Imagine yourself trudging through the day, trying to get your best work done, but you feel sleepy and unmotivated.
For some reason things just feel “off” with your brain and you can’t seem to figure out the answer.
Often, unexplained brain fog is actually brain inflammation.
Humans are meant to use inflammation for the purpose of healing sickness. It can be good as a cure for the flu or other immune deficiencies, but when it becomes chronic inflammation, it can do damage to your brain and cause debilitating brain fog and poor cognition.
Diet, exercise, and other lifestyle habits play a big role in brain fog and inflammation in the brain, but there are some unusual treatments, which we will show you below, that can cure these ailments.
What Causes Inflammation Of the Brain?
There are a host of brain inflammation causes, but almost all of them are lifestyle related. The biggest problem is the standard American diet [1], which is highly inflammatory.
One example of this is the omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio. In normal, healthy humans, the dietary ratio of these two fats should be 1:1. The standard western diet is 15-20:1 in favor of omega-6s [2].
Most people’s’ diet is too high in sugars, carbohydrates, and fried foods, but not high enough in vegetables and healthy meats. Beyond diet, people are stressed out, over-medicated, and don’t exercise enough. All of these factors lead to chronic inflammation.
The Cold Hard Truth of Chronic Brain Inflammation
I love my grandparents. They have lived geographically close to me for most of my life and I see them often.
Unfortunately, my grandparents, perhaps like yours, are at higher risk when it comes to brain inflammation. One study of elderly people found that those with the highest level of inflammation had a 260% higher likelihood of dying in 4 years [3].
If that wasn’t enough, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, senile dementia, and others are likely caused by chronic brain inflammation [4].
Even if you are young and healthy, the brain fog that comes with inflammation is only the tip of the iceberg. Studies show that inflammation of the brain can be a cause of depression, bipolar disorder, and a host of other brain related ailments [5].
If you weren’t already convinced brain fog hurts mental performance, now you have plenty of evidence. Here is an unorthodox look at how you fix it…
4 Unusual Treatments for Brain Fog
There are a million posts about the brain fog cure, how to reduce inflammation in the brain, and the ultimate brain fog treatment, but the reality is… they’re all the same.
Eat right by removing gluten, dairy, sugar. Exercise, blah, blah, blah…
It’s all true, but what if you are already doing those things? You need some out of the box thinking.
#1: Probiotics
Your stomach and gut is filled with bacteria (both good and bad) and an entire ecosystem that impacts how you digest food.
When I first heard that guy and stomach health was related to mental performance and cognition, I was a bit skeptical.
It turns out, there are direct neural pathways between the gut and the brain [6]. Because inflammation is throughout your body, reducing inflammation in the gut naturally helps the brain.
In one study, probiotic supplementation helped to reduce inflammation by up to 38% after only 1 month of change [7]. A more recent study at UCLA showed that eating probiotic yogurt daily could help change gut bacteria and influence fMRI brain scans showing cognitive performance [8].
There are plenty of probiotic supplements for brain health including “prebiotics”, which are carbohydrates that cannot be digested by the human body, which ferment and become probiotics. One example is Natural Stacks prebiotic resistant starch complex.
No need to buy probiotics if you don’t like. Sauerkraut, kimchi, and a host of other fermented foods are all great ways to support a healthy gut ecosystem.
My girlfriend mixes sauerkraut in with our tuna salad and despite my initial skepticism, it tastes great.
#2: Cryotherapy Treatment
If you have never heard of cryotherapy treatment, it is the use of low temperatures to treat medical conditions and increase performance [9]. Just think sub-zero temperatures, liquid nitrogen, freezing your body parts off…
I went in to Restore Cryotherapy in Austin, Texas [10] and although I never froze body parts off, at -260 degrees Fahrenheit, it was pretty darn cold.
While subjecting myself to such conditions might seem masochistic, there is plenty of scientific data to suggest cryo treatment can help reduce inflammation in the body [11]. Even when the body goes through traumatic stress (such as damaging exercise), cryotherapy can help reduce the inflammation while still allowing adequate recovery [12][13].
If you engage in any kind of physical athletics or vigorous exercise, the benefits of cryotherapy will be even higher. It can cost a pretty penny, but unlimited cryotherapy in most major western cities will only run $2 – 300 per month.
#3: Fish Oil
This isn’t that unusual, but fish oil and omega-3 fatty acids are one of the best (and easiest) ways to reduce brain inflammation and prevent brain fog.
The balance of omega-3 and omega-6 is often the cause of inflammation so eating more fish or taking fish oil can make a big difference.
The two main fatty acids in fish oil, DHA and EPA, are specifically helpful for reducing brain inflammation [14].
My weekly diet consists of fish at least 2 – 3 times per week, but I also enjoy a spoonful of lemon-tasting fish oil every now and again.
#4: Relax (take a chill pill)
When you get stressed out, anxious, and worried, it produces all kinds of negative and inflammatory chemicals in your body including cortisol.
According to Carnegie Mellon University’s Sheldon Cohen “Inflammation is partly regulated by the hormone cortisol and when cortisol is not allowed to serve this function, inflammation can get out of control…” [15]
Cohen has studied the results of chronic stress in numerous studies and continually finds the same conclusion. Continued stress creates chronic brain inflammation, which leads to the brain fog that is so debilitating.
There are a million ways you can find to relax, but I particularly like meditation, enjoying a nice meal with people you love, or getting a massage.
Try to find a natural way to relax and reduce your stress levels before turning to smart drugs and nootropics. There are some great natural options, such as lemon balm, kava, or ashwagandha and plenty of powerful smart drugs, such as tianeptine.
The point is to create a lifestyle around less stress and more relaxation, so even though a “chill pill” might help, also change your habits and routines.
Follow Your 80 / 20
The 80 / 20 (or Pareto) principle states that roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes [16]. When it comes to reducing brain inflammation and brain fog, you will find that the best results come when you fix your diet.
These four unusual treatments are not the ultimate brain fog cure, but they are ways to help fix the problem that are slightly outside the box. If you can eat a healthful diet and also follow these unusual support systems, you will likely cure brain fog, increase your cognitive abilities, and perform better in your endeavors.
- References (Click to Expand)
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- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_pattern_diet
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12442909
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10335721
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15265532
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23639523
- http://www.jphysiolanthropol.com/content/33/1/2
- http://www.jphysiolanthropol.com/content/33/1/2
- http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/changing-gut-bacteria-through-245617
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryotherapy
- http://www.restorecryotherapy.com/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3956737/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23873339
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26725948
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22841917
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120402162546.htm
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle
