Most people think that a heavy head is an indication that they need more sleep or another cup of coffee. That’s where it begins to get problematic. Brain fog is a specific level of mental fogginess that occurs when you are well-rested and relatively free of stress.
The hardest part about dealing with brain fog is that conventional medicine often dismisses it. It does not have a standard medical code, and no brain scan will reveal any abnormality. There are so many patients we see who are informed that their lab results are perfectly normal but are having trouble recalling simple words or processing information at work.
However, the science doesn’t agree here. Brain fog has been identified as a physiological problem for more than 20 years. Researchers have identified real changes in neuron activity, systemic inflammation, hormonal imbalances, and underlying nutrition deficiencies as the actual brain fog causes.
What is Brain Fog?
Brain fog is not a disease in itself. This term is applied to a group of cognitive symptoms such as:
- Difficulty focusing
- Poor attention
- Poor memory, especially short-term memory
- Extreme Fatigue
- Slowed thinking
- Difficulty finding words
- Mentally unclear or disconnected
- Reduced motivation and mental drive
Brain fog is a condition characterized by a loss of concentration, memory, and mental clarity. It is not a medical term but is widely used to refer to the feeling of mental tiredness. If your brain does not receive oxygen or fuel, it puts itself in a low-power mode to protect itself. This is when you feel confused, forgetful, and unable to concentrate.
It’s crucial to recognize what brain fog isn’t. It’s not anxiety or because of age. It is a physiological response that your brain is telling you that something is not working as it should be.
Brain Fog Causes
The solution lies in changing your approach to the symptom and addressing the root cause of brain fog. Your brain consumes a tremendous amount of energy. It makes up only around 2% of your body weight, but uses 20% of your daily energy. Your brain is the first organ to feel it when your metabolism is under stress.
The following are some of the key brain fog causes that you should know:
Blood Sugar Instability
Unstable blood sugar is the most common cause of brain fog. If you consume a meal made up of a lot of carbohydrates, but none with protein or healthy fats, your blood sugar rises. This causes a sharp drop in insulin levels, leading to a “crash.” This crash causes a temporary deprivation of glucose to the brain, causing immediate brain fog and irritability.
Systemic Inflammation and a Leaky Gut
The gut and brain are linked together by the vagus nerve. With leaky gut, toxins and undigested food particles enter the bloodstream. Your immune system fights these particles, generating inflammation around the body.
These inflammatory cytokines travel up to the brain, crossing the blood-brain barrier and literally causing brain inflammation. This eventually results in brain fog.
Hormonal Imbalances
Your hormones control your cells’ metabolism. With low thyroid function, your brain slows down significantly. Chronic stress causes high cortisol, which reduces the size of the hippocampus, the memory center of the brain. Perimenopause in women may also have a significant effect on memory and thinking, due to changes in estrogen.
Hidden Nutrient Deficiencies
Your brain needs certain raw materials to make neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, and to create cellular energy (ATP). The most prevalent deficiencies that lead to brain fog are Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, iron (ferritin), and magnesium. Without these, your brain just can’t work properly.
Poor Sleep Quality
During sleep, your brain cleans itself. In deep sleep the glymphatic system, which is a brain waste clearance system, clears metabolic byproducts and inflammatory molecules that build up during the day, such as beta-amyloid, a protein linked to cognitive decline. A lack of sleep, whether due to insomnia, sleep apnea, late night screen use or an irregular sleep schedule, prevents this clearance system from functioning, causing brain fog.
Many people today suffer from sleep disorders, and 40-50% of the world’s population experience poor or inadequate sleep.
How to Get Rid of Brain Fog?
You need a systematic process in order to clear you mind. It’s important to eliminate the inflammation triggers and provide your brain with precisely the fuel it requires to heal. Here are some ways to permanently cure brain fog.
1. Audit your sleep
Not jus duration, you need a quality sleep. Fragmented and non-continuous sleep is not the same as seven hours of deep, consolidated sleep. If you are not feeling refreshed when you wake up, snore or feel foggy despite sleeping for a sufficient duration, sleep apnea evaluation should be considered.
2. Manage Your Blood Sugar Immediately
Stop eating naked carbohydrates. It is best to always combine a carbohydrate with a protein and a healthy fat. Eat a high-protein breakfast within an hour of waking up, like eggs and avocado, or a protein shake. This keeps your blood sugar stabilized and you can keep your brain functioning throughout the morning.
Also try to cut refined sugar and processed carbohydrates for two weeks. It’s the quickest dietary adjustment to help with brain fog involving blood sugar.
3. Eat for Your Gut
The brain cannot be clear with an inflamed gut. You need to eliminate highly inflammatory foods that destroy the gut lining such as processed sugars, industrial seed oils (canola and soybeans), gluten and dairy. You can use alternative foods to heal the gut such as bone broth, fermented veggies, and omega-3 fatty fish to reduce inflammation throughout the body.
4 Maximize Your Nutrient Levels
A full blood panel should be performed to see if your ferritin, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, and magnesium levels are normal. If you are low, you need to take highly bioavailable forms.
Sublingual B12 drops or the methylated vitamins travel directly to your brain and can help to alleviate mental fatigue quickly.
5. Give Your Brain the Right Fats
Your brain is made up of 60% fat. Use a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in your diet every day. You can include two portions of wild-caught salmon each week to help provide an abundant supply of Omega 3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA). These have clinically proven benefits in reducing inflammation in the brain and improving cognitive function.
6. Get Outside in the Morning
Your cortisol and serotonin levels are regulated by morning sunlight. Both are directly related to cognitive function. One of the easiest high-impact interventions for brain fog is to get outside 10 minutes before you start your screen time, or within an hour after waking.
7. Drink Water
Dehydration affects memory, attention, and processing speed, even with a small amount of dehydration. In Texas, where the heat plays a large part in most of the year, most people are chronically dehydrated. You need a minimum of 8-10 glasses of water per day.
In some cases, plain water isn’t sufficient. In the morning, add a bit of good sea salt and a lemon twist to your water. The sodium and potassium force water directly into your cells, and increase the volume of cells. This immediately improves your mental clarity.
Foods to Help Ease Brain Fog
You can clear your brain fog by eating the MIND diet pattern. The MIND diet has been shown to be beneficial for the brain, but some researchers are also investigating its ability to clear brain fog. MIND is a diet that combines the Mediterranean and DASH eating plans for brain health. It includes:
- Leafy greens such as spinach, kale, arugula, Swiss chard
- Blueberries and strawberries at least twice weekly
- Nuts daily
- Olive oil as primary fat source
- Fish: two or more servings weekly
- Legumes every other day minimum
- Three servings of whole grains each day
You can include the following foods in your diet to relieve brain fog:
- Fatty fish like salmon, sardines, mackerel
- Walnuts
- Eggs
- Dark chocolate (70%+ cacao)
- Beets
- Fermented foods: yogurt, kefir, kimchi
Try to avoid these foods:
- Sugar-sweetened beverages
- Highly processed foods
- Junk foods
- Refined white flour products
- Alcohol
Bottom Line
Brain fog shouldn’t be a normal part of your life. It has hidden causes, and in many cases they are treatable.
With treatment that focuses on the underlying causes of brain fog, such as blood sugar imbalances, gut inflammation, and nutrient deficiencies, your mental sharpness can be restored.
At Kairos Health and Wellness, Lola, one of our functional nurse practitioners, will create a personalized, root-cause plan to clear your mind and get your energy back
Are you suffering from a brain that doesn’t feel quite right?
Book a session with us today to find out the answers your brain is looking for.