1. Take a Break, Especially After Getting Sick
If you zip from task to task throughout the day, you may not be giving your brain the break it needs to function well. Just like physical rest, mental rest can help you recover and recharge.
This is important for everyone who’s swamped with a multitasking lifestyle, particularly if you’ve felt under the weather. For example, some diseases or infections may leave you with lingering brain fog, even when you feel physically better, due to possible inflammation.
It’s normal to want to push through your day and resume your typical to-dos, but this isn’t likely to set you up for success. Prioritizing your absolute-must tasks while scheduling downtime can help support mental stability while working with the fog.
2. Automate Your To-Do List
Managing a busy life takes work, but there’s no need to stress yourself out about small things you might forget (hint: defrosting the chicken). Limiting distractions and planning ahead can help you stay organized.
For example, use the alarms on your phone, schedule reminders through a voice assistant, set up auto pay for your bills, and organize your meetings into a calendar. This may help take away some of the stress associated with brain fog.
3. Fill Up on Anti-Inflammatory Foods
Brain fog can be a side effect of certain autoimmune conditions, and inflammation may be to blame. For example, people with rheumatoid arthritis often report feeling forgetful and unable to concentrate.
And anywhere from 50 to 80 percent of people with fibromyalgia may experience brain fog.
A low-inflammatory diet, which roughly means limiting or avoiding highly processed foods and red and processed meats, may be helpful.
Try sticking to a plant-based or Mediterranean-style of eating that emphasizes whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats.
4. Get Moving, Often
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week for adults. This keeps not only the heart in good shape but also the brain.
Memory, executive control, and attention may all get a boost when you work up a sweat. It can also help reduce stress for many people, and it builds up your cognitive reserves to help your brain become more resilient as you age.
5. Find Time for Brainy Activities
Your brain may be an organ, but you can train and strengthen it like a muscle. Activities that stimulate and support your cognitive health include reading books, tackling crossword puzzles, playing games or instruments, and keeping updated on current events, among others.
As with physical exercise, consistency is key. To maintain a regular practice, lean in to activities you find enjoyable. Don’t want to learn to play an instrument? That’s fine, perhaps you’d rather brush up on French vocabulary that you haven’t revisited since college.
Turning on some tunes can be another brain-tickling strategy. Research has shown listening to music stimulates the brain and helps with stress reduction and mood disorders.
6. Clean Up Your Sleep Hygiene
Sleep helps keep you sharp. If you’re feeling cognitively fuzzy, consider how well you’ve been snoozing.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults get at least seven hours of sleep per night.
Sleep deprivation can lead to a range of brain fog-like symptoms such as issues with short-term memory, attention, processing speed, and alertness.
Addressing sleep problems by improving your sleep hygiene (like ditching devices before bed or creating a wind-down routine) may help you beat fatigue so you can think more clearly the next day.
Sleep apnea, when you experience pauses in breathing during sleep, is another concern and can create disruptions that affect sleep quality.
A hallmark sign of sleep apnea is appearing to get enough sleep but still feeling excessively sleepy during the day. If you suspect you may have a sleep disorder, it’s important to see your doctor for treatment.
7. Address Underlying Health Conditions
While lifestyle changes may help cut through brain fog, they can only do so much if there’s an unaddressed, underlying health condition. Health concerns that can contribute to brain fog include autoimmune conditions, anxiety, depression, pregnancy, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, among others.
Lagging focus, lacking understanding, trouble finding words, and poor concentration are all symptoms of brain fog in multiple sclerosis, and a brain-fog feeling can sometimes be the first symptom of the disease.
Brain fog is also frequently found in hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid).
While these are just a few examples, proper treatment or management of these underlying conditions may help relieve the cognitive symptoms of brain fog.
All told, experiencing brain fog isn’t just a marker of aging or a busy lifestyle, and it’s not something to ignore. It’s an opportunity to make healthier lifestyle choices and seek medical advice from your doctor, so that clearer thinking can be in your future.
The Takeaway
- Brain fog includes symptoms like sluggish thinking and difficulty concentrating.
- It can arise from various causes, such as stress, poor sleep, or underlying health conditions.
- Lifestyle changes, like taking breaks, engaging in physical or cognitive activities, and eating a balanced diet, may improve mental clarity.
- If you experience extreme or persistent brain fog, consult with a healthcare professional to address possible underlying causes.