One of the most complained symptoms in my practice from a post Covid-19 infected patient is brain fog. But what is brain fog? Why is it the number one complaint after recovery from Covid-19?

Perhaps you have experiences like this:

You wake up in the morning and still have the unshaken fatigue as if you only slept for a few hours last night despite sleeping from 10pm to 6am. The feeling of heaviness, grogginess, and not being able to think clearly and sharply makes you feel like dragging your feet the whole day. It sometimes can get better with one good night's sleep, but most of the time, it gets worse and worse. When you are working, you can't react as fast as you want. When in daily life, you keep forgetting about things you are so used to doing. 

It does feel like fog hovering over your brain, doesn’t it? What causes it?

Brain fog is a chronic low grade inflammation of the brain that affects your cognition and emotions. This type of neuroinflammation is related to lack of sleep, stress, environmental toxin, SAD (standard american diet), and change of hormones. The cause of brain fog is the degeneration of mitochondria and the inflammatory mediator crossing our blood brain barrier. 

When a patient recovers from Covid -19, it’s likely the symptoms of the upper respiratory system are gone, but the uniqueness of Covid-19 is that some patients might enter a long phase of inflammation, which we often call Long Covid. Long Covid can also worsen the underlying low grade inflammation in modern life style. 

Three main factor that can worsen brain fog or neuroinflammation are:

Gut dysbiosis, insulin resistance, and stress induced inflammation.

When underlying inflammation is caused by our lifestyle, Covid-19 is more like an ignitor that blazes through the field. This is what makes brain fog the most common complaints after Covid-19.

I always say SARS-Cov 2 is not a curse to the human race. It’s a good opportunity to examine ourselves and our lifestyles to find out what’s out of balance. We can take this opportunity to the next level and make ourselves a better balanced person. Our modern lifestyle is pro-inflammatory and not sustainable. Treating brain fog is not just about what vitamins and herbs to use. It’s about being mindful about what we eat, what we do, and how we live. We can start with diet:

Eliminate processed food

As convenient as it is, processed food does not contain much of enzymes, vitamins, and flavonoids. Eating raw food the way mother nature created them ensures us to have the optimal quality of nutrients. That’s why “shop rainbow, eat rainbow.” is a good way to make sure you get micronutrients that are presented in different colors.

Low sugar diet 

Carb is an essential macronutrient when consumed in moderation. However, when we rely too much processed food to feed ourselves and our family, we might overlook the consumption of refined, processed sugar. Over consumption of sugar creates insulin resistance that puts our body in constant inflammation. Insulin resistance can also alter the HPA (hypothalamus -pituitary-adrenal) axil that can lead our emotions into an imbalanced state, such as depression and anxiety. The research had linked the insulin resistance, diabetes and depression had shared similar pathological patterns (Research Article). 

Increase food source rich in omega 3 

Omega-3 is well known for its powerful antioxidant and cellular repairment properties. There is research showing the effects of Omega-3 in improving cognitive function (Research Article). The modern diet of imbalanced omega 6 and omega 3 creates inflammation. A regular consumption of deep cold water fish or fish oil supplement is a good way to rebalance it.