By Dr. Marie Starling | The Healing Center Denver Functional Medicine Doctor | Root Cause. Root Healing. Reading time: 7 minutes Category: Gut Health | Inflammation | Gut-Brain The morning I taught a brain class with brain fog The night before my Keep Your Mind masterclass, I went out to dinner. Something in the guacamole, I think a preservative, didn't agree with me. I woke up the next morning in what I call the invisible suck. I didn't feel sick, exactly. I just couldn't think clearly. Words were slow to come. Everything felt like I was thinking through mud. That was brain fog. And here's what most people don't realize: brain fog isn't a diagnosis, and it isn't "just getting older." It's an inflammatory response in your brain. In my case, and in most of the patients I see, that response starts in the gut. I'm not only a functional medicine doctor. I'm also a patient. I know what to do when this happens, and I want you to know too. So let's talk about how your gut, inflammation and food sensitivities can show up as brain fog. Your gut and your brain talk all day long Your gut and your brain are in constant conversation. They talk in three main ways: Through nerves. The vagus nerve runs straight from your gut to your brain and carries messages both ways. Through your immune system. Most of your immune system lives along your gut. When it gets fired up there, the signal travels. Through chemistry. About 90% of your body's serotonin, the neurotransmitter tied to mood, is made in your gut,...
