Food is one of the fundamental sources of energy linked to better brain power. A healthy diet can enhance brain function, prevent dementia, and even reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Similarly, a diet deficient in the right foods can completely deteriorate brain function, causing brain fog, fatigue, and memory loss. After recognizing that you have brain fog, elimination is the next best step. Therefore, in this brain fog diet cheat sheet, let's start with things you can eliminate to clear your brain fog.
Food and drinks to avoid?
These are the foods that are the main culprit of your brain fog. We can call these brain fog food.
-
Refined carbs: These highly processed carbs can cause a rapid rise and fall in blood sugar levels, leading to brain fog. Eliminating these carbs can clear that fog.
Examples: These foods include white bread, pizza dough, pasta, pastries, white flour, white rice, sweet desserts, and many breakfast cereals
-
Sugary drinks: A high intake of fructose can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, high blood fats, diabetes, and arterial dysfunction. These aspects of metabolic syndrome may lead to an increase in the long-term risk of developing dementia.
Examples: These include beverages like soda, sports drinks, energy drinks, and fruit juice.
-
Highly processed foods: These tend to be high in sugar, added fats, and salt. These foods are usually high in calories and low in other nutrients. They're precisely the kinds of foods that cause weight gain, which can hurt your brain health, causing brain fog.
Examples: They include foods such as chips, sweets, instant noodles, microwave popcorn, store-bought sauces, and ready-made meals.
-
Dairy: Dairy carries inflammatory properties that can cause brain fog. Try switching away from cows milk to other alternatives like almond milk to increase your focus and energy.
Examples: Products that contain cheese, milk, or yogurt.
-
Artificial sweeteners: These might be a low-calorie alternative to natural sugar, but terrible for you, especially aspartame.
-
Alcohol: Alcohol can be fun in moderation, no doubt. However, excessive alcohol consumption can deteriorate your brain health. Chronic alcohol use results in a reduction in brain volume, metabolic changes, and disruption of neurotransmitters, which are chemicals the brain uses to communicate, thereby causing memory loss and brain fog.
Food and drinks to ingest more of, to eliminate brain fog.
These are the best foods to eliminate your brain fog:
-
Water: How simple. Chronic dehydration can lead to a severe deficit in brain function, thereby causing brain fog. Drink more water!
Examples: Follow the 8x8 rule—eight ounces of water, eight times a day, at minimum.
-
Foods that spoil: These foods are jam-packed with minerals and vitamins to boost energy and enhance your brain. Because most greens contain high levels of vitamin C and even some iron, they can help fight fatigue caused by an iron deficiency, a common cause of tiredness. Also, leafy greens contain nitrates, which improve blood flow throughout the body. This not only benefits the brain but helps keep you awake
Examples: Fresh fruits like blueberries, and vegetables, especially green leafy ones. Keep a vegetable to fruit ratio of 2:1. Ultimately, a rainbow color diet here will be welcomed by your brain!
-
Traditional fats: These keep your brain at the top of its game. This healthy type of fatty acid has been shown to help fight fatigue.
Examples: Wild salmon, avocados, olive oil.
-
Nuts: Nuts are a great snack if you find that your mind is feeling cloudy. They help boost memory and concentration.
Examples: walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and peanuts.
-
Herbs: Many herbs can provide cleaner connections in the brain. They play a huge role as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory carriers.
Examples: Turmeric, Ashwagandha, L-theanine, Rhodiola Rosea
Check out these brain fog natural remedies which you can easily follow at your home. You can learn more about brain fog and its symptoms here to check whether you really have brain fog or not.
Also check out 35 Low-Calorie Nutritious Foods You Should Be Eating
