Jet lag 'cures' aplenty, but none that work for all

New York

RITA Gunther McGrath, a Columbia Business School professor, is one of those business travellers who does not care about delays, cancellations or navigating a new location. What does concern her is the seeming inability to conquer jet lag, and the accompanying symptoms that leave her groggy, unfocused and feeling, she says, "like a dishrag".

"Jet lag has always been an issue for me," says Prof McGrath, who has been a business traveller for more than two decades and has dealt with itineraries that take her from New York to New Zealand to Helsinki to Hong Kong all within a matter of days.

She has scoured the Internet for "jet lag cures", and has tried preventing or dealing with the misery by avoiding alcohol, limiting light exposure or blasting her body with su…