What is Brain Fog? How to Support Brain Health & Think Clearly Again

It’s normal to feel forgetful sometimes. Forgetfulness is not just a consequence of age though, it happens to all of us and seems to be more common in a post-COVID world. Do you find yourself stumbling to retrieve words? Is your ability to focus or concentrate compromised? Maybe you don’t feel as sharp as you once did, or you feel like your brain is “cloudy.” These are all common characteristics of brain fog.

In this article, we’ll discuss and answer many of your questions around brain fog, including: 

• What is brain fog?
• Brain fog causes
• How to get rid of brain fog
• Supplements for brain fog

What is Brain Fog?

Brain fog is often difficult to describe — people express its symptoms in a variety of ways. When it comes down to it, brain fog is a type of neurocognitive impairment that reduces mental clarity and makes concentration difficult. Common descriptions of brain fog usually include an inability to remember things, powerlessness around recalling information, inability to learn new concepts, and ultimately feeling as if your brain is failing you.

In aging and elderly populations, we may see brain fog turn into cognitive decline. In fact, this has become so common that we have come to expect it as a normal part of aging. The brain does slow down with age, but we have the power to keep a sharp, highly functioning brain well into our old age if we can protect and nourish our bodies and minds.

Brain Fog Symptoms: What Does it Feel Like?

Some of the common symptoms of brain fog include:

• Difficulty with focus and attention
• Inability to concentrate
• Difficulty retrieving words
• Lack of understanding in conversations
• Feeling of helplessness around thinking and recalling information
• Inability to learn new things or retain information
• Inability to plan ahead
• Inability to remember steps
• Feeling as though your brain is failing you

Brain Fog Causes

Believe it or not, brain fog is a term that’s been around since the 1850’s. There are many potential causes for brain fog, including brain injury, neurotransmitter dysfunction, neuron anomalies, imbalanced blood sugar, poor thyroid function, neurotoxins, sleep disturbances, or other impairments of memory and learning.

It can also result from elevated ammonia, a waste product that accumulates from faulty protein breakdown or from metabolic diseases. But stress, some medical conditions like diabetes or hypothyroidism, hormonal changes, poor diet, chemotherapy, exposure to toxins, air pollution and mold, systemic inflammation, and even caffeine withdrawal might also cause cloudy cognition.

Some of the leading causes of brain fog include the following.

Anxiety, Stress, and Cortisol Imbalance

We all know how bad stress can be for our health. Cortisol is the hormone released when you’re stressed, and it’s normal in small amounts. However, chronically high cortisol levels have been shown to kill brain cells, cause premature aging in the brain, and decrease the rate at which new brain cells are made. Too much of the stress hormone can lead to a surplus of free radicals (unattached oxygen molecules) that damage brain cell membranes.

Lack of Sleep

According to a 2017 study, sleep deprivation can cause a decrease in cognition because it disrupts our brain cells’ ability to communicate with each other, leading to temporary mental lapses that affect memory and visual perception. Lack of sleep can interfere with attention, concentration, memory, and reaction time. All of these impairments can lead to frustration with problem-solving, as your brain is being hampered from performing at its best.

Diet

Eating a nutrient-dense diet that is rich in bioactive lipids is critical for good brain health. A diet that is low in fat or consists of inflammatory fats can significantly compromise your cognition. This is because fats like omega-3s and omega-6s are essential for healthy brain function due to their role in cell membranes and neurotransmitter function. But processed, heated, damaged, and adulterated fats are brain killers.

And it's not just fats — foggy thinking can be precipitated by fast foods, sugar, processed foods, refined breads and pasta, and food additives. These can all lead to oxidative stress that inflames and damages brain cells (with cognitive decline following).

Inflammation and Immunity

On that note, brain inflammation is another primary underlying cause of brain fog. There are a number of chronic illnesses that are associated with brain inflammation, leading to cognitive decline. Cancer, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, mast cell activation syndrome, mastocytosis, autoimmune disease, Alzheimer's disease, low blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and neuropsychiatric disorders — the one thing that all these diseases have in common is inflammation.

