Some nonmedical options to try include staying hydrated, exercising or being active during the time you are supposed to be awake, and getting enough overall sleep before, during and after travel if possible.

CNN: Can melatonin prevent jet lag?

While the medical community has traditionally focused on increasing daily amounts of exercise and participation in sports programs, what we should be more concerned with is the time when we are awake (up to 15 hrs per day) which we do not spend exercising.

FORBES: Why Sitting Increases Your Risk of Dying Sooner

In the month before the competition, he stayed awake for days at a time to finish the collection.

CNN: Why the other Fashion Weeks matter

Some were even living on Mars time, adding forty minutes to every day, till they were awake at night and asleep when the sun was out.

NEWYORKER: The Martian Chroniclers

Many instead come in a day early or leave a day later to accommodate airline schedules and to be awake and alert for classes that are several time zones earlier or later than their own.

WSJ: Traveling the Globe -- Just to Get to Class

It's not just a matter of the extra time being awake, that there is something about being tired that seems to contribute.

NPR: 10 More Possible Triggers to Obesity

In addition to keeping a prisoner awake, the simple act of remaining upright can over time cause significant pain.

NEWYORKER: The Black Sites

Most travelers arrive in a new time zone, take a sleeping pill to fall asleep at bedtime, drink coffee during the day to stay awake, and wait it out until they feel better, says Charmane Eastman, a professor of behavioral sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, who has devised strategies for people seeking to minimize jet lag.

WSJ: To Avoid Jet Lag This Summer, Travel Like a Scientist