Many people suffer from brain fog to different degrees. You may feel fuzzy headed when you are sick but some people live in a fog constantly. I was one of those people. I didn’t realize how severe my brain fog was until it went away.
Brain fog symptoms can include any of the following:
- trouble concentrating
- trouble remembering or forgetfulness
- slow thinking or difficulty making decisions
- irritability
- low energy or lacking motivation
- headaches
I dealt with many of these same symptoms and considered it a normal part of life. That is, until I changed my diet, healed my gut then the fog lifted. You may be wondering how your gut can cause these symptoms. Let me explain.
It’s all about the gut-brain connection. When our GI tract becomes inflamed and damaged, inflammatory mediators are released into the blood stream. Think of them like little alarm bells altering the immune system that something is wrong. Inflammation then circulates throughout the body and can cross the blood-brain barrier. This will alert the immune system inside the brain. The brains immune system will activate and release inflammatory mediators in the brain. When brain inflammation is present, symptoms of brain fog can appear.
Inflammation that begins in the gut can lead to inflammation in the brain. Gut inflammation can be caused by food sensitivities or be consuming inflammatory foods. This is why I encourage clients to get the Mediator Release Test to identify which foods are causing inflammation in their body. I was able to decrease inflammation in my gut and brain by removing the foods that were causing inflammation in my body. I have also witnessed numerous clients improve their memory, have increased energy and fewer headaches when they try an elimination diet for the first time.
There is more to gut health than just removing inflammatory foods. However, an elimination diet is a great place to start. An elimination diet consists of removing the top known inflammatory foods.
Potential inflammatory foods include:
- gluten, wheat based products
- dairy
- refined sugars
- eggs
- soy
- peanuts
- corn
- pork
- shellfish
- grain fed beef (grass fed is ok)
Not everyone will be sensitive to all of these foods. However, these tend to be the most common culprits in creating gut inflammation.
If you are wondering what’s left to eat, don’t be worried. The majority of your meal will consist of clean proteins, like pastured chicken and wild caught fish, along with lots of vegetables, some fruits, and healthy fats. There is plenty to eat on an elimination diet.
Are you still suffering from brain fog? I would encourage you to try and an elimination diet for at least 21 days to see if any of these foods could be causing your symptoms.
Have you tried an elimination diet but need more help? You can schedule a free Clarity Call with me to explore the possibility of functional lab testing to get to the root of your symptoms. Click this Clarity Call link to learn more.
