Food Choice, Lack of Sleep Behind Your Brain Fog

Reporter: Talia Riad

Editor: Sara Fahmy

Many university students currently struggle with brain fog, a common phenomena including but not limited to a lack of mental
clarity, memory issues, and difficulty focusing or organizing thoughts.

Merriam-Webster defines it as an “usually temporary state of diminished mental capacity marked by inability to concentrate or to think or reason clearly”.

What may come as a surprise to some is that diet can enhance or degrade one’s ability to focus.

In a 2021 article published in CNBC, neuroscientist and psychologist Sabrina Brennan, author of Beating Brain Fog, said “around 600 million people worldwide suffer from cognitive dysfunction”.

As the term implies, the ability to function becomes hindered, as if you are stumbling your way through a fog. This stumbling may come in the form of walking into a room and forgetting why and what for, or suddenly forgetting a word one uses very frequently in conversation.

“Brain fog has become an epidemic because everybody is sick and doesn’t know it,” Shahinda Saudi, a Functional Medicine
Practitioner in New Jersey, said.

Functional Medicine is an alternative form of treatment that uses a holistic approach to heal diseases by addressing the root causes. Instead of medicating someone, it asks why one is ill in the first place. Patients usually seek Saudi out after exhausting mainstream medical professionals with no success.

According to the Oregon Health & Science University, there are several causes of brain fog such as the onset of menopause, depression, sleeplessness, vitamin deficiency and stress, to name a few.

Saudi says she is concerned that many of her clients, especially the young, suffer from Vitamin B deficiencies like B-6 and B-12, which are essential for brain performance.

She also sees a high prevalence of anemia – an iron deficiency in the body or the body’s inability to break down and absorb iron from food – in young people. One of the first symptoms of iron deficiency is, in fact, brain fog, she adds.

“Instead of going to a psychologist to be diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), because they all will diagnose you if you simply say ‘I can’t focus’, ask yourself: do you eat enough protein? Do you exercise? Do you sleep 7-8 hours every day? Do you see the sun daily? Is your body provided with all the nutrients it needs? Are all your organs functioning well according to blood tests?,” Saudi said.

Saudi also cited what she says is a chronic global deficiency in magnesium, another nutrient essential for both sleep and relaxation, for brain fog.

Other aspects of 21st Century life, such as high technology usage, lack of sunlight, and diet, may also contribute to focus-related
issues. Saudi believes all these result in shorter attention spans, forgetfulness as well as changes in serotonin and dopamine release.

“The high-starch, high-glycemic and low-fiber diets are one of many aspects contributing to brain fog,” Saudi says.
In 2018, The Global Nutrition Report – an independent assessment of the state of global nutrition partly funded by the Canadian government and European Commission – published data revealing “regardless of wealth, school-age children, adolescents and adults are eating too many refined grains and sugary foods and drinks, and not enough foods that promote health such as fruits and vegetables”.

In Saudi’s opinion, people aren’t getting enough greens and salads instead consuming too much starchy carbohydrates. Even one eats fruit, that’s a lot of sugar that piggy-backs with that fiber.

“If we optimize our health, we can optimize our focus,” Saudi says.

She’s not telling anyone not to eat fruit but to consume in moderation along with a high intake of vegetables and protein.
She recommended clean-sourced protein like grass-fed meat, pasture-raised chicken and wild-caught fresh fish.

However, for most people, she recommended nutritional ketosis to boost concentration. The popular Keto diet is a high-fat, low carb, low-sugar and moderate protein diet. She encouraged anyone struggling with focus to test it temporarily with a professional nutritionist to do it correctly.

Saudi says her patients are shocked by the impact a different diet produces in their lives.

However, Zahwa Farouk, a UK-Registered Associate Nutritionist currently working in Cairo, cautions against getting caught up in diet trends. She believes that keto is not the answer to a healthy diet.

“I know people now are obsessed with low-carb diets, but a balanced diet of carbs, protein and fat is what everyone needs,” Farouk told The Caravan.

While discussing the lack of education in body and nutrition, she insisted high-fat diets can be very dangerous to heart health as well as the liver, which is responsible for breaking down the fat. People tend to feel really good on keto at first but in the long-term it is not sustainable or beneficial because bodies run on carbs and the brain needs glucose.

“I get clients who haven’t studied science and follow their own diets based on false information because of how it makes them feel,” she said.

Farouk advises people to always seek the help of nutritionists to guide them with what their bodies need.

“I’m not specialized in psychology to diagnose people with ADHD, but your diet could definitely be the reason behind your fatigue or lack of mental health; that doesn’t mean you have to fear carbs,” explained Farouk.

For example, the imbalance of yeast and bacteria in the gut is tied to anxiety and depression.

When one experiences bloating, acne, fatigue, painful or irregular bowel movements – and most of all brain fog – then there’s a high chance gut health is in trouble. Therefore, she encourages anyone struggling to find a professional that aligns with what they believe is right for their health.

But some students nevertheless swear by the impact of the keto diet.

Business Administration senior Abdelrahman Hegazy has been on keto for over a year. Initially, he did it for the weight loss benefits but soon felt other effects on his life.

“My mind has never been clearer than when on keto,” Hegazy told The Caravan.

The first few days were the hardest as he was experiencing the ‘keto flu’, which is when the body transitions from burning carbohydrates to burning fats for energy. However, he added that anytime he’s tempted to cheat on his diet, he remembers his life before keto – 20 kilos heavier and constantly tired.

“The mental and physical benefits are worth the sacrifice to maintain keto,” Hegazy said.