On returning from my travels to India, I felt as though my thoughts were moving in slow motion. I realize now that this was down to the fact that I was experiencing brain fog as a result of eating a very poor diet with little food, intermittent fasting and a low amount of nutrients all while experiencing high levels of stress.
It was a real shock to find that when someone asked me a simple question my brain took almost 3 times longer to process an answer than it ever would have.
If you’ve experienced or are experiencing this feeling it can be quite scary. It was after a a bit of research attempts of trying to understand what was happening that I self diagnosed myself with brain fog. What a relief! Now I knew what was going on I could try to do whatever possible to heal myself. And you can too if your are in the same boat.
Here’s what I learned:
the Vagus Nerve & Brain Fog
The what? The Vagus nerve is a long nerve that runs throughout the body between the brain and the gut.
You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘food is medicine’, well, it quite literally is. I discovered that your gut health and the food that you eat not only affects your mood but it has the power to heal you.
When you focus on maintaining a healthy gut, a signal will be sent through this nerve through the ‘gut-brain axis’ which will help achieve optimal brain health.
Stimulating the Vagus nerve is a way of trying to awaken the system and helping it to feel more alert, which is exactly what you feel desperate for when you are experiencing brain fog.
HOW CAN i STIMULATE THE Vagus Nerve?
Have you ever splashed cold water on your face and felt immediately better? The cold has a way of waking up the cells in your bodies and starting the brain’s ignition.
One of the best ways to stimulate the Vagus nerve and help encourage your brain to stay awake is through having a cold shower or bath. If you’re not keen on the idea of an ice bath or cold shower, even ending your regular warm shower on 30 seconds of cold water will reap the benefits for your nervous system.
If you haven’t heard of him already, check out Wim Hof and the Wim Hof Method. You can access free tutorials and resources on his website and on YouTube which are based on using the cold as a way of healing and getting back to our true nature. Or otherwise you can check out his book: ‘The Wim Hof Method: Activate your Potential, Transcend your Limits’ (#ad) where he explores how to use cold, meditation and mindset to create wellbeing.
Another way to stimulate the vagus nerve is deep breathing and meditation but I personally was not at all in the head space for these approaches at the time so just stuck to periodic cold showers every now and then as well as walks and bike rides through nature. Follow your intuition and do what feels right for you.
Brain Fog and The Brain-Gut Connection
It may surprise you to learn that if you don’t eat well and fuel your body, your body starts to take resources from your own fat reserves in order to sustain itself. This can leave your energy levels depleted and can be one cause of brain fog amongst a range of other things.
However it is that you’ve reached the point of experiencing brain fog is now less important than how you can start to heal. Stressing out about how it all got to this point will only work against you; the Vagus nerve is also partly responsible for the flight or fight response. The more relaxed you feel, the better equipped your body and immune system will be to heal. Try to maintain your focus on how to move forward.
Whether you are experiencing anxiety, gut health problems or brain fog, it’s most probable that you need to focus on creating some more good bacteria in your gut because a positive gut health is relayed through the Vagus nerve and neurotransmitters and has positive effects on brain health consequentially. Did you know that the gut also has the capability of producing Serotonin – the hormone which provides a sense of happiness?
The top priority for gut health are any kinds of probiotic foods. These would include probiotic yoghurts, kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha and pickled cucumbers.
Foods That help cure Brain Fog
As well as eating clean and making sure you’re drinking enough water it’s advisable to stay away from alcohol, cigarettes and coffee until things get back to normal as you don’t want to be adding any unnecessary toxins or stimulants into your already sensitive system. Think of it as a bit of a detox. It won’t be forever, but it’s what your body needs now in order to heal.
I personally chose to drink much much less alcohol permanently after learning the importance of gut health on overall wellbeing and haven’t looked back! Every cloud has a silver lining, the brain fog you experience now could mean that you are forced into loving yourself and your body in a way you couldn’t have even imagined before.
Another powerhouse of a food is salmon or any foods high in Omega-3 such as fatty fish, walnuts, chia seeds and flaxseeds. You could also consider taking a daily supplement.
rainbow foods
Fruits and vegetables help eliminate the toxins in our system and therefore have a direct impact on healing brain fog.
Make yourself a salad of roasted beets, sweet potatoes, tomato, avocado, cucumber, lemon juice, olive oil, some leafy greens, some boiled eggs, cream cheese and chickpeas and you have yourself a powerhouse of a meal!
Berries such as strawberries and blueberries are great too, but all fruits and vegetables will help.
Dark Chocolate
You’ll probably be excited to hear that dark chocolate made the list for brain boosting foods (woohoo!) The higher the cacao content the better, you can try adding it into your porridge in the morning with a dash of cinnamon which is another fab meal for energy and wellbeing.
Spirulina
There’s lots of recommendations out there, but I was really attracted to those beautiful blue smoothie bowls decorated with fruit and discovered Spirulina to be the key ingredient for not only the beautiful colours but the detoxification of the body. As a result, eliminating toxins means one step closer towards saying goodbye to brain fog. You can mix spirulina in with your favourite juice, smoothie or yoghurt snack.
Apple Cider Vinegar, Turmeric & Ginger
Lastly, we have three powerful ingredients which help fight inflammation and boost our immune systems and gut health. You could try drinking a small apple cider vinegar shot before breakfast to help get those digestive juices going or drizzle it over your salad. Turmeric can be added to anything from milk (thing golden milk or chai) to curries, potatoes and more… and ginger is great with lemon and honey in teas or in a nice green Thai curry.
So to summarize, try to put yourself in relaxing situations and remove yourself from stressful environments. Stimulate your Vagus nerve with a cold shower and deep breathing or relaxing walks / exercise in nature if possible.
Eat rainbow foods, omega-3 rich foods, include beneficial ingredients such as turmeric and ginger in your meals and keep your diet clean and healthy. Don’t shy away from eating whenever you are hungry. While intermittent fasting can have some short term positive effects, if you are experiencing brain fog, now is not the time to entertain such experiments. The key here is to try to focus on regaining balance and harmony in your nervous system, gut and brain health.
Be patient with yourself and good luck!