Why flying east hurts more

0:00 Jet lag is worse going east,

0:02 and that is not your imagination.

0:04 Left alone with no clocks or daylight,

0:07 the human body clock does not run to exactly

0:10 twenty-four hours;

0:12 for most people it drifts slightly long,

0:15 closer to twenty-four and a quarter.

0:18 Staying up later is therefore working with

0:21 the drift,

0:21 while getting up earlier is working against

0:24 it.

0:25 Flying west asks you to stretch your day,

0:28 which the body does easily.

0:30 Flying east asks you to compress it,

0:33 which it resists.

0:35 The rough rule is a day of recovery per time

0:39 zone going east,

0:40 and rather less going west.

0:42 Morning light on arrival is the strongest

0:45 lever you have.