The brain also directs cell-to-cell communications, but those messages do not always carry good news. Sometimes they carry the black cloud of inflammation, which is supposed to be a protective response to an injury or destruction of tissue. The chemicals that coordinate the inflammatory process are called cytokines, and they amplify immunological activity. Given the role of cytokines in the neuroimmune process, it has been suggested that these molecules influence cognition — the mental processes that include awareness, perception, reasoning, and judgment.

Investigators at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis studied the relationship between inflammation and cognition and found that “There is abundant evidence that inflammatory mechanisms within the central nervous system contribute to cognitive impairment via cytokine-mediated interactions between neurons and glial cells,” adding that there is a growing awareness of the role of cytokines in “…the inflammatory processes in neurodegenerative diseases”. A considerable volume of this inflammatory activity results from stress and its effect on immunity.

When markers of inflammation are elevated, they offer an explanation for the subsequent brain fog. Of the several markers, C-reactive protein (CRP) is one of the most commonly measured. Its elevation denotes the presence of inflammation somewhere in the body. High CRP may account for, and even predict, memory impairment.

The diseases that are attributed to old age, such as arthritis, will increase circulating interleukins as well as CRP — both of which affect memory, attention, abstract thinking, the initiation and inhibition of appropriate actions, and planning.

Viral, Fungal, and Bacterial Brain Fog

There is a close link between our nervous system and our immune system. It makes a lot of sense that your brain would get muddled while your immune system is working hard to fight off an infection. You could be walking around with a viral, fungal, or bacterial infection with little to no other symptoms other than brain fog.

One of the most common lingering infections is an overgrowth of Candida yeast that occurs naturally in your body. Candida can overgrow from some of the factors we’ve discussed above like stress, a high-sugar diet, or antibiotic use that leads to an imbalance of harmful bacteria in the gut microbiome. Your gut communicates directly with your brain, so miscommunication can alter your brain function.

A virus can also damage brain cells, and inflammation in the brain or body may cause neurologic complications. There is evidence that SARS-CoV-2 can infect neurons, and scientists are now exploring whether the neurological symptoms people are experiencing with COVID-19 might instead be a result of overstimulation of the immune system.

How to Get Rid of Brain Fog

There are hundreds of websites and supplements that promise a resolution to brain fog, despite the condition still being poorly understood in the medical community. The good news is that we can do a lot to combat brain inflammation by improving our nutrition, prioritizing rest, and avoiding brain-sabotaging substances. Typically the inverse of the causes discussed above, these changes include:

• Get adequate rest
• Eat a nutrient-dense diet
• Try low-impact exercise
• Relieve stress

Get Adequate Rest

A good night’s sleep is clearly foundational for a healthy brain. Here are five sleep hygiene tips from Matthew Walker, PhD, professor of neuroscience at UC Berkeley and expert on sleep:

1. Establish regularity/routine: Go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time.
2. Block light: Ensure your room is dark at night, and make sure you get natural daylight during the day.
3. Control temperature: Cooler temperatures make for better quality sleep.
4. Walk it out: If you can’t fall asleep, don’t just lie in bed awake. This can train your brain to create a learned association to reject sleep. If you’ve been awake for 20 minutes, get up and go do something else, and only come back to bed when you’re sleepy.
5. No alcohol/caffeine: Avoid alcohol and caffeine for several hours before bedtime.

