What Is Brain Fog?
Brain fog feels like it takes hours to complete a 10-minute task or that you’re struggling to listen and comprehend what is being said in a meeting. Maybe you walk into a room and can’t remember why you are there. Or, you constantly second guess yourself about locking the door or turning off the stove because you truly can’t remember if you did.
Brain fog is not a medical condition or a diagnosis. It’s simply a term to describe the inability to focus, remember things, use logic, or solve problems.
How to Get Rid of Brain Fog
If you’re wondering how to get rid of brain fog, I have good news: you CAN get rid of it by making a few lifestyle changes. Here are five ways you naturally can support your brain function and get rid of brain fog.
1. Change Your Diet
If you are experiencing brain fog there is a good chance your diet is the cause of your brain fog. Fast foods, refined carbohydrates, artificial sweeteners, caffeine, and alcohol have all been linked to brain fog. I recommend following an autoimmune diet, or AIP diet, to eliminate toxic and inflammatory foods and replace them with foods rich in essential nutrients, including vitamin B12. I also recommend everyone take a high-quality multivitamin.
2. Heal Candida and SIBO
The key to overcoming brain fog is recognizing that most psychological symptoms are rooted in the gut, not the brain. The goal should be to restore the balance of your intestinal flora by treating bacterial infections and avoiding problematic foods such as gluten and dairy. To identify which foods are a problem for you, try an elimination diet.
If you’re suffering from Candida overgrowth or SIBO, avoid fermented foods, refined carbohydrates, and alcohol above all else. While you heal your gut, you can still focus on supporting the optimal health of your brain.
3. Relieve Your Stress
It’s not easy to get away from stress these days, so it’s important to make time every day for doing activities you love to get away from the stress. Doing something you enjoy releases dopamine, the “happy hormone” in your brain. It’s also important to do stress-relieving activities such as exercise, taking baths or going for a walk.
4. Get Enough Sleep
Studies show that quality sleep can make you eat more healthy and get rid of your brain fog. Adults need 7 hours or more of sleep every night. When you get optimal sleep, the hormones in your brain stay in balance. If you’re finding it hard to pay attention at work, stay focused when talking with someone, or remember something from seconds ago, you’re probably not getting enough sleep.
5. See a Functional Medicine Practitioner
Whether you are pregnant or entering perimenopause or you’re being treated for cancer, depression or hormone imbalances such as a thyroid disorder, it’s important to be aware of how your treatments are affecting your health. Medications and cancer treatments can disrupt your healthy brain function. Not treating hormonal imbalances because you aren’t aware of them or treating them with harsh medications can be equally damaging.
Seeking out a functional medicine practitioner who will get to the root cause of your brain fog, and not just give you a pill when you ask how to get rid of brain fog, is key to ensuring total body health and banishing it.
It can be incredibly frustrating and even frightening to feel as if you’re losing your edge. By supporting your brain function, eating a diet rich in organic foods and leafy-green vegetables, getting optimal sleep, and reducing your stress, you can eliminate your brain fog for good!
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