Here Are 5 Natural Ways To Fight Brain Fog

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It’s 3 p.m. on a Tuesday and you’re hard at work — or at least, you’re trying to look like you’re hard at work. You can’t seem to focus and there’s no reason for it. Even when you try to get back to your tasks, your mind refuses to work with you. So, what’s going on? Friend, you have brain fog.

“Brain fog is an inability to really punch through,” explains Mady Hornig, MD, associate professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, in an interview with Prevention. “It’s a vague sense of what you’re trying to retrieve, but you can’t focus in on it and the effort to harness the thought can be as draining as physical activity.”

So, what are you supposed to do about it? Thankfully, there are a few tips you can learn to cope with brain fog:

1. Get regular aerobic exercise.

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Activities like running or swimming can positively impact your brain in a number of ways. When you increase your heart rate for an extended period of time (more than five minutes), the blood flow to your brain is more regular, keeping your mind happy and clear.

2. Get outside (or pop vitamin D).

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Vitamin D is essential to brain health. If you’re not soaking up some rays (with plenty of sunscreen, of course) or consuming another source of vitamin D, like a pill, your risk of getting brain fog likely increases.

3. Eat more dark chocolate.

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Isn’t that a lovely sentence? Of course we’ll eat more dark chocolate! Researchers from the University of South Australia found that eating a moderate amount of dark chocolate just once a week could improve cognitive function.

4. Catch an extra hour of sleep.

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If you’re not sleeping at least eight hours a night for whatever reason, your brain function is likely to suffer. Even if you can’t get eight hours, just one extra hour of sleep per night can significantly improve your memory and ability to reason under pressure. Do as much as you can to get close to the eight hour mark, because the more you go without good sleep, the longer it takes to cognitively catch up.

5. Make a playlist of your favorite songs.

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Music can do a lot for your brain — from being closely linked to pleasure to just lifting your mood. A good song can get you out of a funk. Researchers from the Oxford Academic Journal of Neurology found that music that you’re positively emotionally tied to could immediately improve your cognitive recovery, as well as your mood. Keep tunes on hand for those moments when you just can’t focus.

Don’t let brain fog get the best of you. These five tips will help you prepare for, and cope with, loss of focus. You’ll be back on track before you know it!