Episode 110: Why Isn't My Brain Working? How to Clear the Fog and Fatigue with Dr. Datis Kharrazian

Listen to Episode 110 with Dr. Datis Kharrazian →

When Your Brain Won't Cooperate

You walk into a room and forget why you went there. Reading takes twice as long as it used to require. Your brain feels foggy and slow despite adequate sleep. You wonder if this is just aging or stress catching up.

What if hidden brain inflammation is making your brain not work properly?

Are brain fog, fatigue, and mental exhaustion holding you back currently? These symptoms aren't just stress-related or inevitable signs of aging. They're often caused by hidden brain inflammation you can't see.

Today Dr. Datis Kharrazian and I discuss neuroinflammation in practical terms. What it is exactly, what causes it, and how it affects function. And how it affects brain function, mood, and overall health significantly.

You'll discover how stress, diet, gut health, and past head injuries contribute. And what you can do to reduce brain inflammation effectively. You'll learn practical lifestyle changes that work consistently. Nutrition tips backed by research. And brain-boosting strategies proven effective. To improve focus, energy, and mental clarity naturally.

Understanding Brain Inflammation

Why isn't your brain working like it used to function before? Often the answer is hidden brain inflammation no one's addressing. Understanding this changes your approach completely from symptom management to addressing causes.

Brain fog and fatigue aren't just stress symptoms requiring rest alone. They're not just aging that you must accept inevitably. They're often neuroinflammation affecting your brain tissue directly. Your brain is inflamed though you can't see it. That's why it's not working at normal capacity anymore.

Mental exhaustion when your brain is inflamed happens because thinking costs more. Every mental task costs more energy than it should normally. Your brain is working harder to accomplish the same tasks. With less result despite the increased effort required.

What neuroinflammation actually is involves inflammation in your brain tissue specifically. Just like inflammation anywhere else in your body occurs. But occurring in your brain affecting thought and feeling. Affecting how you think, how you feel, how you function daily. This inflammation disrupts normal brain chemistry and communication between neurons.

Dr. Kharrazian's Expertise

Dr. Datis Kharrazian brings leading expertise in functional neurology to this conversation. Author of "Why Isn't My Brain Working?" addressing these exact issues. He understands brain inflammation deeply from research and clinical practice. And how to address it through functional medicine approaches effectively.

How brain inflammation starts involves everyday factors compounding over time. From everyday factors you wouldn't necessarily connect to brain problems. Stress, diet, gut problems, past injuries—none seem dramatic alone. But they create real inflammation in your brain tissue. This inflammation accumulates when factors persist without intervention or correction.

The stress connection operates through chronic stress creating inflammation throughout your system. Chronic stress creates inflammation throughout your body including brain tissue. Including your brain where stress hormones accumulate and damage. Your stress hormones affect brain tissue directly through multiple mechanisms. Cortisol and adrenaline create oxidative stress damaging delicate brain cells.

Understanding the Biology of Trauma® reveals how trauma creates chronic inflammation. Trauma creates persistent stress that maintains inflammatory states chronically. Your nervous system dysregulation from trauma keeps inflammation activated. This affects your brain the same way chronic physical stress does. The psychological and physical merge at the inflammation level completely.

Multiple Contributing Factors

The diet factor affects brain inflammation more than most people realize. What you eat affects brain inflammation directly through the blood-brain barrier. Some foods inflame your brain tissue through immune reactions. Others calm inflammation through anti-inflammatory compounds. Your diet matters more than you think for brain function.

The gut-brain connection operates directly through inflammation spreading from gut to brain. Your gut health directly affects brain inflammation through multiple pathways. When your gut is inflamed from diet or dysbiosis. Your brain becomes inflamed through cytokines crossing the blood-brain barrier. The connection is direct and measurable through inflammatory markers.

Past head injuries create ongoing inflammation even decades after the event. Even old head injuries matter for current brain function. Concussions from years ago created inflammation that persists. They create ongoing inflammation you might not connect to symptoms. The brain never fully heals without addressing this persistent inflammation.

