The key reasons why we tend to put on weight while travelling are: disruption of the Circadian rhythm, imbalance of our gut bacteria and of course, unplanned meals and junk food.

Circadian clock

Circadian clock or circadian rhythm is more often called our “body clock.” This internal clock, which is present in almost all living organisms, is responsible for regulating sleep and wake cycles, hunger and satiety, hormone balance, and behaviour. It is driven by a master clock located in our brain which is connected to other “peripheral” clocks located in different organs like the liver, the gut and so on. This master clock runs on a 24-hour schedule by receiving cues from our environment, such as light, darkness and food.

Gut bacteria

Gut bacteria are the trillions of bacteria that reside in our intestine/gut. They have their own clock which sends signals to the master clock in the brain. These bacteria play a critical role in our metabolism, mood, health of our brain and heart and how our body absorbs nutrients from food.

When the gut bacteria and our circadian clock are not in sync, our health starts spiralling downward. Travel, even if it’s domestic travel and does not involve different time zones, could send our body rhythm out of balance.

Three things that affect gut bacteria

• What we eat
• When we eat
• Our sleep-wake cycle

Apart from this, the geographical location also makes a difference, though studies in this area are at early stages.

The reason why we feel tired and sluggish at the end of a road or rail trip [even if we just read or slept during the travel] is because we spend our time doing something that is out of our normal pattern. This also disrupts the body clock and gut bacteria.

The travel fatigue that we feel after a long day of travel within the same timezone should go away with one night of sound sleep, hydration, nourishing food and a warm shower. The recovery is not so smooth and quick if you are travelling international or across more than two time zones and that’s what we call a jetlag. Jetlag doesn’t go away with one night’s sleep and hydration because the circadian clock is not synchronised with the location and external environment.

It takes time to realign our biological clock. Our body needs approximately 2/3^rd the number of days as the time zones we have crossed to adjust itself.

Tips to avoid weight gain during travel

Whether it’s a fun domestic trip or an international trip for work, if we plan the travel carefully, we can avoid putting on weight, feeling bloated or having water retention at the end of the travel. Some of the things that we could do are:

1. Carry your own food. This ensures that you are in better control of what you eat [and what you don’t end up eating]. People tend to give in to temptation when they are hungry and don’t have much choice
2. Avoid alcohol, packaged juices, refined foods and desserts during the journey. Travel by itself is dehydrating, especially flight travel. Sugar, alcohol and juices [which are a concentrated source of sugar with almost no fibre] will only worsen it
3. Avoid refined, fried, salty and ultra processed food
4. Carry fruits, nuts, cooked rice, beans, nut balls, sandwiches etc. These will make it through most security systems and are less messy to pack and carry
5. Keep sipping water through the journey. This will keep you hydrated
6. Move around more, walk as much as you can
7. Use ginger to your fatigue rescue. Have ginger tea, or dry sweetened ginger or ginger chews once you reach the destination to help you get rid of bloating and get back your appetite and digestion.

How to adjust your body clock quickly after travel

1. 1. Use light and dark to set your biological clock. If it’s morning when you reach your destination, get exposed to sunlight often through the day and that will keep you awake too. If you reach your destination at nighttime, reduce the lighting indoors and any light emitting devices [including phones, tablets and TV]
   2. Change your meal and sleeptime according to the destination timezone from the moment you start your travel, through the journey
   3. If it’s nighttime at your destination and you are not sleepy, have a glass of warm milk with a pinch of turmeric powder and nutmeg powder. That will help you fall asleep and improve your immunity that’s disturbed by the travel
   4. Workout first thing in the morning once you reach your destination. A few rounds of suryanamaskar or a light jog or run in the fresh crisp morning air for 20-25 minutes is enough to awaken your senses and make you feel fresh and ready for the day.

With the current lifestyle it is not possible to avoid travel. Following these tips will help you enjoy the travel and reduce the impact of travel on your waistline, mood and overall health.

