7 ms·

What's the solution? I've felt brain fog for 15 years.

mixmastamyk 7y ago
Look into reducing inflammation. There are a number of foods that are supposed to be beneficial. I believe avoiding corporate grain products may also help.
OneGuy123 7y ago
I've had issues like that: Buy hydrolyzed collagen supplements (take 30g per day at start for 1 week) and increase fat intake, simplest is beef tallow (ideally grassfed), eat 2x 5 table spoons of it per day for 5 days at start. And cut all processed sugar and sweets. Replace table sugar and fructose with glucose.
- kyuudou 7y ago
  A whole (organic) chicken in a pot, cooked until the cartilage liquefies, is similar to this suggestion IMO
loceng 7y ago
Ketogenic (including carnivore) diet will greatly reduce inflammation. You'll also want to do an Igg food sensitivity test to see what specific foods your body is creating inflammatory markers for, and a microbiome test can also let you know if bacterial/yeast infections that could be adding to brain fog. Fasting is useful for seeing how your mental state is while limiting external food resources (you're using internal fat reserves otherwise), otherwise intermittent fasting is the best option.
- OneGuy123 7y ago
  It seems that in practice the issue is not keto vs vegan vs omnivore but that all of those proponents of extreme diets like full vegan or full carnivore usually measure their food intake carefully to ensure they get enough of all macros (carbs, fat, protein). This measuring alone ensures that they get enough fats, which seem to be the main reason for brain fog in most people (combined with too much artifical sweets). Also because of this extreme diet they completely throw all all processed food & artifical sugar/sweets.
  - loceng 7y ago
    You're close to right. The "vegan honeymoon" - as an example - is an example of why many people will feel better cutting out bad foods, however carbohydrates and sugars are some of the largest inflammatory factors from my understanding, so cutting that out will help. Following vegan or omnivore doesn't mean eating a balanced (carbs, fat, protein) diet nor anti-inflammatory, doesn't mean eating a diet specifically that is healthy for your body either - doesn't remove foods you may individually be sensitive to.
- zadler 7y ago
  Seems like IGG doesn’t have the best reputation...
  - virtuallynathan 7y ago
    Correct, these tests are mostly useless.
  - loceng 7y ago
    Just like fat didn't have a good reputation for awhile due to X, Y, Z - be weary of your sources. I use my own experience with Igg food sensitivity testing and removing those foods to see how I felt after. After allowing my system to calm from the foods then reintroducing just one of the foods that I was conditioned to the discomfort of, it let me see how much discomfort/pain different foods that showed up on the Igg test that make me feel horrible.
- tayo42 7y ago
  Fasting would just make me irritable and hungry. I don't think I'm the only one that would experience that
  - kranner 7y ago
    You get used to it remarkably quickly. The problem is getting over the hump (and also, knowing there is a hump). Buddhist monks are not supposed to eat after noon, although some cheat by adding a lot of sugar to their evening tea or coffee. This is supposed to keep their minds sharp and clear and aid in meditation. It appears to be a well-tested rule.
- asterix_pano 7y ago
  Are animal proteins not a source of inflammation? It's quite well studied.
  - virtuallynathan 7y ago
    Nope, not in free living humans.
djohnston 7y ago
Obviously this is anecdotal, but I've been fasting for about a month, and I've noticed a significant difference between the days I fast and the days I don't (FRIDAYS!!!). After about 16-18 hours of not eating I feel quite sharp. There seems to be preliminary clinical evidence to support this, but I'll leave the googling to you.
- alpaca128 7y ago
  I've experienced similar effects with intermittent fasting. I started cutting out the breakfast and after a while my mind was super clear in the morning. Eating lunch caused that to flip around drastically, though.
  - matwood 7y ago
    I'm glad you mentioned IF. It's one of the easier ways to get many of the keto benefits without having to do keto.
- jfrbfbreudh 7y ago
  I’ve had the same experience, but feeling sharper doesn’t mean actually being sharper. If you look at traffic accident rates in Muslim majority countries, there’s a sharp rise in incidents during the fasting months of Ramadan.
  - handedness 7y ago
    Ramadan involves a number of societal changes beyond just not eating during daylight hours, from fasting to abstinence to busier public squares and restaurants. I'd want to see something control for the differences in movement patterns, passenger miles driven, meals eaten outside the home vs. at home, and so on. Public squares and restaurants are typically packed during Ramadan at night. Here's one (theoretically) similar example: https://www.datagraver.com/case/relation-terrorism-attacks-and-ramadan https://www.datagraver.com/case/relation-terrorism-attacks-a...
  - kranner 7y ago
    Fasting during Ramadan is not the same as IF at all. During Ramadan you can't have even a sip of water, whereas in IF you are encouraged to drink water and even add a bit of salt if needed. That alone makes them too different to compare effects.
AnimalMuppet 7y ago
Without going to a "name brand" diet (keto, vegan, or whatever), just pay attention to what you eat and what your brain feels like a few hours afterword. I found some foods (certain chocolates, unfortunately) where, somewhat less than an hour after I ate it, it felt like someone had kicked my brain. When you notice something like that, stop eating it. You may be able to add it back in small quantities later, but for now, just stop. When you've identified the major ones and stopped eating them, then take stock of where you are. Is it enough? Or do you want to go further? We started being very careful what we eat because one of my daughters had extreme food sensitivities. I said "Nah, not me, I'm good". But I felt a lot better/less mentally foggy as well.
lambdaba 7y ago
High (10g+) doses of omega-3 (mostly as EPA) are extremely effective and clinically proven. Standard doses are way too small to be effective, and most of the science and anecdotes refer to small (1-3g) doses.
Broken_Hippo 7y ago
