The Hidden Cause of Brain Fog and How to Reverse It Naturally
Ever looked all over for your glasses or sunglasses only to realize they’re on your head? Or panicked while running late because you couldn’t remember where you put your keys? Brain fog, which can manifest as confusion, an inability to focus or concentrate, and/or poor recall — isn’t just a problem experienced by the elderly or chronic fatigue sufferers; a vast majority of the general population suffers with it at some point or another. And many people suffer with it daily, despite having no diagnosable health condition.
Coffee tends to be the go-to ‘solution’ for eliminating brain fog because it acts as an immediate stimulant, enhancing alertness and temporarily alleviating the fog. But coffee is a Band-Aid solution that makes the situation worse, because it exhausts your adrenal glands further, which in-turn causes more frequent and more intense brain fog. Fortunately, you can clear away that mental confusion and regain mental clarity through simple dietary tweaks. Before diving right into the dietary do’s and don’ts, it’s important to first understand the root cause of brain fog. So dump out that cup a joe and read-on.
The Cause of Brain Fog
Brain fog is an important signal from your brain that something is imbalanced in your life, and it needs to be fixed. A high stress lifestyle, physical inactivity and chronic sleep deficiency are 3 lifestyle factors that can contribute to brain fog, and they should be addressed when trying to reverse the condition. Your diet however, is more often than not, the most important factor at play. Food allergies and sensitivities, dehydration, nutritional deficiencies and toxic overload caused by an unhealthy diet, can all contribute to and worsen brain fog. But the foremost cause is something that is rarely discussed or addressed – it’s the consumption excess dietary fat.
The Dietary Fat/Brain Fog Connection
If you look at blood cells under a microscope, the fat should be hard to find and appear as nothing more than tiny specs. A low fat diet allows those fats to remain separate and float around nicely. When you consume a fatty meal however, it temporarily increases your triglyceride levels and causes excess fat in the blood. The extra fats stick together and become large clumps that cannot fit through the capillaries to the brain, so your brain becomes deprived of blood and oxygen and starved for nourishment. The lack of oxygen is the cause of brain fog, sleepiness and fatigue. Astonishingly, simple live blood tests reveal that just one high fat meal is enough to cause a lack of oxygen in the brain and consequently, brain fog and what you consume the night before, directly influences how you feel the next morning.
The Brain-Fog Busting Diet
Since dehydration can cause brain fog, you should aim to consume at least 8 glasses of water a day and increase that intake if you sweat a lot, have a high body mass or exercise heavily. Also, be sure to vastly reduce or eliminate your sugar and caffeine intake because they exhaust your adrenal glands and cause spikes and subsequent drops in your blood sugar – both of which cause brain fog. Try to consume a primarily whole-foods, vegan-based diet, high in fruits, vegetables, beans and legumes. Most importantly of all, eliminate processed, fatty foods, meat, dairy and oils, and restrict your intake of eggs (especially the yolk part) – these foods will cause an upsurge of fat in your bloodstream and restrict blood flow and oxygen to your brain. These dietary tweaks should produce a noticeable change in your mental clarity, but if you want to enhance your cognition and energy even further, a daily supplement such as Stem Cell Strong (http://www.delgadonaturals.com/stem-cell-strong/ ); or Power and Speed (http://www.delgadonaturals.com/power-speed/) may be of benefit to you.
Additional Considerations
If you experience brain fog regularly you should have your healthcare practitioner test you for food allergies and sensitivities, and also consider a possible nutritional deficiency. Common deficiencies associated with brain fog include vitamins B6, B12, thiamin and vitamin D; magnesium, calcium, zinc and omega-3s. Finally, if addressing all of the above factors does not eliminate your brain fog, it may be a sign that it’s caused either by a prescription medication or by an underlying health condition, such as fibromyalgia, lupus, adrenal fatigue, thyroid disorders, Lyme disease, ADHD, systemic candida, rheumatoid arthritis, heavy metal toxicity or a neurotransmitter imbalance. A hormone imbalance may also contribute to brain fog and if tests show estrogen dominance or testosterone deficiency, talk to your healthcare practitioner about adding in a EstroBlock Pro or Testro Vida supplement, to your daily health regime.
Finally, it’s important to realize that making these dietary changes will be difficult at first and it may take a few weeks for your taste buds to adjust to this new diet, but the payoff will be well worth it! Not only will you experience a newfound sense of energy and mental clarity, you’ll also be rewarded with healthier skin, a slimmer body, less cravings, improved sleep, an enhanced sense of wellbeing and a vastly reduce risk for chronic disease.
