Foods That Help Fight Brain Fog
Brain fog
What is brain fog?
Brain fog is cognitively experienced as slower thinking, lack of concentration, forgetfulness, and/or confusion. These symptoms affect your thinking processes, understanding, judgment, and memory. You just really feel like you’re not yourself and you’re unable to think clearly. It can make you feel like you're sleepwalking through life.
what are the symptoms?
When you’re feeling foggy, unfocused, disorganized, and like you just can’t think, your brain is sending an important signal that there’s an imbalance in your life that needs to be addressed. Brain fog affects your ability to think and you may find it difficult to put your thoughts into words. It’s also the first signs that you need to take a time-out and listen to what your body needs. Though it may be difficult at first to determine what it is that your body is trying to tell you it needs, it may be easier to determine what is causing the brain fog to begin with.
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Lifestyle choices that might be the cause
The causes of brain fog usually fall into two categories; lifestyle-related or a side effect of a medical condition or medication. More often than not our lifestyle choices are the main culprit behind the brain fog we might be experiencing. Some lifestyle-related causes of brain fog may be stress, a lack of sleep, hormonal changes, or even your diet.
While each of these lifestyle-related causes are important, the easiest one to focus on first is your diet. Some foods have negative effects on the brain, impacting your memory and mood. It’s important to recognize which foods these are, so you can start to avoid them and clear up your fogginess.
Which foods you should avoid
Artificial sweeteners
MSG
Alcohol
Bacon
Processed Meat
Even though brain fog is a common feeling that many people suffer with, by no means makes it normal. In fact, brain fog is 100% avoidable and treatable.
Foods that help combat brain fog
Cocoa
Cocoa is high in flavanols, antioxidants that have been shown to help increase learning, improve memory and boost overall brain power. To incorporate cocoa into your meals, try adding dark cocoa powder into your morning coffee.
Low-FODMAP diet:
Try sprinkling some dark chocolate shavings over a bowl of fresh raspberries.
Spinach
Spinach is high in lutein, an antioxidant that protects the brain from free radical damage and inflammation. People with mild cognitive impairment have been shown to have reduced lutein status, and boosting lutein levels has been shown to enhance learning and memory. To incorporate spinach into your meals, try puréeing the spinach with white beans, garlic and olive oil for a fast dip.
Low-FODMAP diet:
Try adding finely chopped spinach to a gluten free pasta dish or to your morning omelette.
Eggs
Eggs are loaded with choline, a type of B-vitamin that can enhance memory and cognition. It’s a component of phosphatidylcholine, a critical part of cell membranes, especially brain cells. To incorporate eggs into your meals, try deviled eggs, but mash the yolks with avocado instead of mayonnaise.
Low-FODMAP diet:
Try baked eggs and minced vegetables in a small cooking pan and top them with shaved cheese.
Yogurt
Yogurt contains probiotics, beneficial bacteria that keep the gastrointestinal tract healthy. Because about 90% of the body’s serotonin – a neurotransmitter that regulates mood and behavior – is made in the gut, it’s important to keep the intestinal lining healthy. To incorporate yogurt into your meals, whisk yogurt with honey and drizzle over grilled peaches.
Low-FODMAP diet:
Try mixing yogurt with minced herbs to make a creamy, healthy dressing.
Salmon
Salmon is rich in omega-3 fats, which many studies have linked to a reduction in age-related cognitive decline, protection against Alzheimer’s and general improvement in cognition and mood. To incorporate salmon into your meals, try wrapping asparagus spears in smoked salmon.
Low-FODMAP diet:
Try adding crumbled cooked salmon to scrambled eggs.
Other lifestyle choices you could make
A healthy lifestyle can help protect your cognitive function and reduce the amount of brain fog you might experience! And while your diet is an important piece of living a healthy lifestyle’s just that, a piece. There are other lifestyle changes you can make, along with having a better diet, that can help combat brain fog.
Talking a walk
Walking is one of the best exercises for your brain. That’s why you often hear suggestions like “take a walk around the block” when you have a mental block. Walking helps increase the glucose and oxygen flowing to the brain, which in turn stimulates brain cell formation. Just taking a quick walk can help clear your unwanted brain fog.
Meditation
Meditation is a great stress reduction method and can be used to maximize your brain health and fitness. It’s almost like doing pushups for the brain. Meditation can make you happier, smarter, and more resilient to life’s ups and downs. People who regularly meditate experience improved focus and concentration, greater creativity, reduced stress, and better sleep.
Stand up more frequently
You’ve probably heard that too much sitting is very bad for your brain and your overall health. The easiest way to counteract sitting at your desk all day is to simply stand up frequently throughout the day. Just by using those muscles, you’re stimulating brain function and helping to reduce that brain fog.
Reduce your caffeine intake
We all seem to run on caffeine, and even though it wakes us up, it could contribute to insomnia, stress, anxiety, which could be causing poor sleeping habits and in turn, causing your brain fog. By drinking your coffee early and experimenting with “cut-off times”, you could greatly improve your sleep habits and brain fog.
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Be proactive about adopting a brain-healthy lifestyle and managing your health. Remember, no one cares about your brain as much as you!
