Stefano Guandalini is Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago, and the founder of the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center. Nutritional deficiencies, food allergies and food intolerancesĭr. But if you’re looking to narrow down what’s causing your brain fog, these common conditions can be a good place to start: The following causes of brain fog are not mutually exclusive, and many overlap-it’s possible to be pregnant and celiac, for instance, while Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is an autoimmune and a hormonal condition. That said, there are several conditions that we know are associated with reduced mental clarity. The answer is always personal, and getting to it requires understanding the person behind the fog, their lifestyle, and their symptoms. In order to clear the fog, you’ll first need to know what’s causing it.Īsking what causes brain fog is like asking what causes happiness or unhappiness. Just keep in mind that brain fog symptoms are simply that-symptoms. Remember, brain fog is a popular term, not a medical one, so if it feels like the right way to describe your experience, go ahead and use it. If you find it hard to think and concentrate, or if you can describe your mental state as unfocused, fuzzy-or yes, foggy-then you may be experiencing brain fog. Although not an official diagnosis, the catch-all term represents real symptoms and real suffering.

Confusion, memory problems, headaches, fatigue-these are the key symptoms behind the phenomenon popularly known as brain fog.

Brain fog meaning