Clearing the mental fog

Mental health complaints are becoming more common in the western world, with 50% of all of the population experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression at some point in their lives. There can be many contributing factors that have lead this, with increase in stressors (family, work, financial, social), changes in sleep patterns, hyper processing of food, as well as less time outdoors and moving our bodies. Each individual factor then can contribute to our personal risk profile so looking more broadly at what are the key factors for you is a vital to keeping a level head.

Understand that what you are experiencing is common to many people and that you are not alone. Reaching out for help is a sign of strength as you can then begin that process of bringing back your vitality. The following are some factors that you can implement today that can help with improving your mental and overall heath. If you need any further guidance then please seek professional assistance.

Less refinement:

The more stages of refinement that a food goes through (away from its natural state), this increases the probability that it will trigger an immune response in the gut.

There are a number of very common foods that trigger an inflammatory response.

Some of these include:

- Refined sugars

- Dairy

- Gluten

- Grains (including corn)

- Soy

- GMOs

- Coffee

- Alcohol

Symptoms of inflammation such as fatigue, brain fog, flat mood, PMS, and constipation, are all frequently reported by depressive patients. These signs of systemic inflammation are psychiatric pretenders – they mimic symptoms associated with mental illness – which explains why depression has been called an inflammatory disorder.

Eat real food

If you have decided to make a choice to reduce the intake of refined foods, often the question is ‘what is there left that I can eat?’

The great news is that there is this means that you tend to go towards a wholefoods based diet, with organic produce reducing the exposure to pervasive pesticides and herbicides like glyphosate, which are known to disrupt our hormones.

Get the balance right:

Much of the health that we have is a result of the bacteria that live within us. They outnumber our cells 10 to 1. Which means looking after them goes a long way to keeping us healthy.

With more antibiotics and refined foods being consumed now than ever before, it creates a pretty barren environment for these health-giving bacteria to live in.

When the organisms in the microbiome send distress signals, a host of health effects can occur, from depression and other psychiatric complaints, to brain disease, stroke, and seizures.

Nutrient deficiencies:

A person can take in adequate nutrients, yet factors like stress, smoking, pharmaceuticals, and environmental toxicants often interfere with the bodies’ ability to absorb them.

You may be lacking in nutrition with common shortfalls coming in vitamin B12, Magnesium, Zinc and essential fatty acids are commonly seen in those with mental health challenges.

When there is not enough of these key nutrients then our body doesn’t work as well as it can. I find clinically people are often surprised how much different they feel when they start getting adequate amounts of nutrition.

If you need support then you can book an appointment here.

22 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Active Spine Centre. Shop 5, 440-452 Wyndham Street, Shepparton, Vic, 3630 pH:(03) 58 312 934

  • YouTube Social  Icon

 Terms of use

Terms of Sale

Privacy Policy

©2017 by Phillip Chua - Naturopath. Proudly created with