"How to Outsmart Brain Fog
in 30 Days"

Brain fog is a serious condition affecting thousands of people that can contribute to problems in school, difficulty concentrating at work and problems executing activities of daily living.

Beverly Murphy, a 48-year-old woman, for example, thought she was eating right, and eating healthy foods. Every day for lunch, she would eat a salad along with a diet soda, but was beginning to notice problems concentrating at work.

She was observing that she was beginning to feel more and more exhausted, but couldn't understand why she was feeling this way.

After consulting with her doctor, Beverly discovered that she was having an allergic reaction to the artificial sweetener NutraSweet in her diet soda, that was contributing to the problem.

Upon further examination, she also learned that she was having trouble dealing with some of the stress in her life, which was causing her endocrine glands to become overworked and exhausted.

Fortunately, with her doctor’s help, she was able to develop a lifestyle and nutritional plan that was able to bring her out of this fog.

What Are the Symptoms of Brain Fog?

Here is a list of a few of the symptoms of brain fog:

• A Loss of Mental Sharpness - You may feel confusion with a decreased ability to perform mental tasks.
• Forgetfulness - Things such as losing your train of thought during casual conversation. You may get to the point where you forget your own telephone number. Some individuals even forget their own name.
• Feeling Spaced out And Unable to Clearly Think - Sometimes this type of fog is a type of defense mechanism, related to some sort of emotional conflict, or unresolved trauma that the individual cannot cope with.
• A Decreased Attention Span - You may feel like you are unable to focus or in a daze. It is difficult to pay attention to detail, and there is a noticeable lack of definition.
• Feelings of Depression - many times, certain food additives such as NutraSweet and monosodium glutamate can contribute to a depressed state of mind.

What Causes Brain Fog?

This condition can be caused by various lifestyle and nutritional factors.

Here's a list of some of the things that can cause this condition:

Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, starves your brain for fuel. Unlike muscles, the brain does not store glucose and needs a continuous fuel supply. In fact, the brain uses about one third of all calories you consume each day. Common symptoms of low blood sugar include forgetfulness, irritability, confusion and blackouts.

Many individuals, especially school age children, experience blood sugar swings all day long. They may start their day with cereal, sweetened with sugar or doughnuts, which will drive their blood sugar up until midmorning when it will drop. This is followed by some kind of sweet snack, such as a candy bar or a soda pop, which raises sugar levels once again until noon.

A typical lunch may include a soft drink, sweetened catsup, a salad with a sweet salad dressing, rolls, or chocolate milk and other sweetened foods. Once again the sugar rises quickly, only to fall by midafternoon.

At this time, it may be happy hour, or time for a midafternoon snack, and so the cycle continues.

Food Or Chemical Allergies

Allergic reactions to foods or beverages can also have an effect on your energy levels, which leads to fatigue and foggy thinking.

Often, reactions to the foods tend to irritate the intestine, causing a condition known as leaky gut syndrome, where excessive toxins are excreted into the bloodstream.

Sometimes, certain foods can cause increased production of histamine in the brain which can contribute to this problem. This condition is referred to as a brain allergy.

Some of the most common foods that people are allergic to are cows milk, wheat products, oats, rye and barley, so you should avoid these foods whenever possible.

A Lack of Oxygen to the Brain

Another common cause of brain fog is limited oxygen to the brain. This is frequently caused when arteries to the brain become clogged, but it may often be caused by shallow breathing, or holding your breath.

If this condition is serious, it can cause an individual to pass out. However, in mild cases, it can cause confusion, spaciness, and difficulty thinking.

Many times, individuals that are stressed forget to breathe deeply and regularly. This is attributed to any fearful or anxious feelings they may have about an issue in their lives.

Breathing problems can also be caused by a number of respiratory conditions such as asthma, bronchitis or emphysema.

Metal Toxicity

A common cause of brain fog is elevated levels of certain toxic metals in an individual’s bloodstream. Copper is one metal that, in excess, can cause confusion, mood swings, and disorientation. This condition is sometimes hard to detect as it doesn't show up on a standard blood test.

Some causes of a copper imbalance are a weakened adrenal gland, a deficiency of zinc, fatigue, stress, even birth control pills.

Many vegetarian diets are high in copper, and low in zinc. Normally, zinc should function to balance the effects of copper.

A copper imbalance is usually very difficult to treat through diet or supplementation alone.

Adrenal Burnout

The adrenal gland secretes two key hormones, cortisol and adrenaline, that are produced in large quantities when individuals become stressed.

However, if an individual stays constantly stressed, overproduction of these two hormones may deplete their adrenal glands, while wiping out their energy reserves.

It can take anywhere from 2-5 years of stressful living, before adrenal fatigue occurs. Additionally, it may take several months to several years to recover from adrenal burnout.

Nutrient Deficiencies

Many times brain fog can be caused by deficiencies in essential nutrients. This is especially true if your diet consists of lots of junk food, foods with high amounts of sugar in them, such as soft drinks, and foods with large amounts of chemicals in them.

Try to drink at least eight glasses of filtered or bottled water daily, instead of soft drinks.

When the body is deficient in certain key nutrients, it becomes easy for it to develop viral and other infections such as the Epstein-Barr virus, hepatitis C, Lyme disease and others.

It is important to take vitamin and mineral supplements, including members of the B complex and B12 family of vitamins.

Medications

There are many prescription and over-the-counter drugs that can cause mental confusion and foggy thinking. This list includes medicines for allergies, anxiety, depression, glaucoma, high blood pressure, heart conditions, inflammation and other medicines.

Many times people are taking two or more medications at one time, which, in combination may become harmful in ways that no one can expect. Talk to your pharmacist to see if the symptoms you are experiencing are as a result of any medicines you may be taking.

Menopause

Many women in their late 40s and early 50s may have trouble with foggy thinking, depression, and mood swings as they go through menopause.

One theory is that this is caused by fluctuating estrogen levels, at this time in a woman's life. However, other researchers are not so sure as to its cause.

Yeast Infections

Sometimes a candida albicans fungus, which causes a vaginal or yeast infection, may overgrow in the intestines and become chronic. This causes a woman’s body to produce alcohol and acetaldehyde, both of which are poisonous to the nervous system and may cause brain fog.

Also, foggy thinking may also be caused as the yeast in a woman's body die off. This may be as a result of a dietary change, or just a shift in metabolism. As the yeast die off, they release toxins that may contribute to this problem.

Other Causes

Brain fog can also be caused by a number of illnesses including a brain tumor, encephalitis, epilepsy or meningitis.

Also, some people are sensitive to electrical interference from computer monitors or televisions.

Furthermore, be sure that you turn off any computer monitors, televisions, or any devices generating an electrical field before going to sleep each night.

On the next page, I will discuss eight ways you can beat this condition and regain the mental energy you once had... < Prev 1 2 Next >