Lowering Brain Inflammation
10 Ideas for Increasing Mental Clarity, Energy, and a Sense of Calm
The last newsletter addressed how our hormonal stress response can trigger mast cells and microglial cells, thereby interfering with neuronal communication in the brain and causing symptoms. Such symptoms can include brain fog, fatigue, depression, anxiety, mood swings and, for some, hallucinations.
We live in a world that is increasingly inflammatory - more toxins, more insults to our microbiome, and more insults to our sense of self from marketing and media. Add to this the reality that many things that lower our stress response and thus inflammation, are being diminished - less human connection, less silence, solitude, stillness and time in the natural world.
But, we have choices. Supporting our brain and well-being is really about getting back to the basics of our humanity and getting back to the things most of us long to do anyway.
We can approach the below list with an openness to ideas (of which one or two may resonate) ...or we can approach it like a to-do list - one that reinforces the notion that we need to fix ourselves to be worthy. My hope is the former. We’re already worthy and deserving of feeling healthy.
This list will generally move in the direction of what I think most of us can benefit from (1-3), additional considerations that may be helpful for those with brain symptoms (4-7) and, lastly, I’ve included tools for those who are dealing with very high immune reactivity and/or mast cell activation syndrome (8-10). This list will not be complete. Perhaps you’ll share what is helpful for you.
1. The Basics
Sleep. Our bodies and brains need time to rest, recover and restore. Most adults tend to need 7-8 hours. Too little or too much can contribute to inflammation. Many people find that they feel best with a routine (even on weekends) and avoiding sleeping in.
Exercise. We were made to move. Exercise inhibits brain inflammation, increases oxygen to the brain, helps with detoxification and lowers stress hormones. Overexertion can be inflammatory as well. Regular light to moderate exercise is preferable to being sedentary, feeling bad about that and then overexerting ourselves into inflammation. This may seem obvious but this pattern of pushing oneself too hard, having a worsening of symptoms and then falling off a routine is fairly common. Building in habits can require some restraint.
Pacing and managing stress. Stress isn’t all bad, but we need to be conscious of how much we can tolerate. I see many people who were thriving until their stress response was pushed beyond what their body and brain could manage. Remember, overwhelming stress can trigger brain inflammation and even “prime” (make more reactive) inflammatory cells in our brain. Many of us who are especially driven have had to learn the hard way that to be productive, we actually need to do less and not more.
2. Addressing Our Thoughts
Our thoughts can be impacted by how inflamed we are, but our thoughts can also drive a chronic stress response that adds to inflammation. Our baseline thoughts about ourselves, our lives and the world can also be determined by our temperament, biochemistry, attachment experiences, and messages from our families, communities, media and marketing. Thanks to neuro-plasticity, we can do something about this. We can learn to:
Make self-care and self compassion a priority. Fixing ourselves is stressful, unsustainable and not the goal here. It drives home the idea that we aren’t good enough. An intention to care for, nurture and be compassionate with ourselves is what creates positive change. Don’t forget that “adulting”, or tending to responsibilities that we’d rather avoid, is self care too.
Learn to be present.
Serve others through meaningful work. Futility is stressful.
Exercise the right hemisphere,which many of these do
3. Diet
Despite everything you’ll see out there about anti-inflammatory foods, I don’t believe there are good universal recommendations. What is anti-inflammatory for one person can be inflammatory for someone else. That being said, I would tell anyone with brain symptoms (or anyone wanting to thrive), that removing or significantly limiting sugar will likely help them feel better. Most people with brain symptoms will also benefit from removing or significantly limiting alcohol, gluten and dairy and eating whole and organic foods as much as possible. Because problematic microbes, including yeast, mold, thrive on a high carb diet, paleo and ketogenic diets can be helpful for many with brain symptoms, as can intermittent fasting.
4. Address Nutrient Status
Because I’ve written about copper-zinc imbalances, undermethylation and pyrrole disorder in other posts, I won’t focus on those here. Those who are vulnerable to inflammation and those with nutrient imbalances are overlapping populations. The Walsh nutrient protocols, which address these imbalances are beneficial for neurotransmitter functioning, but also for lowering oxidative stress and thus inflammation.
5. Grow Self-Awareness But Not Too Much Self-Awareness
Often (not always), episodes of brain inflammation are co-occurring with other symptoms of inflammation. They may involve the skin, gastrointestinal tract, bladder, or respiratory tract. Noticing waves of inflammation can help make sense of what’s happening and provide an opportunity to identify and decrease triggers. Was it a lack of sleep, too much stress, a certain food, too many carbs, overeating, too much EMF exposure, or exposure to mold? This can be tricky, because if we’re “limbic” (which I’ll get to) and excessively focused on controlling and avoiding triggers, the stress of this pursuit can add to inflammation. Recognizing and avoiding triggers, ideally, is something held lightly - an opportunity to lower inflammation while getting to the deeper sources of inflammation. Again, this is all about balance.
6. Address Toxicity
The more oxidative stress we have, the more inflamed we can be. Oxidative stress is when our protective antioxidant systems have been overwhelmed. Though any toxins or toxicants (EMF is a toxicant) can drive inflammation, in my experience, mold toxicity, because of the way it disrupts the immune system, is the most common cause of mast cell activation and high immune reactivity.