talk to a doctor and, if you are lucky, they find something they can cure. If you are unlucky, they find nothing. If you are really unlucky, you find something like an autoimmune disorder - lots of autoimmune disorders get both some inflammation and 'brain fog' or other cognitive issues. All the diets folks recommend are not really proven to help with things like autoimmune disorders (even though some folks swear by them). If it were that simple, it would be standard treatment and no one would go through the side effects that some of the medicines for autoimmune disorders have. I don't know how effective the diets and supplements are for other things, but I'd not trust it unless it came from the mouth of a medical doctor I trusted.
- MrBuddyCasino 7y ago
  No. Docs have no clue about these sort of things. They are good for "leg broken, must fix leg". They suck at chronic and ambiguous illnesses. In the US, you can try the Mayo Clinic, they have specialists. Otherwise, help yourself.
  - Bizarro 7y ago
    Unfortunately, that's really true. I have a doctor friend that looked at me like a deer in headlights when I asked about fatigue, brain fog, inflammation, food sensitivities, etc..
  - Broken_Hippo 7y ago
    Because.. internists don't exist as primary care doctors? Because the start of getting diagnosed with chronic illnesses doesn't start with a primary care doctor? OR because insurances and governments aren't interested in not spending thousands of dollars per month per patient on autoimmune medicines when a simple diet change could do the same thing? There are more players than doctors. Folks go to specialists all the freaking time for their disorders, but not all disorders need that. You'll probably be just fine going to the normal doctor for type II diabetes. You'll probably go to a neurologist for your MS. Not all disorders need something like the Mayo Clinic. When we suck, we simply suck and that includes the Mayo Clinic and similar clinics. None of this changes the fact that there isn't evidence that diet helps in the long run for a lot of disorders. Staying generally healthy helps, sure, but saying anything else dupes folks into trying a bunch of weird, non-approved things and buying into snake oils.
goodname 7y ago
Have you been tested for celiac disease?
ScoobleDoodle 7y ago
Unrelated to diet but still could be helpful with brain fog: Have you ever been tested for sleep apnea? I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea over a decade ago and was prescribed a CPAP machine. Although it took some getting used to. Getting effective sleep has helped me.
MrBuddyCasino 7y ago
Keto worked for me. The difference is remarkable.
Asooka 7y ago
I had vitamin D deficiency that was the cause of my brain fog. I'm not yet back to full power, but the last 3 months of taking it have definitely been better than before.
m463 7y ago
nobody has mentioned exercise. I remember the study with the "rats in a sterile environment" vs "rats in a rich environment" where the latter group formed many more brain connections. In the end, they found it wasn't the rich environment that caused the brain growth, it was the exercise wheel in it.
- Bizarro 7y ago
  Be careful with the exercise remedy. It's easy to overdue it and cause more inflammation and stress via elevated cortisols, etc..
DenisM 7y ago
Before trying various changes which takes a long time to se through consider measuring things you can actually test: 1. Sleep study. 2. Vitamin D blood test. 3. Generally a conversation with your doctor who might suggest other tests.
nimvlaj30 7y ago
I would try intermittent fasting for a while. If you feel better, it means it could be exacerbated by something you're eating. Then it's a just a process of elimination.
flybrand 7y ago
It was another set of symptoms - skin rash like chicken pox - that helped me find my celiac / gluten free diagnosis. However, the brain fog went away. Brain fog is a common reason people try gluten free or low carb (keto, Meng, etc). Good luck.
bitL 7y ago
I use sauna; 10-15 minutes in hot, followed by a short break (1-2 minutes), then up to 2 minutes immersed in cold water. Repeat 5-6x. I feel like a new person afterwards, total mental clarity and many ideas immediately. Also removes stress. It might take you a few months to get adapted to that cycle though (2-minute cold immersion is not trivial at first). If you start feeling bad, abort, you can try next time.
- Buttons840 7y ago
  If knowingly taking a placebo can affect a person, I have no doubt that the ritual you described can also have an effect.
  - friendlybus 7y ago
    Heat shock forces some cells or proteins to rejuvenate themselves. Dr Rhonda Patrick and the anti-aging guy have talked about similar ideas for hours in depth on joe rogan's podcast but I never remember the details in full.
    - sharedfrog 7y ago
      > the anti-aging guy Aubrey de Grey?
      - friendlybus 7y ago
        David Sinclair
  - bitL 7y ago
    This came from trial and error from about 6 months of trying different things in sauna. Just heating myself multiple times in hot sauna didn't work that well, but once I started to rigorously follow >1 minute cold water immersions, after 3-4x cycles I almost always ended up in a stress-less state of mental clarity (not when I felt bad/sick or didn't sleep well though). After ~4 cold immersions I also look like my skin was full of veins, connected red patches over white patches everywhere. YMMV
belltaco 7y ago
Curcumin supplements and/or consuming a lot of turmeric with a little pepper can help.
- virtuallynathan 7y ago
  No randomized clinical trials of curcumin have shown benefit. Fixing the source of the inflammation is a better idea than taking anti-inflammatory compounds of dubious benefit.
  - belltaco 7y ago
    Not true. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25277322 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25277322 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1064748117305110?via%3Dihub#bib0015 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S106474811...
viburnum 7y ago
I stopped eating anything with added sugar and my brain fog lifted after about a week. Now I get headaches if I eat sugar (Berries are good, it’s just stuff with sugar added to it that messes me up).
Cougher 7y ago
One thing would be to get rid of as many fragranced products as you can. It's amazing how many people live 24/7 without ever truly breathing fresh air. This would be especially had with fragranced dryer sheets, as the residual fragrance will last through many washings. New mattresses are also notoriously toxic.

