Clear Your Mind: Top Tips for Beating Menopause Brain Fog

Navigating Brain Fog During Perimenopause and Menopause

In this episode of Joyful Menopause, host Lynda Enright delves into the topic of brain fog, a common issue during perimenopause and menopause. She explains the hormonal changes that lead to brain fog, particularly the role of estrogen and blood sugar in brain health. Lynda provides practical advice on how to manage brain fog with balanced meals, regular exercise, hydration, and proper sleep. She also shares a success story of a client who improved her symptoms by stabilizing her blood sugar levels. Tune in for science-based advice and actionable steps to maintain brain sharpness during midlife.

00:00 Introduction to Brain Fog

01:01 Understanding Brain Fog and Hormonal Changes

01:57 The Role of Blood Sugar in Brain Health

03:05 Practical Steps to Combat Brain Fog

04:40 Additional Tips for Brain Health

06:32 Client Success Story: Julie's Journey

07:51 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you to feel your best during perimenopause and menopause:

1. Want more science-backed health tips? Click here to sign up for my free weekly newsletter for practical advice on navigating menopause with confidence:

2. Click here to get the free guide: 5 Natural Ways To Reduce Menopause Symptoms.

2. For more information about Lynda and how she supports women on their health journey, click here to learn more.

3. Interested in seeing if nutrition coaching with Lynda is right for you? Click here to book a free discovery call with Lynda.