What causes brain inflammation involves multiple factors working together often. Stress, poor diet, gut dysfunction, infections, toxins, head trauma. Blood sugar imbalance adding to the inflammatory burden continuously. These compound creating more inflammation than any single factor alone. The cumulative effect overwhelms your brain's anti-inflammatory systems gradually.

Effects and Solutions

How it affects brain function happens through disrupting neurotransmitter production and communication. Inflammation disrupts neurotransmitter production your brain requires for function. Slows neural communication between brain regions affecting processing speed. Damages brain cells through oxidative stress and immune activation. Creates the fog and fatigue that brought you here seeking answers.

How it affects mood reveals that mood problems aren't just psychological. Brain inflammation affects mood regulation through neurotransmitter disruption directly. Creates anxiety, depression, irritability that seem purely emotional. These aren't just psychological states needing therapy alone. They're inflammatory states needing biological intervention alongside psychological work.

Calming inflammation naturally through multiple approaches Dr. Kharrazian shares is possible. Dietary changes eliminating inflammatory foods and adding anti-inflammatory ones. Specific supplements supporting brain health and reducing inflammation. Lifestyle shifts addressing sleep, stress, and movement patterns. That reduce brain inflammation measurably over time with consistency.

Dietary changes that help involve anti-inflammatory foods supporting brain health. Eliminating inflammatory foods that trigger immune reactions in your brain. Supporting blood sugar balance preventing inflammation from glucose spikes. These make measurable differences in brain function within weeks. Not dramatic overnight changes but progressive improvement that accumulates.

Practical Strategies

Understanding your triggers means identifying what inflames your brain specifically. Food sensitivities creating immune reactions affecting your brain. Emotional stress patterns maintaining inflammation through cortisol. Environmental factors including toxins and allergens. Personal triggers matter because everyone's inflammation profile differs slightly.

Protecting your brain long-term from chronic inflammation damage matters enormously. Chronic inflammation damages brain tissue progressively over decades. Prevention matters for maintaining function into later life. Early intervention matters even more before damage becomes extensive. These strategies protect your brain from decline everyone fears.

Intermittent fasting provides one tool for brain health that research supports. Gives your brain rest from constant digestion demands. Reduces inflammation through activating anti-inflammatory pathways. Supports cellular cleanup called autophagy clearing damaged components. Dr. Kharrazian explains how to implement this safely for brain health.

Proper sleep routines matter because sleep is when your brain clears inflammation. Sleep is when your brain clears inflammation through the glymphatic system. Poor sleep maintains inflammation by preventing this essential cleanup. Good sleep supports healing by allowing inflammation clearance nightly. Sleep quality matters enormously for brain health and function.

Taking control becomes possible when you understand what's actually happening. You're not powerless against brain fog and persistent fatigue. Against fatigue robbing your quality of life. You have tools, knowledge, and ways to address it. Ways to address the root cause rather than managing symptoms.

This Episode Is For:

✓ People with chronic brain fog and fatigue 

✓ Anyone whose mental clarity has declined over time 

✓ Those with past head injuries and current symptoms 

✓ People wanting to preserve brain function long-term 

✓ Practitioners needing to understand neuroinflammation 

✓ Anyone whose brain doesn't work like it used to

What You'll Learn

Listen to understand why your brain isn't working at full capacity. Learn Dr. Datis Kharrazian's practical strategies for reducing hidden brain inflammation. Discover how diet, lifestyle, and targeted interventions clear fog effectively. Understand the gut-brain connection and past injury effects on current function.

Your brain fog might be inflammation rather than aging or just stress.

Listen to Episode 110 with Dr. Datis Kharrazian →

Disclaimer

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The information shared reflects my clinical expertise and research, but every person's biology and healing journey is unique. Always consult with qualified healthcare providers before making changes to your treatment plan or starting new interventions. If you're experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact emergency services or a crisis helpline immediately.

Join the Conversation

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode. What resonated with you? What questions came up?

Please keep comments respectful and supportive. This is a community of people committed to healing. We welcome diverse perspectives and honest questions, but we don't tolerate personal attacks, spam, or content that could harm others on their healing journey.