How to Get Rid of Brain Fog Fast: 10 Practical Tips

By

Ciarán

Published on

December 7, 2023

Updated on

March 26, 2024

Medically reviewed by

Ben Ahrens

Brain Fog

Are you tired of feeling mentally sluggish and struggling with brain fog? If you’re searching for practical tips on how to get rid of brain fog fast, you’ve come to the right place. Brain fog can be a frustrating symptom experienced by individuals with conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) or even those dealing with day-to-day cognitive challenges and stress. Fortunately, there are science-based approaches to help you overcome this cognitive impairment and regain mental clarity.

In this article, we will explore ten practical tips for reducing brain fog efficiently. Each tip is designed to empower you on your personal journey and support your body’s natural anti-inflammatory processes. Moreover, we will introduce you to the re-origin program, a limbic system “brain retraining” program that is helping thousands of individuals worldwide reclaim control over their cognitive function and overall well-being.

Let’s dive into these tips and discover how you can conquer brain fog once and for all with the assistance of the re-origin program. Remember, you don’t have to face this challenge alone. Re-origin offers a community with group coaching, support, and live programming – everything to help you reclaim your health by rewiring your brain. Try a free demo today!

What Is The Science Of Brain Fog?

Brain fog can be a defeating experience, holding you back from participating in the things that matter most to you. A recent 2020 study within the journal of BioMed Central Health Services Research discussed how the symptoms of brain fog, such as confusion, forgetfulness, and difficulty concentrating and making decisions, can greatly affect personal relationships. This makes brain fog all the more isolating.

A variety of research has demonstrated that the underlying cause of brain fog may be excessive inflammation at a cellular level, but it is also understood that it can be a result of neurological symptoms. However, stress is often a contributing factor to increased inflammation and brain fog symptoms. To support you here at re-origin, we have put together a list of 10 practical tips to empower you to fight brain fog, reduce stress, and improve brain function.

10 Practical Tips to Clear Brain Fog Quickly

Below are ten practical tips for how to get rid of brain fog fast. With each of the following tips, we have also elaborated on the causes of brain fog to help empower you on your personal journey while also helping you to retrain your brain to support your body’s natural anti-inflammatory processes.

1 – Prioritize Healthy Sleep Habits

Prioritizing your relationship with sleep can be one of the biggest lifestyle changes when it comes to overcoming symptoms of brain fog. Poor sleep or sleep deprivation can make it difficult for brain cells to recover and rejuvenate, leading to cognitive struggles experienced as brain fog. Make creating a new bedtime routine fun! Listening to calming music or sitting and thinking about what you are grateful for today can kickstart new neuroplastic changes within your brain to rewire your relationship with sleep.

2 – Get 20-30 Minutes of Daily Outside Exercise

Being indoors for prolonged periods of time can affect even the best of us. The lack of exposure to natural light can interrupt the body’s circadian rhythm. This is your body’s ability to regulate all of the physiological processes along with your wake-sleep cycle. Getting outside for regular physical activity can also have an influence on your levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps with the regulation of mental health and mental clarity. Regular exercise is another tool to add to your toolbox to get rid of brain fog.

3 – Eat Brain-Boosting Foods

Your brain needs essential nutrients to function at its best.

A study entitled Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids And Their Health Benefits within the journal Annual Review of Food Science and Technology found that healthy fats such as Omega-3 fatty acids, found in salmon, sardines, flaxseed, and walnuts, have been linked to preventing memory problems and cognitive decline.

Additionally, a recent study in the Journal of International Molecular Science found that vitamin b12, found in leafy greens, nuts, and whole grains, has been linked to overall improvements in cognitive performance.

Last on the list are antioxidants, such as Vitamin C and E which have been found in berries and oranges to protect the brain from damage.

If mental fatigue is affecting you, it may help to consider how a poor diet that is high in processed foods and added sugars can lead to inflammation and exacerbate brain fog symptoms. Remember to be intentional with your food choices, and your brain health will thank you for it!

4 – Limit Caffeine Intake for Improved Focus

Who doesn’t love a cup of coffee, right? While caffeine can temporarily boost alertness and concentration, a 2021 study in the Journal of Sports Health found that too much caffeine may lead to restlessness and nervousness. Feeling a lack of focus with quick-paced and unprocessed thoughts, all while experiencing general restlessness, are all signs that your nervous system may be too overstimulated.

So be aware of your relationship to caffeine. It’s the small things that make the biggest impact over the long term when it comes to brain function! By making a small change, such as reducing caffeine intake, individuals with adrenal or chronic fatigue syndrome have the potential to improve their quality of sleep and find relief from the debilitating symptoms of fatigue and stress. By embracing this change, you may step towards reclaiming control over your general health and well-being.

5 – Stay Hydrated

The U.S Geological Survey’s Water Science School suggests that the average person is made up of between 55-60% water. That’s a pretty significant number! You can begin to train your brain to create new patterns of behavior, helping you to beat brain fog by paying attention to your body’s thirst signals. Simply drink water when you feel thirsty, and without doing anything else, you are now engaging in a neuroplasticity-promoting activity.