The post How to avoid weight gain during frequent travel appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

There are three critical factors that shape a child’s health

1. Nutrition
2. Activity levels
3. Sleep

How could something as simple as watching TV or browsing on a  tablet or phone interfere with these, you ask. Let’s find out…

Nutrition

Nutrition is about eating healthy food and eating in the right proportion. Children are intuitive eaters; they tend to be more in touch with their body and hunger cues as compared to adults. However, they lose the ability to know how much they should eat when they are distracted by devices or when their plate is filled with processed food.

There was a time when parents or grandparents used to carry the child and tell them stories while feeding them. Today’s harsh reality is that we see parents feeding their children while the latter have their eyes glued to some screen. In order to ensure that their children eat faster and with minimum fuss, parents allow them to watch cartoons or play games on these devices. As children don’t realise what and how much they eat, they are more likely to have digestive and metabolic problems by their early teens.

With the food industry targeting parents and children with their well-planned advertising campaigns, consuming foods marketed by them as healthful is very common. Further, with celebrities endorsing such products, children love to consume them. Parents prefer to fill their children’s lunch/snack box with the latest products launched in the market as it is easier and less time consuming [and promoted as healthy] as compared to traditional homemade snacks.

Most of these products contain hydrogenated fat [the type that clogs the arteries], artificial flavours and colours, thickening agents and preservatives. These are known carcinogens and harmful to the body’s metabolism and are linked to issues such as ADHD, Autism, and depression. They also contain other toxic chemicals, MSG [mono sodium glutamate] and high amounts of sugar and salt, added to increase the shelf life and taste of the product.

Dr. David Kessler in his book, ‘The End of Overeating’ says that consuming foods with high amounts of sugar and salt causes a change in the taste buds and brain’s chemistry.

Subsequently, naturally sweet /normal home food will not please the tongue. This explains why children who are exposed to such junk food want to snack only on those, and never try real fruits, vegetables or fresh homemade food.

What you should do

In order to ensure that your children eat right, be the role model. When parents start eating healthy and fresh food, it will inspire and motivate the younger ones to try those. Involve the younger ones in grocery shopping , cooking and avoid bribing them with gadgets or food.

Activity Levels

It is recommended that up to the age of 21, we should have physical activity of 60-90 minutes per day. With the ever-increasing pressure of study load and performance, children don’t get enough time to play outdoors. Playtime now means sitting in one place playing video games, watching videos or using social networking sites. As their device usage increases, their physical activity, social interaction, and attention span reduces.

Little do we realise the effect of devices on their brain and behaviour. Several studies have already pointed out that there is a delay in cognitive development in children who are exposed to too much electronic media. Additionally, since their skull is not as hard as that of adults, the radiations from mobile/tablet/gadgets can easily penetrate their skull and cause damages in their brain.

What you should do

Give them your attention and not a gadget. Encourage your children to play real games; keep video games away. This will not only improve their fitness, immunity, attention span and social skills, but will also ensure their brain develops faster.

Sleep

Both the issues detailed above create a third issue. The chemicals and sugar in the junk food keeps the brain excited and lack of physical activity compounds it by not making the body tired enough to sleep. As a result, children don’t sleep on time, which disrupts theirsleep cycle. Parents again give children gadgets or turn on the television to calm them down. This only does the opposite.

The light emitted by these devices are largely from blue light spectrum, which is outside human visibility spectrum. The blue light prevents the pineal gland from secreting the sleep hormone melatonin, and interferes with the circadian rhythm and sleep cycle. Good quality sleep is a non-negotiable factor for immunity and physical and cognitive growth in children.

What you should do

Create a healthy sleep routine and stick to it. Avoid gadgets an hour before bed time and move the television from the bedroom to another room. Use this time to connect with family. Either coach your child to sleep by themselves or sing lullabies and read stories to them to make them sleep.

Final words

As parents earn more, and spend less time with the children, they compensate it with things like processed food, gadgets, and other indoor game consoles. Though these things keep children engaged, we often forget their real need and the negative effects of these conveniences.

One of the best ways to show care and love to your children is to make fresh homemade food and spend quality time with them. This will improve their immunity, metabolism and mental health which will equip them to be fit and sound for a whole life.

The post Too much screen time is bad for your child’s wellbeing appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.