Teach the Brain Forums

I have been experiencing brain fog lately. It it is moderate, but it doesn't go away or worsen/better. I have diabetes, slight neuropathy, and lately been experiencing sharp pains in the back of my head. It feels like my head is about to pop. They last only for brief seconds before going away. I have these pains before; however, I had only had them once or twice a year. Now I get them once or twice a month. Any possible causes for brain fog? NOte: I get good sleep.

Nobody here to reply.

I was hoping that John or Bob would reply, so instead I will query someone to come reply

sorry for the delay

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The expresion Brain Fog was new to me, obviously connected with health, i have just come into conntact with the term in my research reading.
A new book from Toney Buzan "Age-Proof Your Brain" a good starting point for any one intrested in brain possabilities.
i quote from the second paragraph on page 164
"a suger rush can also bring on `brain fog`where you are unable to think clearly because of the blood suger levels."

Clearly connected with your diabeties, nothing to worry you unduely but something to be carfull about.

the best of luck with your health. ---------------unny:

More http://aolsearch.aol.co.uk/aol/search?in...og&cr=&lr=


http://www.brainconnection.com/SITEWare/...30.ew.php3

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davidlee Wrote:Any possible causes for brain fog?

It's hard to compare mental states with much certainty, but I can offer you a data point (years late from your post!).

I was experiencing circadian (early-morning) dizziness and what I called "mental fogginess". Oddly, these seemed to worsen with the intake of sweet foods, though I am not at all diabetic. When pressed by the doctor on the mental symptom, the thing I kept coming back to was that whenever I paused for a moment, my eyes tended to unfocus and my mind would drift. After the doctor eliminated all the exciting possible diseases, I started my own research.

After much study, it seemed to me that a failure to move sufficient tryptophan across the brain-blood barrier on a daily basis fit all the facts. Dizziness is certainly associated with messed-up brain serotonin (downstream metabolite of tryptophan), and tryptophan levels are lower in patients who experience fructose malabsorption. Based on all this, I set forth an experiment designed to increase the amount of tryptophan getting into my brain. I cut off all fructose after noon, my 5pm meal was all protein, chased with a small amount of glucose, and I engaged in brisk walking for an hour after that.

To my astonishment, that evening it was (mentally) like I had been wearing filthy glasses for a very long time and suddenly they were clean. My eyes no longer went out of focus whenever I paused my activity, and I was just... mentally sharp.

In my case, at least, "brain fog" was not at all caused by blood sugar levels. If you're not diabetic, blood sugar levels are regulated pretty damn tightly, and I tend to be skeptical of that as a mechanism for symptoms when there's not direct proof. Instead, the problem was (IMHO) the sugar that wasn't being digested, that was interfering with the absorption of tryptophan.

Much later, I ran across the research the Japanese are doing that shows that carbohydrate malabsorption is a symptom of living in dim indoor light. These days, I work in bright outdoor sunlight when I can, and otherwise try to stay in my office where I have enormously bright artificial lights that favor the blue part of the spectrum more than normal bulbs. I do not suffer mental fogginess any more, but I can reproduce that state fairly quickly by abandoning the behavioral changes I've made. By living in bright light, the connection from sugar to mental malfunction is severed. I no longer underestimate the health side-effects that can accrue from abandoning the two largest environmental signals our hormones respond to: light and dark.