6 – Slow Down for Clarity

Living a quick-paced life can all of a sudden catch up with you if unchecked. If your brain is constantly working, it may be constantly processing a lot of information which has been linked to further exacerbating brain fog symptoms. So throughout the day, prevent a build-up of chronic stress with mini mental breaks to recharge and refocus on what’s most important. A short pause to slow down can do a lot for improved cognitive function!

7 – Manage Brain Fog Through Exteroceptive Focus

If interoception is the focus of your awareness of your internal experience, including bodily sensations and mental processes, then exteroception can be defined as your awareness of the external environment. However, if you’re battling constant mental chatter through focusing too much on your interoception, this may lead to feelings of overwhelm, making it difficult to focus or retain new information—a typical experience of people with brain fog.

However, changing what you’re focusing on by placing your attention on an object in front of you may help to manage stress levels, relieving the cognitive symptoms of brain fog. And yes, this is another way you can begin to retrain your brain and take control!

8 – Eliminate Distractions For a Clearer Mind

Distractions in the form of technology can be a great escape to entertain yourself for a little while. However, it is important to notice if this turns into a distraction taking you away from positively overcoming the symptoms of brain fog. Too much information can make it difficult to focus on a single task, and if this begins leading to forgetfulness and confusion. That’s not so great, right? Knowing what distracts you is half the battle. Noticing small things like this can really make a big difference in cognitive function!

9 – Take Cold Showers

Embrace the chill and try a cold shower. Cold exposure can significantly increase the release of norepinephrine and epinephrine within the brain. Both of these neurochemicals can boost alertness which can improve focus and energy levels to be applied to mental or physical tasks.

By practicing being present and observing your experience without judgment during cold showers, you can develop skills that can help you manage brain fog in other areas of your life. This moment of focusing on the present and letting go of self-judgment can improve your relationship with yourself and reduce the association of self-judgment while experiencing the symptoms of brain fog.

10 – Focus on Your Breathing

How you manage stress is important when it comes to the short-term effects of brain fog. Taking 4-6 slow deep breaths down into your belly can help stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, relaxing the muscles of the chest and helping to create a calm state within the mind. Focused breathing is a simple way to decrease your blood pressure and help direct blood flow to the decision-making areas of the brain, the prefrontal cortex within the frontal lobe.

Clear Your Mind and Gain Momentum!

Overcome your struggles with cognitive impairment by starting the re-origin brain retraining program! Listen to some of the inspiring people who we have had the great honor of being a part of in their journey. Feeling alone and isolated can make the weight of change all the more difficult. But with our evidence based-method, you can feel like you’re making real consistent progress in battling brain fog.

Reference List:

  1. Ladds, E., Rushforth, A., Wieringa, S., Taylor, S., Rayner, C., Husain, L., & Greenhalgh, T. (2020). Persistent symptoms after Covid-19: qualitative study of 114 “long Covid” patients and draft quality principles for services. BMC health services research, 20(1), 1144. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-06001-y
  2. Turana, Y., Nathaniel, M., Shen, R., Ali, S., & Aparasu, R. R. (2021). Citicoline and COVID-19-Related Cognitive and Other Neurologic Complications. Brain sciences, 12(1), 59. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12010059
  3. Graham, E. L., Clark, J. R., Orban, Z. S., Lim, P. H., Szymanski, A. L., Taylor, C., DiBiase, R. M., Jia, D. T., Balabanov, R., Ho, S. U., Batra, A., Liotta, E. M., & Koralnik, I. J. (2021). Persistent neurologic symptoms and cognitive dysfunction in non-hospitalized Covid-19 “long haulers”. Annals of clinical and translational neurology, 8(5), 1073–1085. https://doi.org/10.1002/acn3.51350
  4. Mantovani, E., Mariotto, S., Gabbiani, D., Dorelli, G., Bozzetti, S., Federico, A., Zanzoni, S., Girelli, D., Crisafulli, E., Ferrari, S., & Tamburin, S. (2021). Chronic fatigue syndrome: an emerging sequela in COVID-19 survivors?. Journal of neurovirology, 27(4), 631–637. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13365-021-01002-x
  5. Shahidi, F., & Ambigaipalan, P. (2018). Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Their Health Benefits. Annual review of food science and technology, 9, 345–381. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-food-111317-095850
  6. Suwannasom, N., Kao, I., Pruß, A., Georgieva, R., & Bäumler, H. (2020). Riboflavin: The Health Benefits of a Forgotten Natural Vitamin. International journal of molecular sciences, 21(3), 950. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21030950
  7. Serafini, M., & Peluso, I. (2016). Functional Foods for Health: The Interrelated Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Role of Fruits, Vegetables, Herbs, Spices and Cocoa in Humans. Current pharmaceutical design, 22(44), 6701–6715. https://doi.org/10.2174/1381612823666161123094235
  8. Nadeem, I. M., Shanmugaraj, A., Sakha, S., Horner, N. S., Ayeni, O. R., & Khan, M. (2021). Energy Drinks and Their Adverse Health Effects: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Sports health, 13(3), 265–277. https://doi.org/10.1177/1941738120949181
  9. The Water in You: Water and the Human Body | U.S. Geological Survey. (2019, October 22). https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/water-you-water-and-human-body


By

Ciarán