Are you doing the low-carb or paleo diet? You may find this very interesting.
The trend today is for ketogenic diets or, at least, low-carb diets. When I was doing those diets, which I did for maybe 20 years, when I got low on carbs, I got the carb flu.
The carb flu is horrible, it’s worse than the real flu.
And one of the effects is brain fog. There is a scientific explanation for this.
I was always struck by the fact that the brain can’t burn fat.
They would say, eat a lot of fat. But your brain can’t burn fat. It can only burn glucose. And I need fat, and I would feel really bad. Unless I really upped my carbs. In which case I would feel guilty.
If you have brain fog, maybe you need more carbs. Maybe more sugar.
The low-carb people will say, don’t worry, your brain will get glucose through the process of gluconeogenesis.
Gluconeogenesis is what happens when your body is in stress mode.
You are fat burning, and your cortisol is high.
Because cortisol always tries to keep blood sugar up, and if you are not consuming carbs, your body will have to keep blood sugar up by burning protein.
Gluconeogenesis means burning protein. The body does this and it breaks down tissues.
Low-carb dieting will break down tissues in muscle, spleen, and even the heart.
So yes, you will get enough glucose for your brain, but it will have to come from breaking down your muscle and your organ tissue.
This study bears out the fact that the brain does not burn fatty acids to provide energy.
I will take you through the experimental methods they used.
But the fact is, that the reality of it is that the brain can’t burn fatty acids because burning fatty acids release some of the worst free radicals, superoxides.
Nerve cells cannot handle free radicals.
I also think that the brain doesn’t burn fatty acids because the brain needs huge amounts of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is the fundamental cardinal adsorbent in life. It is necessary in great quantities for every cell.
And fat burning releases much less carbon dioxide than sugar burning does.
Actually, though, back to the carbon flu. None of the tissues are really thrilled with burning fat for very long. That is a storage mechanism. We’re designed to burn fat because we store fat easily. But the preferred fuel for ourselves most of the time, is sugar. Not fat.
The reality is, as I found out, our bodies can burn sugar or fat.
And they always burn fat to some degree.
But the more sugar we burn, the higher our metabolism, and the better off we are.
Diabetes is a disease where sugar burning is impaired. And nobody wants to be diabetic.
Our brain works on sugar, plenty of it. Whether it’s sugar from rice, white bread, whole wheat bread, quinoa, or table sugar, it will suffice to fuel the brain.
Next time you’re feeling brain fog, grab some sugar.
Citations
Why brain metabolism can’t burn fatty acids for energy
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23921897
Click for more information on Brain metabolism, for Natural Remedies information, or for information about Low-Carb Diet.