Who loves a good meme? Sometimes I communicate with memes because they can be so darn funny! Someone sent me this and I thought it was perfectly fitting for this article about brain fog!
This can be me sometimes! I walk into rooms and completely forget what I went in there for. Many of my clients tell me the same thing. Brain fog is real and can be really frustrating!
Many of my clients say they have gone to the doctor to find out what’s wrong, only to be told they are healthy and nothing is wrong. She then is under the assumption the doctor thinks it’s all in her head.
The truth is, it’s not all in your head. Brain fog is real but may not show up on traditional lab reports because of the underlying root cause.
Trust your body’s signals though, you know your body best. If you feel something isn’t right, keep digging until you find the answer. I can help if you need a detective!
What Is Brain Fog?
Brain fog is exactly that, your brain seems to get “foggy” making it hard to think clearly. Sure, everyone goes through times every once in a while where they walk into a room and can’t remember what they went in there to do. But if this isn’t often, you probably just have too much on your mind and you’re thinking about other things. True brain fog is different and is more than an occasional thing.
There are a wide range of symptoms associated with brain fog, including forgetfulness, confusion, loss of focus or concentration, fatigue, difficulty retrieving words, trouble paying attention, mental tiredness, slow reaction time, and losing your train of thought.
What Causes Brain Fog?
Brain fog can be caused by multiple things. You may have one or more factors contributing to your brain fog. Addressing each one will help get to the root cause and clear the brain fog.
Some common causes of brain fog include lack of sleep, autoimmune diseases, anxiety and depression, poor nutrition and eating habits, hormonal changes, medications, and stress.
How to Overcome Brain Fog
Brain fog isn’t a life sentence. Understanding what your root causes are and healing from those is key to thinking clearly again. The trick is knowing where to start.
I recently listened to a really good podcast about protecting your brain. It’s never too early to protect your brain, and there are simple tools you can use to help. The tools suggested in the podcast are the same as I would suggest when starting to look for root causes to your brain fog.
Sleep to Improve Brain Fog
Haven’t you had those days when you didn’t get enough sleep the night before and you are cranky, irritable and can’t think clearly all day? Sleep is so important to every function of the body.
For some of you, sleep is overlooked because you don’t feel productive when sleeping. There aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. So sleep gets put on the back burner and you get what you can, but it usually isn’t enough.
For others, you want to sleep, but sleep doesn’t seem to want you. You’re tired all day but when it’s time to go to sleep, you can’t fall asleep. Or you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep.
Working on healthy sleep habits is the number one place to start. The body requires about 7.5 hours of sleep to function properly, heal and maintain health. If you need help with sleep, start with my Energy Elixir. You can grab your copy on my homepage on my website.
Exercise to Improve Brain Fog
Exercise in any form has been shown to improve brain fog and improve the brain’s ability to think clearly. Both aerobic and/or resistance training have benefits on the brain. Aim for just 30 minutes of movement each day to notice the biggest improvements.
Nutrition to Improve Brain Fog
Proper nutrition will not only help you sleep better and make exercise easier, you will overall feel better. “Clearing the muddy waters” as I call it is a way of finding root causes to your chronic symptoms. When you clear out the processed food and eat real food, with lots of non-starchy veggies, you will clear the muddy waters from your diet and help make thinking more clear.
Let’s Connect!
I’d love to hear your story! Do you feel like an ostrich is your spirit animal? Comment below with your biggest frustration about your brain fog.
