Brain Fog: what is it and what you can do to help your brain #brainfog

Brain Fog: what is it and what you can do to help your brain

Mums Tips

Fitness & Health

Published on Saturday, 29 February 2020 11:09

Last Updated on 28 February 2020

Carolina Kon

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During a recent seminar held at the Ivy in Central London experts talked about Brain Fog. I never really heard about this before but it was very interesting to learn all about it.

Dr Julia Gottwald, an Oxbridge neuroscientist, explained the brain’s job when it comes to symptoms such as brain fog, insomnia, memory loss, fatigue and so on. She talked about the humans’ brain and mentioned facts like the brain weighing around 3 pounds and having around 86 billion nerve cells.

To better understand how the brain works, it can be categorised in four different parts:

1) The prefrontal cortex which has higher cognition and control,

2) The hippocampus where learning and memory are stored.

3) Amygdala. where the emotions are found and

4) The anterior cingulate cortex, where impulse control can be found.

In response to stress, low blood sugar and sleep deprivation, cortisol helps us out. Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced by adrenal glands which, once released into the bloodstream, can help our body by responding to stress and/or danger. Therefore, when, for example, you forget something, like where you have parked your car or if you feel irritable and you don’t know why, that’s when cortisol kicks in to help you out.

The word Brain Fog is not a medical term but it’s a term used to identify those issues such as memory loss, the inability to concentrate for longer period of times, not having great motivation and other brain related issues.

Research done by Ginger Research Global in January 2020, has shown that 51% of us are worried about our brain, especially when thinking at the brains health in the log term. 56% say declining brain and mind health is a greater worry versus declining physical health. Half would like to improve memory health, while 44% of would like tier minds to be sharper. Two thirds don’t consider their brain health when looking at their diet. Two thirds don’t eat two portions of fish a week (one being oily) – vital to keep our brains fit and focused. For two in five the morning is when their minds are the most switched on, 15% take supplements specifically for good brain health, 65% feel they are not cognitively sharp, 27% think memory health is in decline. A quarter of people struggle to remember things. 43% have to make a ‘things to do list’ to ensure they remember what needs doing.

Brain Fog can affect us in so many ways with our sleep,memory, energy and mood.

Five to six hours of sleep a night is what most people say they get. Over half (51%) feel sluggish in the morning, 11% get less than five hours sleep a night, 25.5 minutes is the average time it takes to fall asleep, 31% say they don’t have good quality sleep – vital for our minds, memory wellbeing, energy
and good mood health, Fragmented sleep patterns are how most people describe their slumber habits, 53% have trouble staying asleep, while 38% have trouble falling asleep, Most have disturbed sleep patterns four nights a week, over a fifth have trouble sleeping because they are worried about not sleeping.

Tiredness, lack of sleep and the weather are the top three factors that affect our energy levels. Three in 10 people wrongly turn to caffeinated drinks to boost their energy levels, 42% can tell other people’s energy levels just by looking at them, 46% say they pick up on other people’s energy levels.

44% claim their mood is interchangeable, lack of sleep, stress or something going wrong are the top three factors to affect our moods. For 31% the weather was blamed for mood changes. A quarter of people like to take a nap to help boost their mood levels, 64% feel their mood is affected by those around them, 59% say their mood can change quickly if someone around them is down. People tend to stay away from others who may impact their mood, with 20% admitting they
avoid certain colleagues and 19% saying they have ended friendships/relationships because of it, 64% agree that they would like to have better control of their mood health, 32% slouch when they have low mood or a dip in energy levels, 26% give less eye contact when they have low mood or energy levels.

The results are quite alarming, if you think about it and your future. So, what can we do to help with all this stress and brain related issues?

Here are a few facts that may help you cope with the Brain Fog: try sleeping well, eat healthily, find something to do that makes you happy, find time to relax, exercise and try reducing stress and/or find techniques to cope with it better.

During the event, Jonny Kennedy explained how we can help our brain when in Brain Fog mode, by using Neubria plant based health supplements to help with Brain Fog as his aim was to put the brain’s health first.

A case study describes how a former Scotland Rugby Captain, and British & Irish Lion, Rob Wainwright and other rugby stars, completed a 500 miles bike ride from London to Scotland in 48 hours. Rob, who is also a a key sponsor of Wounded Lions 500, explained that he first tried the plant based health supplements to help with his training and he felt that the supplements gave him a sustained level of energy and alertness and he felt as he still had energy left once the training had ended. Rob also believes that the supplements left him with a sense of freshness at the end of the training.