Brain Fog: Is Your Brain "Cold?"
Written by: Jessica Starnes, Coastal Rebel Wellness
Brain fog is becoming more and more common as trauma, life stressors, and environmental toxins increase in our modern world. While brain fog can be multifaceted, something important to focus on is thyroid function and metabolism (the theme of my health approach).
A majority of us are walking around with some level of hypothyroidism - whether blatantly diagnosed or subclinical (struggling with the plethora of low thyroid symptoms but being dismissed because the wrong labs are run and results are "normal" - a topic for another day.)
With hypothyroidism, energy isn't utilized well (energy being glucose/fuel) and the brain requires loads of fuel (as well as the liver and muscles). With this lack of energy production, body temp lowers and then we develop what was coined by Dr. Ray Peat as "cold brain syndrome."
We are warm-blooded animals and our body temp is meant to be somewhere between 97.8-99.0°F so that our organs function optimally. When our temps drop, the metabolism slows, and preservation becomes the name of the game. Think of it as an internal winter. What happens in winter? A natural slow down. A hibernation.
At certain stages of hypothyroidism, stress hormones are high and can artificially raise body temp. This can promote mental clarity for a time since the breakdown of tissues (proteins) is happening to create glucose for fuel and this has a thermogenic effect. This is what happens with low-carb diets as the body has to then create its own fuel (glucose) because it's not being provided with food. Often folks "feel better" and may even "test better" on this type of diet but when they incorporate carbs again, they feel foggy and lethargic often because sugars lower the stress response and then they don't have the short-lived anti-inflammatory effects of the stress hormones any longer. Then they feel their true state... At least for a time as healing occurs.
We can test how our metabolism is working by paying attention to symptoms and checking our temps and pulses everyday at specific times. As mentioned above, we want to see temps within 97.8-99°F rising to the warmest temp as the day goes on and then lowering before bed. We also want to see resting pulses between 70-85... even 90 can be alright. Despite what you've been told, athletes low pulse is an adaptation to stress (intense training) and not a sign of health. Details on tracking these can come in another post.
Things to do to improve body temperature and therefore thyroid, metabolic, and brain function:
- Balance blood sugar by consuming carbs + protein/fat together at every meal and snack and eating at regular intervals - not skipping meals and not going too long (over 4 hours) between meals/snacks.
- Eat carbs! In order to think well, we must provide the brain plenty of glucose. Focus on fruits, root veggies, and properly prepared oats, rice, and sourdough.
- Eat enough food. Too many people undereat throughout their busy days. Tracking (when you can invest the time/energy) to make sure you're actually consuming enough food and your macros aren't disproportionately skewed is a good idea.
-Reduce stress hormones by balancing blood sugar, addressing external stressors, ditching excessive cardio/overtraining, and sleeping more.
-Reduce excess estrogen by all of the above and supporting liver and gut health (more info to come!).
-Reduce endotoxin in the gut by reducing thyroid suppressive veggies and consuming a daily raw carrot or two (more info to come!).
-Avoid PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) especially canola, sun/safflower, soybean, and any other industrial seed oils. Minimize nut/seed consumption.
-Consume saturated fats. Animals fats and coconut oil are where it's at. Quality dairy if your digestion allows.
- Get enough sunlight and red light exposure.
- Incorporate organ meats into your diet whatever way you can. Whether cooked into meats, patés, frozen shots, or desiccated capsules. These are crucial for retinol Vit A, B vitamins, and minerals like copper.
- Focus on minerals (from food!) like zinc, copper, magnesium, potassium, selenium, iodine, manganese. Oysters, seafood, fruits, fruit juices, roots, and seaweed are some of your best sources.
To get temps and brain function up, we must focus on T3 production and utilization in the cells. The above will help support the body to do just that.
Cheers to mental clarity!