7. Access the Vagus Nerve
This approach is more about accessing calm and lowering inflammation using our body. The vagus is what takes us out of fight or flight and puts us into rest, digest and engage. It also plays a role in stabilizing those inflammatory mast cells.
Passive approaches include regularly putting our body in a safe space where we have removed ourselves from things, people and spaces that can lead to stressful thoughts. Examples could be meditation or walks in nature. Another passive approach is having positive social interactions with people we trust. Neural pathways of social engagement involve our neck, mouth, face, middle ear, and throat, which together access the vagus nerve.
Active approaches include simple deep breathing practices, such as box breathing, alternate nostril breathing, and the Wim Hof breathing technique. Singing, chanting, humming and even gargling can access the vagus, as can postural shifts - dance or other movement, yoga, contemplative practices such as kneeling. Stanley Rosenberg’s book - "Accessing the Power of the Vagus Nerve: Self-Help Exercises for Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, and Autism" has exercises that I often recommend. Addressing structural issues impacting the vagus, such as upper cervical instability, is helpful for some.
8. Stabilize Mast Cells
Remember, when they are destabilized, they release all those mediators, some of which lead to brain inflammation. Not everyone with brain symptoms needs to stabilize mast cells, but for some, this can be very helpful. My two favorite supplements for stabilizing mast cells are Quercetin (with or without Bromelain) and CBD oil, which has been shown to help with depression, sleep, anxiety and pain, (likely in part because of its mast cell stabilizing effects). Mast cell stabilizing medications include Ketotifen and Cromolyn sodium. When it comes to mast cells, magnesium and Vitamin C, are important supportive nutrients. Though not well studied in humans, I find clinically that optimizing zinc plays an important role in stabilizing mast cells and lowering inflammation.
For those who are so reactive that they can’t tolerate any supplements or medications, accessing the vagus nerve and limbic system retraining (which I’ll get to), are both very helpful in calming immune reactivity (and thus brain symptoms) and when used can allow someone to move forward in addressing root causes.
9. Lower Histamine
Histamine is just one of the mediators that mast cells release, but one that can further activate mast cells. While histamine can cause a lot of well-known physical symptoms (skin issues, upper respiratory allergies), it can also cause brain fog, fatigue, depression, and addictive tendencies especially for those who are undermethylated. (We need methylation to break down histamine). If we could completely stabilize mast cells, antihistamines would be less necessary. They can, however, be a good tool to use initially, while identifying and addressing root causes. Supporting methylation in those who are undermethylated can also be helpful.
Removing additional sources of histamine and thus inflammation can also be helpful. For one person this could mean lowering respiratory allergen exposure through air purification, and allergy mattress and pillow covers. For someone else, this could mean lowering high histamine foods or taking a DAO/Diamine Oxidase, a supplement to breakdown histamine in the GI tract prior to a high histamine meal. High histamine foods, which don’t impact everyone, include products of fermentation (wine and other forms of alcohol, vinegar, soy sauce, yogurt, kefir, kombucha), coffee, dried fruit and leftovers, especially leftover animal protein. Beef, because it goes through an aging process, is higher in histamine than chicken. Avocado, cinnamon, citrus, and tomato products are also high in histamine.
10. Limbic System Neural Retraining & Trauma Therapies
The limbic system is the part of the nervous system that alerts us to threat. It is involved in vigilance. In addition to our genetic vulnerability, if we’ve experienced trauma and / or toxicity, (mold toxicity is a common trigger) and that response becomes stuck, we can go into a state of high alert where many types of stimuli can cause our physiology to feel threatened. This can cause mast cell activation and inflammation to ensue.
If we’re “limbic,” we may be regularly scanning our environment or body for threats. This can result in excessive attempts to control our environment or the state of our body. Programs that can be very helpful with this (and in calming mast cell activation and brain inflammation) aim to retrain this aspect of the nervous system. Examples include the Dynamic Neural Retraining System, the Gupta Program and Primal Trust. Primal Trust also incorporates vagal toning and trauma informed practices. These programs can be done online.
Trauma therapies such as EMDR, can also be very helpful in decreasing the inflammatory cascade.
If, like myself, you tend to be driven, it’s important to check your mindset. Do you feel a sense of urgency to do all these things or are you able to look at the bigger picture of healing and thriving, to notice, what if anything, resonated, looked interesting or even fun and go from there?
I’d love to read what helps you with your mental clarity, energy, stability of mood and a sense of calm.
Until next time,
Courtney
Medical Disclaimer:
This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment for either yourself or others, including but not limited to patients that you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having.
Perhaps above all else, I try to maintain a sense of Spacious Awareness going from moment to moment to moment. Living alone over time, this has become rather easy. But, introduce other people, and it usually quickly dissipates, and takes a back seat to, the Other. For me, I find that by lighting a candle while I am at home alone it helps me to re-frame my experience away from the noises of the world and return to the joys of being at home. I also usually have a vase of fresh cut flowers next to my candle just to remind myself of the sheer beauty and aliveness of the world around me.
Your suggestions are all helpful, where things get somewhat "interesting" is with the "Brain retraining" these approaches are often outlawed in the CFS/ME, MCAS communities. Due to massively variable responses to the "training" and people rightly feeling that their thinking is not what caused their hypersensitivity to start initially. (i.e. long covid or a virus as the initial trigger) my opinion after trying these programs over the last decade with zero results is that they are Placebo .... hence the massively variable responses to exactly the same instructions etc ?