stress molecules, gut motility, and much more. When you travel, especially across time zones, these patterns can be disrupted in their everyday operations. This often results in what we know as jet lag. This not-so-fun part of traveling can leave you feeling run down and unable to enjoy your travel plans fully. Taking action to mitigate this response or recovery quickly can be achieved through a functional medicine approach. Evaluating your health presentation, running comprehensive functional laboratory testing, and optimizing your health through natural means are ways in which integrative medicine can help support healthy circadian rhythms. 

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What is Circadian Rhythm? 

Circadian rhythms synchronize body-physical processes that occur in a 24-hour cycle. The importance of circadian rhythms can be traced back to many organ systems in functions that naturally occur in the human body. While we typically think of this regarding the sleep-wake cycle, regulating hormones, body temperature, mental health, digestive processes, and cognitive function all run on a circadian rhythm. When these patterns are out of sync, this leads to an imbalance in your health. 

The hypothalamus, a gland within the brain, has many functions, including being a control center for the sleep-wake circadian rhythms. This vital organ assists in releasing melatonin, which is modulated by light cycles and our biological clock. When the sun sets, it signals the brain to release melatonin. This plays a role in feeling tired and the sleep cycle. When your body follows appropriate day and night cycles, which includes waking up with the sun or shortly after and going to bed within reason after the sun sets, you are following what aligns with natural bodily processes. Another essential hormone involved is cortisol. In a thriving individual, cortisol should be secreted in the morning and gradually throughout the day as they wind down. This pattern is the opposite of its counterpart, melatonin. 

The Impact of Travel on Circadian Rhythms 

This time of year, there is a lot of holiday traveling. With that comes potential disruption to your circadian rhythm due to time changes and variations in everyday routines. When traveling, you may fall out of practice with your sleep, diet, exercise, etc, all of which can disturb your normal biological rhythm. Traveling across time zones can dramatically alter your circadian rhythm because your internal clock is set to one pace while the new external environment is on a different rhythm. You may know this as the term jet lag, which is the feeling of disorientation due to lack of sleep. In a jet-lagged state, you may experience insomnia, headaches, increased fatigue, mood changes, gut disturbances, a lack of focus, and more. This is the body’s way of communicating that it is out of sync with its normal circadian rhythms and is trying to compensate. When traveling, you must consider the number of time zones you’ve crossed regarding circadian regulation. Adapting and resetting a circadian clock takes the body about 24 to 36 hours. Many people report that their jet lag symptoms are less when they travel west due to better acclimation by delaying their clock rather than speeding it up. 

There is a link between overall health and circadian rhythm dysfunction. Regarding gut health, research has examined the effects of jet lag and gut microbiota. What was found is that dysbiosis, or an imbalance in gut microbiota, can be induced by changes in your eating patterns. This change can also increase glucose intolerance and promote obesity. If you are traveling a lot during the holiday, keeping your eating patterns steady would be worthwhile to support your gut health. An additional area to consider is hormone health. Previously mentioned was the hypothalamus, the key regulator of circadian cycles. Part of this organ is the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which controls oscillations of peripheral organ processes. In the case of hormones, the well-known menstrual cycle operates on a sequenced pattern and timing of hormones- estrogen, progesterone, luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone working to create the processes and phases of ovulation and menstruation. This is a vital circadian rhythm for overall women’s health and fertility. 

Due to the impact of a healthy circadian rhythm on your well-being, it’s essential to self-evaluate before holiday travel to estimate how your body may respond and how you can adequately prepare.

Functional Medicine Lab Testing for Circadian Rhythm Assessment 

Comprehensive lab tests for circadian rhythm can assess how your body is currently operating or what the repercussions of holiday travel disruptions were on your body. Here are four ideal tests to consider:

Cortisol and Melatonin Pattern Testing

Holiday travels can be both exhausting and stressful. In addition to any time changes you are experiencing, traveling can also impact your cortisol secretion and melatonin release. If you’d like to optimize these processes before a trip or correct any disturbance after the holidays, the Sleep and Stress Panel by Ayumetrix is a thorough option. This salivary test looks at a daily pattern by evaluating four samples of saliva collected in the morning, noon, evening, and night. It also measures DHEA, a hormone the adrenal glands produce. Looking at the pattern of cortisol and melatonin, along with DHEA, can provide further information for a functional medicine assessment of sleep and stress. 

Comprehensive Gut Analysis

The health of our microbiome can impact many areas of our health. Since jet lag from holiday travel can compromise your gut flora, investigating your gut microbiota would be beneficial. GI360 Microbiome Profile by Doctor’s Data looks at 45 biomarkers that can cause a dysbiotic state. This stool analysis is a reliable source of information to help you reestablish an abundant and diverse microbiota. 

Sex Hormones plus Cortisol Patterns

If you have jet lag symptoms, they can sometimes overlap with symptoms of hormone imbalance. While female hormones tend to be more impacted by changes to their circadian rhythm due to their monthly cycle, men can also suffer from hormone dysregulation. One test that can evaluate both sex hormone patterns in correlation to cortisol patterns in the DUTCH Plus by Precision Analytical. This comprehensive will look at your Cortisol Awakening Response, then daily rhythms, and help determine if the HPA axis dysfunction is the primary system out of balance. 

