Managing Jet Lag... Simple interesting solutions...

Before the flight

Attempt to partially adapt to the destination time zone in advance. This includes starting the daily routine one hour before or after one normally does during the week before departure. The use of a light box might help speed up the body's body clock adjustment significantly.

Light therapy or phototherapy (classically referred to as heliotherapy) consists of exposure to daylight or to specific wavelengths of light using lasers, light-emitting diodes, fluorescent lamps,dichroic lamps or very bright, full-spectrum light, usually controlled with various devices. The light is administered for a prescribed amount of time and, in some cases, at a specific time of day.

During the flight

One option to counteract jet lag is to break the trip into smaller segments if it is too long and stay overnight in some city. Additionally, it may be advisable to adjust sleeping hours on the plane to match the destination time.

Upon arrival

A helpful way to minimize jet lag is to adapt to the local time and eat accordingly. Also, exposure to sunlight during the day is helpful.

There seems to be some evidence that for most people, traveling west to east is more disruptive. This may be because most people have a circadian period which is a bit longer than 24 hours, making it easier to stay up later than to get up earlier

Gradual adjustment over the course of several days of the onset of sleep while maintaining its regular length of 7–8 hours can reduce fatigue and prevent depression. When the goal is to catch-up with local time (vs. fallback to), this can be aided by avoiding afternoon naps and eating an early and carbohydrates-rich, low-protein dinner.

Melatonin

A 2005 study showed that melatonin was effective in helping people fall asleep at doses of 0.3 milligrams (mg). Then, to treat the jet lag, the recommended dose of melatonin is 0.3–0.5 mg, to be taken the first day of traveling. Administration of higher doses can cause sleepiness, lethargy, confusion, and decreased mental sharpness

Fasting

A 2008 animal study suggested that lack of food helps to override the light-controlled circadian body clock. One of its authors suggested in a statement that "a period of fasting with no food at all for about 16 hours is enough to engage this new clock. The neat thing about this second clock is that it can override the main clock and you should just flip into that new time zone in one day". One approach to implement this would be to eat nothing on the plane and fast until it is breakfast time at the destination

Viagra

A recent study in hamsters showed that sildenafil citrate (known commercially as Viagra) aided in a 50% faster recovery from shifts comparable to eastward travel experienced by humans and was effective starting at low doses. However, this use has not been tested in humans and is considered an off-label use by the drug's manufacturers.