Eat a Nutrient-Dense Diet with Bioactive Lipids

Eating a nutrient-dense diet with enough protein, carbs, and healthy fats is essential for brain health and function. Here are a few foods you can prioritize in your diet to support brain health:

• Berries (especially blueberries)
• Grapes
• Beets
• Wild-caught salmon, trout, and other fatty fish
• Caviar
• Avocado
• Eggs (yolks and whites)
• Dark chocolate
• Coconut/MCT oil
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Leafy greens
• Walnuts
• Coffee
• Tea (black and green)

Avoid the following to protect your brain:

• Damaged fats (heated PUFAs and adulterated PUFAs — polyunsaturated fatty acids)
• Peanuts and corn (these foods contain very long chain fats and are neurotoxic)
• Histamine and oxalate-containing foods
• Artificial sweeteners
• Trans fats
• Gluten
• Farmed fish
• Conventional dairy
• Excitotoxic foods (food dyes and food additives)

Try Low-Impact Exercise

Low-impact (and low-stress) exercise can improve cognition and even increase brain volume. There is also evidence that exercise increases the brain’s capacity to change and heal itself, called neuroplasticity. Examples of low-impact exercise include walking, swimming, cycling, and yoga. Any gentle movement that will elevate your heart rate slightly and get your blood moving will do.

Relieve Stress

What helps you relieve stress? Getting outside in nature? Spending time with your family? Laughing with old friends? Cooking a delicious meal? Five minutes of deep breathing? Whatever they are, make time for these activities — research shows that it really does improve your health, including your brain and cognitive function.

Vitamins & Supplements for Brain Fog

Beyond diet, rest, and stress relieving practices, there are vitamins and supplements that can help reverse feelings of brain sluggishness and provide missing nutrients that even the healthiest diet may still be lacking.

Phosphatidylcholine (PC)

PC is a well-respected tool in cell membrane maintenance and repair, including neuronal repair. It supports improved permeability and fluidity of the cell membrane by allowing the free flow of nutrients into the cell.* And, in cases where acetylcholine (master neurotransmitter) stores need replenishment because of dietary choline shortage, PC will give up its choline supply for the good of the organism.

Learn more about BodyBio PC phospholipid complex here.

Butyrate

Butyrate supplements have shown positive effects on brain function and behavior by virtue of their influence on the microbiome and its metabolites, including neurotransmitters.* Besides showing promise in supporting patients with diabetes, IBD/IBS, obesity, and several other conditions, butyrate is a regulator of cell organelle communication, encouraging gene expression and brain-derived neurotrophic factor or BDNF. This substance directs the proper folding of proteins and influences the growth and differentiation of neurons and synapses. Because of this ability, saying that butyrate supports memory is an understatement.*

Vitamin B6

The effective functioning of the central nervous system (including the brain) relies on an adequate and constant nutrient supply. There are a number of studies that validate how important vitamin B6 is to maintain the effective functioning of the brain. It is a cofactor for many chemical processes in the body and also serves as a powerful antioxidant, combating oxidation and free radical damage we mentioned as a cause earlier. Suboptimal vitamin B6 has been associated with impaired cognitive function and decline in the elderly population.

Folate (Vitamin B9)

B6 isn’t the only B vitamin important to brain health. (Therefore, a full-spectrum vitamin B complex is one of the best supplements for brain support.) Homocysteine (a potentially harmful amino acid in high amounts) can be changed back to methionine (an essential amino acid) under the right conditions — namely in the presence of a methylation molecule, such as folic acid (called folate in food). Folate deficiency, or outright inadequacy, can initiate mental lapses that could balloon into more serious conditions if the deficit is prolonged.

Vitamin B12

B12 is another important nutrient to discuss when talking about brain health. B12 is one of eight B vitamins, and helps to maintain healthy nerve cells and red blood cells. This key nutrient has been shown to help support healthy brain function by improving blood flow, DNA synthesis and repair, and energy production.

It is also needed for the synthesis of neurochemicals — signaling molecules, homocysteine metabolism, and methylation (all essential processes for optimizing physiological and neurological functioning). B12 is found in meat, fish, and poultry, so it is often lacking in vegetarian or vegan diets.

Clear Your Mind of Brain Fog

Brain fog has many potential causes, but the solution often comes back to prioritizing the basics — nutrition, sleep, activity, and mental health. Beyond that foundation, you can add vitamins and supplements that support brain health and cognitive function. Work with a healthcare professional to come up with a brain fog treatment plan and take back your full brain power.

Try phosphatidylcholine supplementation today