Pretty sure roughly 1/3 of my life has been spent standing in the middle of the room wondering what I came in here for. Oh the dreaded thyroid brain fog. Before you dive into the article, I’m excited to share that thyroid coach Jen Wittman is offering a digital download of her book, Amazon #1 New Release, Healing Hashimoto’s Naturally and a Free Thyroid Quiz as exclusive FREE gifts to my Hypothyroid Mom community. Written by Jen Wittman, Thyroid Loving Care. For years, I walked around my home feeling like a thick blanket of fog had invaded my brain. Staring blankly at my computer screen, I’d wonder, “what am I supposed to be doing right now?” I’d walk into a room and think, “why did I come in here?” I’d be at a store and wonder, “why am I here? Now, what was I supposed to get again?”Have you ever felt so foggy in your brain that you couldn’t focus on tasks or concentrate on anything? Have you ever almost forgotten to pick your child up at school or that you had an important meeting? And it’s the worst feeling. Brain fog is a common problem for people with thyroid disease. Here are 5 ways to banish thyroid brain fog. After being confined to health-food stores for years, gluten-free foods now show up everywhere. Supermarket aisles abound with products proudly labeled “Gluten free. Quinoa is actually not a grain. It is a pseudocereal seed used by many as a gluten free substitute. It is a commonly used staple crop in South America, specifically. What is the science behind the effect of gluten and casein on brain and mood? Kelly Brogan explains how going gluten free can heal your brain from depression, brain fog, migraine, pain, weight gain, and autoimmune disorders. Brain fog is a lot like that, except it persists. Water is an essential tool in the fight against brain fog, explains the Brain Harmony Center. Dehydration leads to worsening brain fog. What Causes Brain Fog? First and foremost, it’s not surprising that if you’re not getting enough sleep, you have a higher likelihood of always feeling tired and. You know, that one where you feel that pit in your stomach. While I was in the throes of thyroid disease, this happened often. It was debilitating. I felt like a fool. I found myself embarrassed often. There was no lighthouse in my brain to guide my way to shore. I wondered if I was losing my mind. Has this ever happened to you? One of the many and MAJOR symptoms, neigh clues, that your thyroid may be imbalanced is the experience of having brain fog. It’s one of the most common complaints I hear in my practice and it’s one of the first symptoms we work on banishing to help clients reclaim their lives. Are you losing your mind? While I’m not an alarmist, in a sense, you are losing your mind as brain fog can be attributed to brain inflammation which leads to brain degeneration. We have these immune cells in our brain called microglia. This is important to note because they are a powerhouse cell which mount the body’s first and main active form of immune defense in the central nervous system? Well, as you know, I LOVE talking about how it’s all connected. This is why there is no magic bullet, no quick fix to thyroid disorders (man, do I wish there was!) A thyroid imbalance or immune dysfunction is created by a multiple systems break down. So, when we want to banish that brain fog, we MUST look at several systems – the brain, the belly, our detox pathways, diet and lifestyle. I know, geez! If it’s not one thing, it’s everything? Here are simple ways you can address each area effectively and start seeing some serious relief. Heal the gut“Oh man! Why did she have to start there?!?” Well, it’s because inflammation can start in the gut and the gut- brain connection is undeniable. We could discuss the science behind this all day but let’s talk about some quick tips to start lowering the inflammation in your gut and your brain. Whether it comes to thyroid health, losing weight, halting the autoimmune response, reducing inflammation or ridding yourself of draining symptoms like brain fog, healing your gut is the first place to start. So, let’s talk about some real world strategies. Trade your cup of Joe for a cup of bone broth. Say what? Cooking the bones, tendons, skin, and other parts of the animal that we don’t otherwise eat to make bone broth releases many beneficial vitamins, minerals, and other health- promoting substances into the broth in forms that are easy for our bodies to digest and use. For example, bone broth contains collagen, proline, glycine, and glutamine that are great for your health, as well as minerals like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur and others that reduce inflammation, support the immune system, and even help heal allergies and other disorders. Gelatin, which is produced from the breakdown of collagen, is particularly helpful for those of us with leaky gut and other digestive issues, because it can actually soothe the lining of the digestive tract and help heal and reverse dietary allergies and food sensitivities. All of these substances are also