Fasting For Your Flight

A new report from Harvard Medical School says that starving yourself before a long flight may prevent jetlag. According to the report, the body's "natural circadian clock in the brain dictates when to wake, eat and sleep, all in response to light. But it seems a second clock takes over when food is scarce, and manipulating this clock might help travelers adjust to new time zones."

I don't condone fasting -- ok, that's not entirely true, I've been known to go on crash-fast diets -- but I'm actually going to try this out for Rome. According to the report, I have to go 16-hours before the flight without eating. My flight leaves Boston at 6 p.m. so that means no more food after dinner the night before. Apparently, by fasting, this will give my second body clock enough time to adjust to the new time zone and prevent jetlag. We'll see how bitchy I get after 16 hours of no food. Does alcohol count as food?

I should mention that the study was originally performed on mice and hasn't been proven to work in humans, yet.