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How to Fix Circadian Rhythm: A Functional Medicine Strategy

Correcting a circadian rhythm that is out of sync takes a holistic approach. Functional medicine for circadian health will help dive into the cause, whether the short impact of holiday travel or a compounded effect of chronic lifestyle disturbances and travel. Assessing all the areas that make an individual healthy- diet, exercise, sleep pattern and quality, hydration, stress, work-life balance, and environmental factors- is essential to determine where insults to vitality lie and how they can be corrected. While supporting all of these areas may be crucial to your case, sleep, nutrition, and lifestyle modification are vital areas to address. In addition, there are supportive natural medicines that can correct and replenish hormone deficiencies. Natural interventions can also assist your mind and body in being better equipped to manage or mitigate circadian rhythm disruptions during holiday travels. 

Nutritional Approaches to Support Circadian Rhythms 

The circadian rhythms are finely intertwined with nutrition. Evidence suggests that significant mealtime changes, such as a 5-hour delay, can affect glucose regulation. Studies like this provide some context that there may be an influence between peripheral circadian rhythms and when eating patterns should occur. When traveling, there are general nutrition tips that can support your circadian rhythm. The first would be to try and maintain your home-based time zone eating patterns or change your eating and wake patterns to the time zone you travel to days in advance. This will help you avoid the abrupt shift of meal timing. In addition, maintaining an anti-inflammatory diet will help reduce cortisol spikes and gut disturbances. Eating whole foods with balanced proteins, carbohydrates, and fats can help keep healthy metabolism, stress responses, sleep patterns, and hormones. During the holidays, we eat more sweets and family-style meals, leading to indulging and a nutrition regimen our body is not accustomed to. A healthy holiday eating plan can be an intentional way of reducing symptoms like fatigue, gut disturbances, and headaches often accompanying jet lag. 

Eating to support circadian rhythms also includes mindful nutrient consumption, hydration intake, and avoidance of alcohol. There are specific nutrients that can help you fall asleep and have a restful sleep. One common mineral is magnesium, often used to treat insomnia, as it induces a state of relaxation and helps regulate neurotransmitters that commonly cause excitation in the brain. On the other hand, if you are having issues staying awake or experiencing daytime fatigue during your holiday trips, Vitamin B12 is a great natural supplement to consider. Vitamin B12 is essential for an optimally functioning nervous system and brain. Taking oral vitamin B12 leading up to and during your trip can significantly boost your energy and cognitive function. 

Staying well hydrated can assist in cognitive function and replace loss during travel. Your body consists of about 70% water, meaning you need to maintain hydration to feel well. Drinking water can reduce headaches and fatigue and improve focus. If you are flying, the dry cabin air can lead to dehydration, exacerbating jet lag symptoms. One source recommends 125 ounces per day for men and 91 ounces per day for women. This has variations depending on your activity level and your unique makeup. While staying hydrated with water is essential, avoiding alcohol and caffeine can reduce the impact of circadian rhythm changes. If you do choose to engage in drinking during your holiday celebration, here is a helpful guide to managing consumption. 

Natural Remedies to Support Circadian Rhythm

Natural medicines such as melatonin, adaptogenic herbs, and nervine botanicals can support a healthy circadian rhythm. Melatonin, as previously discussed, is essential for inducing sleep and maintaining the rhythmic sleep-wake cycle. Taking exogenous melatonin has been shown to assist in reestablishing circadian rhythms. One study found that taking .5 to 5mg of melatonin close to the target bedtime of your travel location can decrease jet lag in those crossing multiple time zones.

Adaptogenic herbs can also assist the mind and body in acclimating to travel and new time zones. Herbal medicines are ashwagandha, Rhodiola, valerian, German chamomile, and Humulus lupus. Each of these has a unique mechanism of action. Still, the overarching theme regarding circadian rhythm support is that they help modulate the HPA acid and nervous system response to holiday and travel-related stress on the body. 

Lemon balm, also known as Melissa officinalis, is an excellent choice as a nervous system relaxant. This herbal remedy is often used to treat insomnia and nervousness, reduce stress, and induce relaxation. The primary ways to take lemon balm are as a tea, an herbal tincture, or a capsule. 

Lifestyle Modifications for Travel-Related Circadian Disruption 

Making lifestyle changes for jet lag preparation can set you up for a smooth holiday travel. Getting adequate and rejuvenating sleep before your trip is vital. Banking sleep can help manage the deficiency you may fall into during your trip. Once you are at your destination, timing your sleep to coordinate with that location's sleep times is critical. This is more manageable when traveling west, while traveling east causes you to speed up your circadian clock. Light exposure can also help travelers adjust to new time zones. A specific method associated with jet lag is bright light exposure. 

The recommendation is to prime your circadian rhythms by exposing your eyes to the evening sunlight if traveling west and sunrise if traveling east. This assists you in staying up later or rising earlier in the day. A study utilizing transcranial bright light therapy with intermittent length exposures had a cumulative effect in alleviating jet lag symptoms post-travel. Lastly, while holiday travel can induce stress, you can reduce stress levels by being prepared for your trips. Make sure you have all your travel essentials prepared and your at-home to-dos done well in advance. 

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Travel and Circadian Rhythm: Key Takeaways

Holiday travels can be fun and exciting but may also harm your health. Travel can disrupt normal physiological functions, most importantly, circadian rhythms. A few critical circadian patterns that holiday travels could impact are your sleep-wake cycle, hormones, and gut disturbances. A holistic approach to travel health includes being mindful of jet-lag-associated symptoms like mood changes, fatigue, insomnia, and cognitive function, which can provide the context of how dysregulated your system is from the travel. Functional medicine can play an integral part in determining root cause issues, which can help guide your individualized care plan. With a little mindful planning, holistic interventions for circadian rhythm regulation, natural remedies in place, and some lifestyle modification, your circadian rhythms can be minimally impacted by holiday travels.