anti- inflammatory, which is incredibly important for people fighting autoimmune disorders like Hashimoto’s and who want to limit inflammation in the brain. Get your probiotic on. As part of any gut health program, you’ll want to include potent probiotics to repopulate your gut with the good bacteria. Here are two of my favorites including links to brands I love! Support your digestive juices. If you frequently suffer from heartburn, it might not just be the foods you eat, but an underlying problem of poor digestive enzyme activity. Betaine HCL + Pepsin can help increase stomach acid and enzyme activity. One caveat, though: you don’t want to supplement with HCL for so long that your body doesn’t rely on itself to produce stomach acid. This is a great jump start as you begin healing the gut but you should taper off use as your gut is repaired. This is a supplement that I recommend you take under the supervision of a knowledgeable practitioner. Go gluten- free Gluten molecules resemble thyroid tissue. They are highly inflammatory in the gut and the brain. If you have intestinal permeability (leaky gut) or a sensitivity to gluten (which most people with thyroid conditions do), your body will mistakenly attack your thyroid believing it is attacking the gluten molecules. What happens with autoimmune disease is that the body is having an overactive immune response against substances and tissues normally present in the body. In addition, the thyroid gland is connected to so many of the body’s systems including gastrointestinal function, stomach acid production, adrenal hormone metabolism, changes in brain chemistry and liver detoxification. So, when a gluten molecule escapes through the walls of the digestive tract and the body starts attacking the gluten, it inadvertently begins to attack the thyroid as well, continuing its destruction. That’s pretty serious stuff. Educated doctors and thyroid researchers insist that if you want to stop the destruction of the thyroid and the brain, you must stop eating gluten. You may have heard all of this before, but now is the time to start acting on it. If you truly want to heal your thyroid condition and eliminate brain fog, you’ve got to love your body enough to put your hands up and drop the croissant.“How can I give up my pasta or pizza? What will I eat instead?” you wonder. Giving up gluten seems unappealing and daunting, I know. But you can shift your thinking from giving something up to gaining something back: your health, a clear mind, an energized body. This is not an act of self- deprivation, my friend; it is an act of self love. I’ve been through it, and before I started living gluten- free, I wasn’t sure how I would ever succeed. But I did succeed. And I learned loads of tips and tricks and have a host of new recipe resources to boot. I began feeling so much better after parting ways with gluten that I don’t even feel like I need it anymore. Sure, a piece of fresh- baked bread smells delightful but my body doesn’t actually crave it anymore. And if this former chef and total foodie can do it, so can you. So go ahead. Make sleep a priority. Poor sleep is a typical symptom for people with thyroid disorders and often it is just accepted as something you have to live with as part of having the disease. The problem is that insomnia or restless sleep must be addressed so that your endocrine system can be supported in order to heal. We can’t be flippant about a sleep disorder. Too often, it’s accepted, solely medicated or totally disregarded. Discovering the most effective way to get to sleep and sleep well is a must for loving yourself back to health. Here’s why: Sleep loss can cause weight gain. Lack of sleep can make you feel depressed. Sleep deprivation can lead to serious health problems like heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes. Lack of sleep affects libido. Sleepiness impairs judgments and makes you prone to/causes accidents. Sleep loss affects intellect and memory. A lot of the symptoms of not getting enough sleep mirror the symptoms of thyroid, autoimmune disease and brain inflammation, so you must make sure you’re getting enough sleep to be sure that your symptoms aren’t being caused or exacerbated by exhaustion. Simple tricks for getting to sleep. Maintain a regular sleep- wake schedule. I did this by trying to go to bed 1. I was able to fall asleep by 1. I also set my alarm for 6am each day so I could exercise. After 3 days on the 1. I started waking up at 6am naturally and was noticeably less foggy. