16 Tips For Reducing Brain Fog

Brain fog is something everybody has probably experienced at least once in their lives, but for some people, it happens regularly.

So this guide will discuss what it is, what some of the causes are, and how you can alleviate it.

What Is Brain Fog?

While it’s not a scientific term per se, it does cover many different related symptoms, including:

• Memory problems (e.g. you cannot find something you put down only a few minutes ago)
• Trouble finding the right word (even simple ones you use most days)
• Difficulty concentrating or focusing
• General lack of mental clarity

Here are a few things people suffering from brain fog might do:

• Take their medications twice instead of once
• Get lost on a route they’ve driven many times before
• Find items in places they shouldn’t be (e.g. car keys in the washing machine)
• Looking for their spectacles when they are already wearing them
• Forgetting what you were just about to do
• Using the wrong word completely
• Losing track of what you were saying mid-sentence

Brain fog can strike out of nowhere, sporadically, or it can become a chronic condition.

What Causes Brain Fog?

While it is often associated with aging, there are many other reasons for developing a case of brain fog, which include (but are not limited to):

• Fibromyalgia (when it is often known as “fibro fog”)
• Migraines
• Lupus
• Anaemia
• Diabetes
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Arthritis
• Multiple sclerosis
• Inflammation
• Hypothyroidism
• Anxiety and stress
• Depression
• Insufficient sleep
• Diet, especially processed meat containing sodium nitrates, dairy products, MSG, alcohol, and artificial sweeteners
• Dehydration
• Hormonal changes (including during menopause)
• Prescription drugs / medications
• Overuse of probiotics
• Celiac disease
• Postural Tachycardia, which is a condition where you experience an abnormal increase in heart rate when you stand up after lying down

How Can You Reduce Or Eliminate Brain Fog?

1. Having a snack: certain types of food, such as beans, complex carbohydrates, eggs, leafy greens, nuts (e.g. raw almonds), and seeds, is proven to reduce the impact of brain fog.
2. Nutrition: related to the previous tip is making sure you consume certain key vitamins and minerals that your brain needs to remain healthy. These include Iron, Magnesium, Omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamins B, D, E, and K, and Zinc.
3. Acupuncture or acupressure: as you may be aware, acupuncture involves the insertion or one or more extremely thin needles into strategic places on your body. Acupressure is a less invasive form of this, since it only requires you to apply pressure to the acupuncture points rather than piercing your skin with needles.
4. Use a planner: having a diary or planner or scheduling software on your computer or phone where you can record everything you need to do can help eliminate the problems caused by forgetting to do tasks.
5. Music: music activates both hemispheres of your brain simultaneously, and is proven to enhance learning and memory. However, since the human voice is known to be one of the most distracting sounds there is, instrumental music (i.e. without lyrics) is generally going to be better for helping you to focus. (My own “go to” music when I’m writing, for example, is the original Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield, although relaxing piano music works well for me also.)
6. Drinking Water: as mentioned above, dehydration is one cause of brain fog, so it makes sense that drinking fluids such as water can help reduce it. One study found that as little as a two percent loss in body mass due to dehydration could begin to affect a person’s cognition, resulting in an inability to concentrate or pay attention.
7. Social Interaction / Relationships: while I appreciate that going out with friends may be the last thing you feel like doing (especially if you suffer from something like fibro), research shows that interacting with others, including healthy relationships, can reduce stress, by increasing your self-esteem, and the risk of developing some form of cognitive impairment.
8. Bullet Journalling: the Bullet Journal Method (often abbreviate to BuJo) was specifically designed to help you be organized and productive while also practising mindfulness.
9. Going For A Walk: exercise is well-known for improve cognitive functions, focus, and concentration, so if you feel foggy, just go out for a walk to clear your head – preferably not in the city streets but somewhere where you can be immersed in nature, whether it’s your neighbourhood part, a local forest, the beach, or along a riverbank.
10. Meditation / Mindfulness: it should come as no surprise that these techniques can help clear your mind and improve your ability to concentrate. This can be done in the traditional way, sitting down, or you can combine this with the previous idea, and try Walking Meditation.
11. Low Impact Exercise: other than walking, as discussed above, you could try other exercises that are easy on your body, such as water aerobics, using a stationary bicycle, cycling (but not mountain biking), rowing, swimming, tai chi, or yoga.
12. Brain Games: anything game or activity that stimulates your brain can help prevent brain aging and reduce brain fog. Things you could do include crosswords, nonograms, sudoku puzzles, logic puzzles, or playing chess.
13. Use Time Management Methods: one of the most well-known strategies for reducing distractions and improving concentration, which may therefore be helpful for those dealing with brain fog, is the Pomodoro Technique. You’ll find a link to the creator’s website in the Additional Resources section, below, and you can also look for apps for both Android phone and iPhones to help you implement this approach.
14. Get More / Better Sleep: getting enough of the right quality of sleep can help you in many ways, and that includes reducing brain fog, because if you’re too tired, you cannot think straight.
15. Stay Away From Drugs: while drugs, including both legal and illegal ones, as well as alcohol and tobacco, can provide short-term relief, these are not good strategies to adopt as long-term habits.
16. Acceptance: sometimes, it can be more effort to fight the brain fog than to accept that it’s there and that it will pass. For example, if you cannot remember something, don’t stress out about it, but accept that, for now at least, you’ve forgotten something and move on. Note, this is not the same as giving in.

Conclusion

So, brain fog can be an occasional annoyance, or a chronic condition that affects your daily life on a regular basis.

It can be caused by a wide range of factors, some of which are things you can change because they are under your control.

And as for the 16 tips on reducing brain fog, try as many as you need, because some will work better than others in given situations, until you find something that helps you think clearly again.

Additional Resources

These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:

1. Acupressure’s Potent Points
2. Benefits Of Drinking Water
3. Bullet Journal Method
4. Drink Water Hypnosis Program
5. Keep Your Brain Alive
6. Meditation For Beginners
7. Pomodoro Technique
8. Sudoku
9. Walking Meditation