With the weather turning cold, misty, and foggy, our view gets quite unclear, blocking our paths with rain and snow. Fogs are no good news as a weather condition and they are not definitely good for your brain.

Almost every one of us experiences brain fog occasionally, which can happen due to great shock caused by a horrifying event in our life.

The symptoms of brain fog are a general lack of clarity in our thoughts, forgetfulness, weak decision-making skills, and well as slower reflexes.

If you ignore the early signs of brain fog, you may be making way for severe brain conditions such as Alzheimer's diseases, memory loss as well as other brain conditions.

Now that you have a general idea about symptoms of brain fog, you might want to be on guard if you notice such symptoms in yourself or any of your loved ones or even for your child or spouse.

Earlier it was generally thought that only older people or people with mental conditions suffer from brain fog. But the new age studies show that it can happen to about anyone, at any age and we are at more risk of having a brain fog than any generation that lived on this planet.

Now let's find out more about the things that can lead to brain fog:

Fatigue:

Fatigue is a condition when you feel extremely weak and tired for a long period of time, even if you taking adequate rest. If this condition persists for more than 6 months, it can also be diagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome.

People who are extremely tired and are suffering from fatigue often suffer from brain fog which makes them forgetful and makes it difficult to focus on the tasks at hand.

Diet:

You can be following a particular way of eating, you can be vegan, or vegetarian or eat everything that has 4 legs. Your food choices are your personal preferences, and you can eat anything that you may like, but there are certain food items that can cause brain fog.

If you are allergic or intolerant to certain food items such as dairy products, or dry fruits and nuts or produces from the nightshade plants such as potatoes, eggplants, tomatoes, and others, then eating these food items can cause brain fog.

Similarly, if you are constantly consuming food items and drinks which are high in sugar content, then you may experience a sugar crash after a while which contributes to your brain fog.

Similarly, a lack of essential nutrients can also cause brain fog in your body, people who suffer from vitamin B12 deficiency often suffer from brain fog.

Inadequate amount of sleep:

Sleeping well is so intertwined with all our body functions that lack of adequate sleep has far-reaching effects on almost all parts of our body including our brain.

You may have noticed that if you haven't slept well just for a couple of nights, you will wake up feeling grouchy and have difficulty concentrating on things such as writing, solving problems, and even making it hard for you to drive.

In fact, people who haven't slept well are discouraged from driving as they have the same focus as that of an over drunk person behind the wheels.

Also not sleeping leads to a build-up of waste products secreted after the brain functions which can also be a cause of your brain fog.

Stress and Mental Pressure:

Stress is just like lack of sleep, we all know that it is bad for us, but we cannot simply escape it easily. But stress can cause a lot of damage to your brain which can result in severe brain fog over time.

When you are stressed, or under a lot of pressure, it is easy to make mistakes, miscalculate things, or even misread and misunderstand things. This can bring down your productivity and effectiveness at work as well as at school.

These are some of the factors that can be the reason behind your brain fog, but there are other factors that can cause brain fog as well such as anxiety and hormonal imbalance.

If you experience that the symptoms of your brain fog are severe and they are making your daily life hard and exhausting, then it is best to seek professional help.

There are also a few things you can do by yourself to improve the symptoms of your brain fog:

1. Get an adequate amount of sleep

If you are constantly sleepy, then your body might be trying to tell you that you need more sleep. So if you pay off your sleep debt, you may see a tremendous change in your energy level as well as see an improvement in your concentration span as well as a renewed clarity in your thoughts.

There are some people who never get around paying their sleep debt or repairing their sleep cycle due to their rotating shifts, or night shifts. Such people can visit a doctor and ask if they can be prescribed wakefulness-promoting medications such as Modalert & Artvigil which not only promotes wakefulness but also increasing their concentration span and speed boosts their productivity.

2. Seek Treatment for Fatigue

You may be ignoring your tiredness but please know that ignoring it will only make your symptoms worse and worsen your brain fog, and even cause chronic fatigue syndrome which does not have a permanent cure as of yet.

There are medications that will help in reducing tiredness and medications such as Waklert and Modvigil are prescribed for the treatment of fatigue even though it's not an on-label use.

3. Engage in Physical Activities 

If you are feeling physically tired and suffering from slow reflexes, physical activities may be the last thing on your mind. But your body needs physical activities to feel alive, active, and awake.

You may find that sitting for a long time can make you feel sleepy and make it difficult to focus which can be signs of brain fog. 

But when you move your body, the blood starts to circulate across your whole body and does help in getting better mental clarity.

This is one of the reasons that people feel better after taking a walk if they are dealing with overwhelming emotions and racing thoughts. Visit: allDayawake.com