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and other chemicals that interfere with sleep. I can’t stress this enough. I know you’re tired now in the morning so you like your cup of coffee but giving it up could be the difference between sleepless nights and sound rest. I went from drinking coffee several times a day to doing a caffeine detox. I don’t need or crave caffeine anymore. It’s pretty amazing. Make your bedroom a comfortable sleep environment. Keep your bedroom uncluttered and cozy with the right bedding, blankets and a heater (if you need it). Establish a calming pre- sleep routine. For instance, read something spiritual or meditative before bed. It’s actually a great time to do a 1. Go to sleep when you’re tired. Don’t stay up to watch the end of that TV show or keep reading to finish a chapter. Research shows that our body wakes itself up after 1. Once you’re up later in the night, you’ll get a second wind and may struggle with falling asleep altogether. Keep lights low in the evening. Bright household lights and light from computers and other electronic devices can disrupt messengers in your brain from eliciting the sleep response. Don’t nap close to bedtime. Eating a light meal really helps with this one. If you eat a heavy, carb- laden dinner, you produce chemicals which will make you sleepy and want to take a nap. Taking a nap after dinner is gonna make it hard to fall asleep when it’s best for your body. Brain Fog Matters Because It Can Be A Symptom Of Brain Degeneration. Brain fog is a serious symptom. Several of the most common symptoms of Hashimoto’s are brain related. This is not a good thing. In this post we will look at how Hashimoto’s impacts the brain and why you really need to take it seriously before it’s too late. In fact, it’s never too early to start working on this. Thyroid health and brain health are linked from our earliest development in the womb. Brain and Thyroid Health Start in the Womb. One of the truths that, unfortunately, gets little attention is the impact of a healthy thyroid on the development of a healthy baby, especially a developing baby’s brain. If you have Hashimoto’s and you want to get pregnant it is very important for you to test your thyroid early and often. There is a very real risk of retardation or poor brain development and studies have shown that women who are hypothyroid during pregnancy are 4 times more likely to have a child with autism. And it is important to realize that if you are taking thyroid replacement hormone that you may need to have your doctor adjust your dosage in order to ensure that your baby’s brain develops properly. For more information on this check out my earlier post on Pregnancy and Hashimoto’s. Hypothyroidism Can Cause Problems in a Child’s Brain, Too. These risks are not only present in the developing brain of a fetus. Once a child is born, if they have too little thyroid hormone, they can experience issues with learning language and have memory problems. This may be caused by a number of factors. Some environmental toxins have been shown to negatively impact thyroid hormone production. In fact, studies have shown that polychlorinated biphenyls alter the expression of thyroid hormone- responsive genes in children’s brains. Hypothyroidism in Adults Can Lead to All Kinds of Cognitive Disorders. In adults, thyroid hormone has been shown to have major influences over virtually every brain activity. T3 and T4 are involved in the neurogenesis, neuronal migration, axonal and dendritic growth, mylenation and more. Hashimoto’s and hypothyroidism can lead to various disorders including lethargy, hyporeflexia and poor motor coordination. They are also linked to bipolar affective disorders, depression, or loss of cognitive functions, especially in the elderly. And in the most extreme cases, Hashimoto’s can lead to a condition called Hashimoto’s Encephalopathy which can cause severe changes in the brain that look very much like the destruction caused by Alzheimer’s. Clearly, thyroid hormone has a powerful effect on the brain. And hypothyroidism and brain inflammation can cause serious and lasting damage to the brain. Brain Fog Is Brain Inflammation. One of the most common symptoms of Hashimoto’s is brain fog, that feeling like you are thinking through a haze, like you can’t quite focus or concentrate no matter how hard you try. Brain fog is an indication of inflammation in your brain. Immune cells in the brain, called microglia are responsible for this. The immune system in the brain is different than the immune system in the rest of the body. In the body it is much more complex, there are many different parts and they balance and regulate each other. In your brain, the immune system is simpler. It’s like one of those people that has only 2 speeds, sleeping or balls to the wall. Microglial cells have an extremely hair trigger. And they are capable of inflicting major damage. That’s right, they cause inflammation. Thyroid hormone has a major influence on them. It can help keep them calm and modulate them. This is why some people with Hashimoto’s notice that their brain fog really improves once they are given thyroid hormone. For many others, this doesn’t help at all. If this is the case, there is something else driving the inflammation and the immune attack. One is gluten, the other is leaky gut. Together they add up to leaky brain and brain inflammation. Leaky Gut Can Also Mean Leaky Brain. A protein found in connection with gluten consumption called zonulin is linked to leaky gut ( intestinal permeability) —the very thing that commonly leads