Reclaiming cognitive health is a movement toward optimal brain function. When the brain is healthy, it operates more efficiently and effectively than any prolonged period of brain fog or impairment of any kind. A healthy brain has energy and a healthy respect for life’s challenges. Our brains are intricately designed by our Creator to store and process an enormous amount of material that gives us the cognitive skills we must not take for granted:
- Attention/focus
- Processing speed
- Working/short-term memory
- Long-term memory
- Visual processing
- Auditory processing
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Logic and reasoning
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Executive functioning
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Adaptive behavior
Perhaps one could benefit from stronger cognitive health on those days when it is difficult to remain focused on a conversation or a task at hand, or when one feels extraordinarily moody and reacts irrationally in any given situation. Then there are days we experience difficulty if our memory is slipping or we are thinking a bit slower. Those days may be sporadic, or the difficulty might last for a few days. We just want the fog to clear so we can think more clearly.
We should not attribute any decline to age, and think there is nothing we can do to strengthen our cognitive abilities. Aside from some types of physical injury or late-stage medical conditions, that is untrue. Difficulties are not normal and need to be addressed by clinicians trained in finding the root cause of your problem(s). These difficulties might include:
- Brain fog
- Daily headaches
- Memory loss
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Chronic fatigue
- Attention deficit
- Slower processing ability
- Inability to make decisions
Functional medicine practitioners search for the root cause of an individual’s symptoms and recognize the complex interplay among lifestyle, environmental, and genetic factors. (1) One root cause of our cognitive concerns is often due to something we least expect: the food we put on our fork. Although tasty, the Standard American Diet (SAD) is full of sugary and unnatural ingredients. Convenient, pre-packaged foods are actually food products, built with substances our bodies do not recognize. Consumption of these products harms our entire body and ultimately changes our brain function. According to ancestral health expert Chris Kresser, regularly eating SAD foods reduces synaptic plasticity and affects cognitive abilities such as learning and memory. (2)
The gut-brain axis is a complex pathway in which all the foods we put in our mouths affect our brains. It may be perceived as minor complications at first that escape our attention. Where did I put my keys? Visual memory. Is it difficult to analyze and interpret a new situation? Logic and reasoning skills. Maybe it takes a little longer to calculate tip amounts? Calculation skills are a complex combination of skills that occur simultaneously when the brain is functioning properly. Empowering Neurologist and best-selling author Dr. David Perlmutter has written several easy-to-understand books about the importance of nutrient-dense foods to protect cognitive health and prevent decline.
In addition to food, several other factors can affect the gut-brain axis. Conveniences of the 21st century lead to sedentary lifestyles and environments full of toxins that negatively impact our bodies, and ultimately our cognitive health. Dr. Dale Bredesen, an internationally acclaimed expert on neurodegenerative diseases, researches how continuous assaults lead to states of cognitive decline ranging from brain fog, ADHD, autism, Alzheimer’s (Type 3 diabetes), and more. He predicts future therapies that reverse these conditions will be personalized and programmatic, rather than monotherapeutic and reliant on prescription drugs (3). We can adapt our lifestyles and reclaim our cognitive health!
Restoration does take an investment of time and a commitment to change, but your brain and cognitive health are worth it! As a health coach, I can help you understand and take action on lifestyle recommendations that you discover and are approved by your clinician. Together, we will create a plan that works for you. Creative solutions unique to your desires and abilities make the process of change easier and less stressful. I look forward to working with you to strengthen your cognitive health. Available times are on my calendar.
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