Transcript

0:00

Brain fog, forgetting words, losing your train of thought, or going for a task and by the time you get there forgetting what you went to do. It's frustrating and common. Welcome to Joyful Menopause, the podcast where we explore practical ways for women to navigate perimenopause and menopause. I'm your host, Lynda Enright. Up to 60 percent of women in perimenopause report experiencing it, but why does this happen? The answer lies in hormonal changes. Today we're talking about brain fog, a topic many of us experience but may not totally understand. Why does it happen and what can you do about it? We'll explore how brain health, blood sugar, and menopause are connected. So let's get started. Menopause doesn't have to feel like you are living in someone else's body. Your host, Lynda Enright, has spent the last 25 years helping women to thrive in midlife. Here you'll find science based practical advice that you can start using today to get real results for your health. Welcome to Joyful Menopause. Let's start by understanding what brain fog is and why it happens. And at the end, I want to tell you about one of my clients and how she got rid of her brain fog. Estrogen plays a huge role in brain health. It helps control neurotransmitters like serotonin and acetylcholine, which affect mood, memory, and learning. When estrogen levels start to fluctuate or they decline, these processes are disrupted, causing that sort of foggy feeling. Estrogen also protects brain cells from damage caused by inflammation and oxidative stress. Without it, the brain can be more vulnerable, which makes focusing and remembering things harder. Think of estrogen as the oil for your brain's engine. When it's running low or uneven, the engine can sputter. You've maybe heard about inflammation, and I expect you've heard about estrogen changes during menopause, but maybe something you haven't thought much about is how your brain relies on sugar for energy. Let's talk a little bit about blood sugar. In a previous episode, I talked about blood sugar regulation and hot flashes, and today I want to show you the connection between blood sugar and brain fog. Your brain's main fuel source is glucose. When your blood sugar is steady, your brain has the energy it needs, but during perimenopause and menopause, hormonal changes like declining estrogen and rising cortisol can throw blood sugar off balance. Here's how it works. If you eat a sugary snack, or if you skip a meal, your blood sugar may spike or crash. These swings can lead to forgetfulness, trouble focusing, and even irritability. Many women experience reactive hypoglycemia, where blood sugar drops too low after a quick spike. This might make you feel shaky, anxious, or yes, foggy. It's like riding a roller coaster that can be exhausting for your brain. To feel steady, we want to keep blood sugar smooth. In just a moment, I have some practical steps you can, start taking right away. But today we're talking about brain fog and how blood sugar regulation can impact brain fog and particularly for women during the years of perimenopause. So how do you keep your brain sharp and focused? Number one, eat balanced meals. Make sure every meal includes protein, some healthy fats, and fiber rich carbs. For example, try grilled chicken with quinoa and roasted vegetables. These foods slow digestion and keep your blood sugar stable and then fuel your brain. Second, Don't forget to eat. Skipping meals or living on coffee can cause blood sugar chaos. You don't need to eat every two hours, and I don't think the idea of grazing necessarily works great for a lot of reasons, but you don't want to skip meals either. Eating three meals a day, maybe a snack somewhere in between if needed, can keep your body balanced throughout the day. These first two are things you can pay attention to. Make some notes about when you experience brain fog. Is it different when you have enough protein? Is it different when you skip breakfast or not? Or is it different when you have an afternoon snack and don't go six hours between lunch and dinner? The third step is to incorporate movement. Exercise improves your body's ability to use glucose effectively. Every time you move your body, your cells become more receptive to glucose, so you get the glucose into your cells, where it gives your body and your brain steady energy and will support your brain function. An added bonus, movement boosts mood and energy. And number four, stay hydrated. Dehydration can affect your focus and energy levels. Keep a water bottle handy. One rule of thumb is to aim for about half your body weight in pounds in ounces of water each day. Today we're focusing on blood sugar, but I want to give you a few more things you can try, too. I know how frustrating brain fog can be, and there are many factors that you can work on. Another, get to bed. Prioritizing sleep is important because your brain does its cleaning while you sleep. If your sleep isn't what you'd like it to be, try reading, meditating, or listening to relaxing music. But first, make sure you're giving yourself the opportunity for enough sleep. If you find yourself up scrolling on your phone, Put it away and turn off the lights. You have to at least start there. An interesting music option can be helpful to reduce stress, inflammation, and release serotonin that can help you to sleep. There's a frequency of sound called Solfeggio frequencies that's 528 hertz. You can find it on platforms like Spotify. And another important one is to practice mindfulness. Deep breathing, meditation, or yoga can help shift you out of the fight or flight mode and into a calm focused state and that can be great for your brain. I understand that the years of paramenopause and menopause can feel frustrating, brain fog being one of the symptoms that many women experience, but I also know that it doesn't have to be horrible, which is why I talk about having a joyful menopause. I know that it can be a great time in life too when you get good answers for your health. To help give you more support, grab my free guide, Five Natural Ways to Reduce Menopause Symptoms. You will find specific things you can start doing to create your best health today and for your future. A client recently made a huge shift in her menopause symptoms when she just focused her energy on the first step in the guide. Go to the show notes for the link to get the free guide. Brain fog doesn't have to control your life. By focusing on blood sugar stability, prioritizing sleep, and adopting simple healthy habits, you can help your brain to thrive during midlife. Before I end today, I want to tell you about my client Julie. Julie came to me for weight loss, but when we talked more, I realized brain fog was making her really frustrated. She found it difficult in meetings at work to get her thoughts in order. She wasn't as quick at problem solving as she had always been. Talking with Julie about her diet, I thought it was possible that her blood sugar maybe was jumping up and down throughout the day. She started the day with coffee and didn't eat until mid morning. She'd have a bowl of soup or salad for lunch and would end up feeling really hungry and tired in the afternoon and would grab some candy to keep her going. Then she'd have a big dinner because she was so hungry by the time she got home from work. Julie used a continuous glucose monitor so we could look more closely at her blood sugar levels and we did find that they weren't staying steady throughout the day. I helped Julie to adjust her food choices to get more protein and create better balance throughout the whole day. And she started building in movement after eating too. She lost weight, which she was happy about, but she found that she was finding it easier to focus. She wasn't forgetting things as easily, and she just felt like she had more energy. Getting her blood sugars better regulated played a big role in helping her to reach her health goals and just to feel so much better throughout perimenopause. And I know it will help her to create better health for her as she gets older too. Thank you for joining me on today's episode of Joyful Menopause. If you found this helpful, click to subscribe. Until next time, take care of yourself and your amazing brain.