Look into reducing inflammation. There are a number of foods that are supposed to be beneficial. I believe avoiding corporate grain products may also help.

OneGuy123 7y ago

I've had issues like that: Buy hydrolyzed collagen supplements (take 30g per day at start for 1 week) and increase fat intake, simplest is beef tallow (ideally grassfed), eat 2x 5 table spoons of it per day for 5 days at start. And cut all processed sugar and sweets. Replace table sugar and fructose with glucose.

kyuudou 7y ago
A whole (organic) chicken in a pot, cooked until the cartilage liquefies, is similar to this suggestion IMO

loceng 7y ago

Ketogenic (including carnivore) diet will greatly reduce inflammation. You'll also want to do an Igg food sensitivity test to see what specific foods your body is creating inflammatory markers for, and a microbiome test can also let you know if bacterial/yeast infections that could be adding to brain fog. Fasting is useful for seeing how your mental state is while limiting external food resources (you're using internal fat reserves otherwise), otherwise intermittent fasting is the best option.

OneGuy123 7y ago
It seems that in practice the issue is not keto vs vegan vs omnivore but that all of those proponents of extreme diets like full vegan or full carnivore usually measure their food intake carefully to ensure they get enough of all macros (carbs, fat, protein). This measuring alone ensures that they get enough fats, which seem to be the main reason for brain fog in most people (combined with too much artifical sweets). Also because of this extreme diet they completely throw all all processed food & artifical sugar/sweets.
- loceng 7y ago
  You're close to right. The "vegan honeymoon" - as an example - is an example of why many people will feel better cutting out bad foods, however carbohydrates and sugars are some of the largest inflammatory factors from my understanding, so cutting that out will help. Following vegan or omnivore doesn't mean eating a balanced (carbs, fat, protein) diet nor anti-inflammatory, doesn't mean eating a diet specifically that is healthy for your body either - doesn't remove foods you may individually be sensitive to.
zadler 7y ago
Seems like IGG doesn’t have the best reputation...
- virtuallynathan 7y ago
  Correct, these tests are mostly useless.
- loceng 7y ago
  Just like fat didn't have a good reputation for awhile due to X, Y, Z - be weary of your sources. I use my own experience with Igg food sensitivity testing and removing those foods to see how I felt after. After allowing my system to calm from the foods then reintroducing just one of the foods that I was conditioned to the discomfort of, it let me see how much discomfort/pain different foods that showed up on the Igg test that make me feel horrible.
tayo42 7y ago
Fasting would just make me irritable and hungry. I don't think I'm the only one that would experience that
- kranner 7y ago
  You get used to it remarkably quickly. The problem is getting over the hump (and also, knowing there is a hump). Buddhist monks are not supposed to eat after noon, although some cheat by adding a lot of sugar to their evening tea or coffee. This is supposed to keep their minds sharp and clear and aid in meditation. It appears to be a well-tested rule.
asterix_pano 7y ago
Are animal proteins not a source of inflammation? It's quite well studied.
- virtuallynathan 7y ago
  Nope, not in free living humans.