to antibody reactions to foods which leads to sensitivities, allergies and even (eventually) things like Hashimoto’s. There is a direct link between inflammation in the gut (commonly generated by irritating things such as gluten), microglial activation (as a result of these foreign compounds getting into the bloodstream) and brain degeneration. If you have leaky gut, you may also have leaky brain. These same proteins are found in the blood brain barrier. When they break down in the gut, they can also sometimes break down in the brain. This is often why people’s brain fog doesn’t improve with thyroid hormone. In order to improve brain fog, you must reduce brain inflammation and heal the barrier systems because when things enter the brain that shouldn’t the microglia respond and if that response is severe the tissue around it can be collateral damage. A Leaky Brain Means More Brain Cells Get Chewed Up. The microglial cells also make up the blood- brain barrier, a thin barrier that lines the brain and only allows tiny, necessary substances to pass through. The blood- brain barrier is important for keeping the bad guys (foreign invaders, such as viruses or bacteria) and environmental toxins out of the brain. Unfortunately, according to Dr. Datis Kharrazian, (author of the new book, Why Isn’t My Brain Working?: A Revolutionary Understanding of Brain Decline and Effective Strategies to Recover Your Brain’s Health ) the blood- brain barrier can develop “leaks” for a variety of reasons. These include poor blood- sugar stability (particularly insulin resistance), chronic stress, chronic inflammation, poor gut health, poor diet with unhealthy fats, and unchecked autoimmune activity, such as Hashimoto’s disease (alcohol and high homocysteine are also recognized factors). Brain Degeneration Can Also Be Autoimmune. Autoimmune attack on parts of the brain have been noted with Hashimoto’s patients. One part of the brain that has been observed to be vulnerable in these patients is the cerebellum. And as it turns out, research has also shown that gluten can lead to destruction of the cerebellum. Coincidence? We think not. We have discussed the immune system in the brain above, well, another thing that’s important to understand is that it has no “off switch”. If there is an immune response in the brain there is nothing to call off the attack, then the microglial cells create brain inflammation and chew up brain tissue in the process. Hashimoto’s and Brain Degeneration Are Both Multi- System Problems. One of the things that I frequently discuss in my content and in my consultations is that Hashimoto’s is a multi- system disorder. It’s not just a thyroid problem or just an immune system problem. It extends into all the major systems of the body including the liver, the adrenals, the pancreas, the stomach, the digestive tract and, yes, the brain. And this is often why people don’t get better. Their doctors ignore all these other systems that are breaking down and just keep increasing the dosage of their thyroid hormone. Well, a lot of times that just doesn’t work. You need to have a multi- system strategy. That’s what I offer in my work with patients. A strategy for first determining where the problems are and then a program designed to fix them. What Can You Do About Brain Degeneration? You have to start by addressing the areas that helped cause a leaky blood- brain barrier if you want to restore brain integrity. First make sure your diet is 1. Then we get you on the Hashimoto’s diet, to determine whether other foods, such as dairy or eggs, are also provoking the immune system. Then we work on the other systems that are involved. For example, balancing blood sugar, addressing gut health and gut infections, and supporting adrenal health so your adrenal hormones are neither too high or too low. All of these will help put out the fires of inflammation, the killer of brain cells. In addition, we use supplements created specifically for blood- brain barrier integrity, brain inflammation and increased blood flow to the brain. And we may also work on other strategies like enhancing the liver’s detoxification pathways and supplementing with alpha- lipoic acid. Would you like to know if a brain workup would make sense for you? Click the link in the right column of the home page and schedule a free 3. Hashimoto’s Healing Discovery session and we will talk about how my program can help save your brain. I look forward to speaking with you – unless you forget about it because of your brain fog. Kharrazian Brain Thyroid crosstalkhttp: //www. FCT/PTDC/NEU- NMC/0. Parkinson’s diseasehttp: //www. Association between dementia and elevated TSH: a community- based study. Hashimoto’s Encepholopathyhttp: //www. Adoi%2. F1. 0. 1. Fjournal. pone. 0. Cognitive Impairments in Hashimoto’s Encephalopathy: A Case- Control Studyhttp: //www. PMC1. 73. 74. 86/ – ataxia and Hashimoto’shttp: //thyroidbook. Dr. K breaks it down.
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November 2017
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