Brain fog & anxiety, is there a connection? (+ tips)
Most people have experience brain fog, it’s that heavy cloudy-headed feeling where you feel like you haven’t quite woken up. It can be a frustrating experience and living in a high-paced culture, can leave you feeling like you’re falling behind!
Heightened stress, anxiety, lack of sleep and overworking can all contribute to experiencing brain fog.
What is brain fog?
Descriptions of brain fog include slow thinking, difficulty focusing, confusion, lack of concentration, forgetfulness, or a haziness in thought processes. Studies have shown that there is a decrease in working memory, information processing, attention and reaction time.
Brain fog is believed to be caused by high levels of inflammation and changes to hormones, stress, lack of sleep, vitamin and mineral deficiencies (such as vitamin B12).
Why does anxiety cause brain fog?
Anxiety is a survival response which uses a lot of energy and physical/mental resources. Your body is activated; heart rate & respiration is increased, blood flow is moving to the big muscles groups. These are energy taxing processes on the body.
In a 2012 study, researchers gave people various tasks that induced feelings of anxiety. The researchers noted that anxiety made relatively easy tasks difficult, because the tasks required more effort.
Anxiety also narrows the focus of your thinking to the perceived threat, so you literally can’t access the prefrontal cortex during activation, which is responsible for higher thinking processes.
All of these different pathways can play a role in experiencing brain fog.
Ways to combat brain fog
As brain fog can be directly related to anxiety, it’s important to address the root cause. Support for anxiety is not a one size fits all approach, your individual needs are different to others, so it’s important to explore what works before for you. With that said, below are some options to help address the brain fog that comes as a result of anxiety:
L-tyrosine:
dopamine is made from the amino acid L-tyrosine which is commonly found in protein rich foods. Dopamine is a major neurotransmitter that is key for motivation, productivity and focus. Eating a diet high in l-tyrosine can help ensure that you’ve got the basic building blocks needed for dopamine synthesis. Foods such as eggs, poultry, fish, dairy, apples, avocados, bananas, beets, dark chocolate, leafy green vegetable, almonds, walnuts, olive oil, oregano, turmeric and rosemary.
Intermittent fasting:
IF improves various metabolic features known to be important for brain health. It helps reduce
Oxidative stress
Inflammation
Blood sugar levels
Insulin resistance
Fasting also increase levels of a brain hormone called brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Low levels of BDNF leads to difficulties learning new things, depression and mood swings.
Intermittent fasting is NOT restrictive eating, meaning you can eat without restriction during ‘feeding’ windows. It’s a structured schedule of eating, most common is the 16:8 - 16 hours fasting, 8 hours eating window. Most of your fasting can be done whilst you sleep.
Important, intermittent fasting should be avoided by those who are underweight, at risk of malnutrition, suffering from an eating disorder or having problems with maintaining their blood sugar levels.
Address nutritional deficiencies:
Vitamin B6, B9, B12, Vitamin D, Magnesium, Iron, omega-3 essential fatty acids. These all support brain health and improve cognitive function.
Exercise:
Physical exercise is one of the best things you can do for your brain. It boosts neurogenesis (new brain cell production), slows down brain cell ageing and improves the flow of nutrients to the brain. Movement is also a powerful tool to regulate your nervous system.
Sleep well:
Sleep is a time when the brain and body can clear out toxins and work toward healing. Make sure you give your body the sleep it needs.
Remember, it’s not a one sized fits all approach! It’s important to take which tips best support you and your current lifestyle.