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If you’ve ever traveled across the world, you may have experienced the joys of jet lag and begged for a cure.
Good news! Scientists have come closer to finding a compound that might do the trick, and it’s located in a humble little fungus.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
According to Inverse, the fungus Cordyceps militaris contains a compound called Cordycepin. This aggregate may be able to “reset” your body’s clock per a study conducted on mice.
Funnily enough, the study was originally searching for the fungi’s possible influence on sex drive.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Scientists didn’t find what they were looking for, but they did notice find that mice who were exposed to time changes fared better when taking a lab-made form of cordycepin.
It typically takes mice up to 10 days to get used to time changes, but mice who experienced an 8-hour time change were cured of jet lag after just 4 days when taking the synthetic cordycepin.
Scientist Erquan Zhang with The National Institute of Sciences Beijing mentioned that cordycepin probably influences the body’s natural clock, or circadian rhythm.
Our body’s clock secretes hormones that tell us when to wake up or go to sleep. Traveling between time zones interrupts this process. There’s always an unpleasant adjustment period, but this fungi’s compound shows some promise.
Do you think you’ll take this or another natural compound in order to help you with jet lag in future travels? Maybe you’d care to share a hack that can help fellow readers ease jet lag symptoms. Sharing tips is why our comments section exists!
