Is frequent business travel making you fat and unwell?

Frequent Business Travel

Is frequent business travel making you fat and unwell?

We all “feel” different when we
travel frequently for business, but did you know that frequent business
travel, shift work and fly-in-fly-out [FIIFO] travel can start to make
you “fat” in as little as 3 weeks? If you travel regularly for business,
or manage frequent business travellers, then you need to read this
article. By the end of the article, you will understand the hazard, and
the form beginning of a plan to manage this travel health and safety

and his colleagues, found that over a 5 week intensive study, that the
resting metabolic rate of test subjects was 8% lower than before the
sleep/wake disruption experimentation. After
insulin from the pancreas in response to meals; with less insulin
available to break down glucose, blood glucose levels started to rise
as pre-diabetic.


Pilots Suffer From it Too

The Federal Aviation Administration in the US advises pilots on the
hazard, with detailed instructions on prevention and management of the
issues associated with frequent business travel, shift work and time
zone changes.
The issue was reported as early as Charles Lindbergh TransAtlantic crossing. Source

Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders

What is it?

Circadian rhythm disorders are disruptions in a person’s
circadian rhythm — a name given to the “internal body clock” that
regulates the (approximately) 24-hour cycle of biological processes. The
term circadian comes from Latin words that literally mean around the
day. There are patterns of brain wave activity, hormone production, cell regeneration, and other biological activities linked to this 24-hour cycle.

The circadian rhythm is important in determining
sleeping patterns such as when we sleep and when we wake, every 24

The normal circadian clock is set by the light-dark cycle over 24
hours. Source
The circadian rhythm sleep disorder, jet lag type (or
jet lag disorder) occurs when there is a temporary mismatch between
sleep-wake cycle timing generated by the endogenous circadian clock and
the sleep-wake pattern required by a time-zone change. In general,
eastward travel causes more severe jet lag than westward travel because
the biological clock adjusts better to a longer than a shorter day.
However, the ability and speed to adapt varies with the individual. Source

Common Circadian Rhythm Disorders

  • Jet Lag or Rapid Time Zone Change Syndrome: This
    syndrome consists of symptoms that include excessive sleepiness and a
    lack of daytime alertness in people who travel across time zones.
  • Shift Work Sleep Disorder: This sleep disorder affects people who frequently rotate shifts or work at night.
  • Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS): This is a
    disorder of sleep timing. People with DSPS tend to fall asleep very late
    at night and have difficulty waking up in time for work, school, or
    social engagements.
  • Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome (ASPD): This is a
    disorder in which a person goes to sleep earlier and wakes earlier than
    desired. ASPD results in symptoms of evening sleepiness, going to bed
    earlier (for example, between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.), and waking up earlier
    than desired (for example, between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.)
  • Non 24-Hour Sleep Wake Disorder:  This disorder
    frequently affects those that are totally blind since the circadian
    clock is set by light-dark cycle over a 24 hour period. In non-24 hour
    sleep wake disorder the cycle is disturbed. The disorder result in
    drastically reduced sleep time and sleep quality at night and problems
    with sleepiness during daylight hours.Source


Typical consequences of jet lag are disturbed sleep, decreased
alertness, and impaired daytime function, in addition to
gastrointestinal distress and general malaise. Source

Who is Affected?

Jet lag can affect all age groups. However, the elderly may have more severe symptoms and require a longer recovery time. Source

Jet Lag Treatment Suggestions

  • Proper sleep hygiene (i.e. avoiding caffeine, optimizing the
    sleeping environment) is important in helping to reduce the effects of
    jet lag.
  • Carefully timed bright light therapy can be effective. In one 3-day
    study, 3.5 hours of morning bright light therapy, either continuous
    (>3000 lux), or intermittent (>3000 lux, 30 minutes on, 30 minutes
    off), or 3.5 hours of morning dim indoor light (<60 lux) were
    effective in advancing circadian rhythms prior to eastward travel.2
    In a separate 3-day study, 3.5 hours of intermittent morning bright
    light (5,000 lux for 30 minutes alternating with <60 lux for 30
    minutes), combined with a gradually advancing sleep schedule (1 or 2
    hours per day), was also effective in advancing circadian rhythms prior
    to eastbound travel. Source

The findings highlight how
harder to dismiss the [observational] studies and workplace studies that
mechanisms can occur even in healthy subjects, so the time for
dismissing night work as a health risk is well past.” Source

Now you know it just isn’t a ‘feeling” when you travel or disrupt
your sleep. Your body is actually conspiring against you by reducing
your ability to process foods, store fat and increase your risk of
diabetes. Frequent business travel, shift work, fly-in-fly-out or other
similar activities that disrupt your sleeping and rest rhythms, can
start to make you fat in as little as 3 weeks. Know this, understand
this and work to maximise your rest, sleep and those you manage to
ensure this hazard doesn’t escalate to a level of concern or compound
existing health conditions in your business travellers.

– See
more at Intelligent Travel.


About Tony Ridley
Travel health, safety, security and risk management expert.

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