If you're preparing to travel long haul this summer, you will surely be thinking about the impact jet lag might have on your trip.

Here we take a look at what jet lag is, and steps you can take towards relieving yourself of it as soon as possible, leaving you to enjoy your well-deserved break.

What is jet lag?

Most of us feel tired after a long flight, or a long bout of travelling, but jet lag is more than just that feeling of fatigue and lethargy. Jet lag is a variety of symptoms that you will experience following travel into a new time zone. The change of time zone causes disruption to your normal body clock and routine, which will lead you to experiencing jet lag.

What are the symptoms of jet lag?

As mentioned, your body clock will experience some disruption when travelling through time zones. This body clock disruption will have an impact on certain aspects of your body, causing the following symptoms and experiences:

- a change in appetite
- a change in digestion habits
- unusual bowel habits, such as diarrhoea
- body temperature changes, so feeling too cold or too warm
- changes to your blood pressure

How to overcome jet lag

It's not possible to prevent jet lag, but step can be taken to reduce the impact it will have once you arrive at your new destination:

- When arriving on holiday, or back home from a trip, eat and sleep based on the times at your current location. This will enable you to work into a new routine quicker, meaning you are more likely to get a normal, full-nights sleep.

- Try not to nap straight away. This can be difficult, especially given how tired you may be feeling, but if you nap immediately, it will mean you take longer to establish a more suitable routine.

- Try to avoid a lot of caffeine when trying to establish a new schedule. The caffeine from coffee or other fizzy drinks may affect your recovery time and ability to get a good nights sleep.

- Once arriving, be sure to go outside and get some sunlight. Daylight will help your body to adjust quicker, also the gentle exercise of going for a walk outdoors will wake your body up, and get the blood flowing again after a long flight sat down.