djohnston 7y ago

Obviously this is anecdotal, but I've been fasting for about a month, and I've noticed a significant difference between the days I fast and the days I don't (FRIDAYS!!!). After about 16-18 hours of not eating I feel quite sharp. There seems to be preliminary clinical evidence to support this, but I'll leave the googling to you.

alpaca128 7y ago
I've experienced similar effects with intermittent fasting. I started cutting out the breakfast and after a while my mind was super clear in the morning. Eating lunch caused that to flip around drastically, though.
- matwood 7y ago
  I'm glad you mentioned IF. It's one of the easier ways to get many of the keto benefits without having to do keto.
jfrbfbreudh 7y ago
I’ve had the same experience, but feeling sharper doesn’t mean actually being sharper. If you look at traffic accident rates in Muslim majority countries, there’s a sharp rise in incidents during the fasting months of Ramadan.
- handedness 7y ago
  Ramadan involves a number of societal changes beyond just not eating during daylight hours, from fasting to abstinence to busier public squares and restaurants. I'd want to see something control for the differences in movement patterns, passenger miles driven, meals eaten outside the home vs. at home, and so on. Public squares and restaurants are typically packed during Ramadan at night. Here's one (theoretically) similar example: https://www.datagraver.com/case/relation-terrorism-attacks-and-ramadan https://www.datagraver.com/case/relation-terrorism-attacks-a...
- kranner 7y ago
  Fasting during Ramadan is not the same as IF at all. During Ramadan you can't have even a sip of water, whereas in IF you are encouraged to drink water and even add a bit of salt if needed. That alone makes them too different to compare effects.

AnimalMuppet 7y ago

Without going to a "name brand" diet (keto, vegan, or whatever), just pay attention to what you eat and what your brain feels like a few hours afterword. I found some foods (certain chocolates, unfortunately) where, somewhat less than an hour after I ate it, it felt like someone had kicked my brain. When you notice something like that, stop eating it. You may be able to add it back in small quantities later, but for now, just stop. When you've identified the major ones and stopped eating them, then take stock of where you are. Is it enough? Or do you want to go further? We started being very careful what we eat because one of my daughters had extreme food sensitivities. I said "Nah, not me, I'm good". But I felt a lot better/less mentally foggy as well.

lambdaba 7y ago

High (10g+) doses of omega-3 (mostly as EPA) are extremely effective and clinically proven. Standard doses are way too small to be effective, and most of the science and anecdotes refer to small (1-3g) doses.

Broken_Hippo 7y ago

talk to a doctor and, if you are lucky, they find something they can cure. If you are unlucky, they find nothing. If you are really unlucky, you find something like an autoimmune disorder - lots of autoimmune disorders get both some inflammation and 'brain fog' or other cognitive issues. All the diets folks recommend are not really proven to help with things like autoimmune disorders (even though some folks swear by them). If it were that simple, it would be standard treatment and no one would go through the side effects that some of the medicines for autoimmune disorders have. I don't know how effective the diets and supplements are for other things, but I'd not trust it unless it came from the mouth of a medical doctor I trusted.

