Can An App Help You Tackle Jetlag? We Put Two to the Test.

Travel|The Battle to Beat Jet Lag: Can an App Make a Difference?

Nothing undermines the joy of travel quite like a bad case of jet leg. That’s why an entire industry has popped up to help deal with it, hawking solutions like light therapy glasses, targeted supplements, apps and coaching.

But do any of them actually work? I put two popular methods to the test on a two-week journey to Asia in May. I flew from New York City, where I live, to Seoul and Taipei, Taiwan — both on the other side of the globe, a difference that is literally night and day — and then back home.

The two apps to which I ceded control of my daily rhythms, Flykitt and Timeshifter, are personalized programs based on scientific approaches to jet lag. Both directed me when to sleep, get light exposure, drink caffeine and take supplements. But they took different approaches: Flykitt featured a heavy vitamin regimen, while Timeshifter focused on preparing for jet lag days before flying.

The science of jet lag

Both apps rely on circadian science, the study of the body’s internal clocks. The central clock is in the brain and follows a roughly 24-hour cycle.

Many mental, physical and behavioral changes in the body, such as hormone release, and sleeping and waking, are influenced by the circadian clock. Research shows that exposure to light plays a key role in synchronizing these rhythms to the outside world.

Jet lag happens when the body clock falls out of sync with the local time, resulting in discomforts like poor digestion, foggier memory and focus, and interrupted sleep.