MrBuddyCasino 7y ago
No. Docs have no clue about these sort of things. They are good for "leg broken, must fix leg". They suck at chronic and ambiguous illnesses. In the US, you can try the Mayo Clinic, they have specialists. Otherwise, help yourself.
- Bizarro 7y ago
  Unfortunately, that's really true. I have a doctor friend that looked at me like a deer in headlights when I asked about fatigue, brain fog, inflammation, food sensitivities, etc..
- Broken_Hippo 7y ago
  Because.. internists don't exist as primary care doctors? Because the start of getting diagnosed with chronic illnesses doesn't start with a primary care doctor? OR because insurances and governments aren't interested in not spending thousands of dollars per month per patient on autoimmune medicines when a simple diet change could do the same thing? There are more players than doctors. Folks go to specialists all the freaking time for their disorders, but not all disorders need that. You'll probably be just fine going to the normal doctor for type II diabetes. You'll probably go to a neurologist for your MS. Not all disorders need something like the Mayo Clinic. When we suck, we simply suck and that includes the Mayo Clinic and similar clinics. None of this changes the fact that there isn't evidence that diet helps in the long run for a lot of disorders. Staying generally healthy helps, sure, but saying anything else dupes folks into trying a bunch of weird, non-approved things and buying into snake oils.

goodname 7y ago

Have you been tested for celiac disease?

ScoobleDoodle 7y ago

Unrelated to diet but still could be helpful with brain fog: Have you ever been tested for sleep apnea? I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea over a decade ago and was prescribed a CPAP machine. Although it took some getting used to. Getting effective sleep has helped me.

MrBuddyCasino 7y ago

Keto worked for me. The difference is remarkable.

Asooka 7y ago

I had vitamin D deficiency that was the cause of my brain fog. I'm not yet back to full power, but the last 3 months of taking it have definitely been better than before.

m463 7y ago

nobody has mentioned exercise. I remember the study with the "rats in a sterile environment" vs "rats in a rich environment" where the latter group formed many more brain connections. In the end, they found it wasn't the rich environment that caused the brain growth, it was the exercise wheel in it.

Bizarro 7y ago
Be careful with the exercise remedy. It's easy to overdue it and cause more inflammation and stress via elevated cortisols, etc..

DenisM 7y ago

Before trying various changes which takes a long time to se through consider measuring things you can actually test: 1. Sleep study. 2. Vitamin D blood test. 3. Generally a conversation with your doctor who might suggest other tests.

nimvlaj30 7y ago

I would try intermittent fasting for a while. If you feel better, it means it could be exacerbated by something you're eating. Then it's a just a process of elimination.

flybrand 7y ago

It was another set of symptoms - skin rash like chicken pox - that helped me find my celiac / gluten free diagnosis. However, the brain fog went away. Brain fog is a common reason people try gluten free or low carb (keto, Meng, etc). Good luck.

bitL 7y ago

I use sauna; 10-15 minutes in hot, followed by a short break (1-2 minutes), then up to 2 minutes immersed in cold water. Repeat 5-6x. I feel like a new person afterwards, total mental clarity and many ideas immediately. Also removes stress. It might take you a few months to get adapted to that cycle though (2-minute cold immersion is not trivial at first). If you start feeling bad, abort, you can try next time.

Buttons840 7y ago
If knowingly taking a placebo can affect a person, I have no doubt that the ritual you described can also have an effect.
- friendlybus 7y ago
  Heat shock forces some cells or proteins to rejuvenate themselves. Dr Rhonda Patrick and the anti-aging guy have talked about similar ideas for hours in depth on joe rogan's podcast but I never remember the details in full.
  - sharedfrog 7y ago
    > the anti-aging guy Aubrey de Grey?
    - friendlybus 7y ago
      David Sinclair
- bitL 7y ago
  This came from trial and error from about 6 months of trying different things in sauna. Just heating myself multiple times in hot sauna didn't work that well, but once I started to rigorously follow >1 minute cold water immersions, after 3-4x cycles I almost always ended up in a stress-less state of mental clarity (not when I felt bad/sick or didn't sleep well though). After ~4 cold immersions I also look like my skin was full of veins, connected red patches over white patches everywhere. YMMV

belltaco 7y ago

Curcumin supplements and/or consuming a lot of turmeric with a little pepper can help.

virtuallynathan 7y ago
No randomized clinical trials of curcumin have shown benefit. Fixing the source of the inflammation is a better idea than taking anti-inflammatory compounds of dubious benefit.
- belltaco 7y ago
  Not true. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25277322 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25277322 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1064748117305110?via%3Dihub#bib0015 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S106474811...

viburnum 7y ago

I stopped eating anything with added sugar and my brain fog lifted after about a week. Now I get headaches if I eat sugar (Berries are good, it’s just stuff with sugar added to it that messes me up).

Cougher 7y ago

One thing would be to get rid of as many fragranced products as you can. It's amazing how many people live 24/7 without ever truly breathing fresh air. This would be especially had with fragranced dryer sheets, as the residual fragrance will last through many washings. New mattresses are also notoriously toxic.