Brain fog is on the rise. This is the worrying reason why, what it means for your health… and how you can fix yourself in less than a month. Our leading experts reveal their shock discovery

Sharan Sammi realized that brain fog became an inevitable problem when she started forgetting what day of the week it was.

The mother of two, a former successful banker, previously felt she had boundless energy, allowing her to effortlessly balance her career and home life.

But things started to change during the first Covid lockdown in 2020.

At that time, Sharan had made a career change, started her own financial advisory business (@sharanmanifestingmentor) and started working from home.

‘That’s when I started noticing the brain fog,’ he says. ‘I had to be on top of things at all times, remembering complex financial figures. But I started forgetting the simplest things. I would read a book or watch a television show, then realize I couldn’t remember a single detail.

‘I would go to the supermarket and realize I couldn’t remember what I went there to buy.’

The problem got so bad that even her children, ages nine and 11, noticed something was wrong.

‘I had to ask them what day of the week it was,’ says Sharan, now 44. ‘Sometimes I didn’t even know it was the weekend. ‘I couldn’t retain any information, it was so bad.’

He is far from alone. Brain fog is typically understood as a set of cognitive symptoms such as poor concentration, confusion, slow thinking, and forgetfulness.

In the past, experts rarely treated brain fog as an individual problem but rather as a symptom of other medical conditions. But growing research shows that not only is it a distinct medical problem with distinct characteristics, it is also on the rise.

The financial advisor managed to overcome this problem by changing his diet, sleeping more and exercising every day.

A recent groundbreaking medical study of British adults found that nearly a third now suffer from brain fog regularly. Most importantly, many do not have an underlying health problem that could be the cause of cognitive problems.

Now experts believe they know what causes it and the steps patients can take to eliminate the problem in less than a month.

Dr Peters, consultant neurologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital and Reborne Longevity clinic. The first step is to rule out undiagnosed medical problems that may be causing symptoms, says Oliver Bernath.

‘When GPs refer brain fog patients to my clinic, we always make sure diabetes and thyroid problems are ruled out first,’ he says.

‘These are conditions that can be diagnosed with blood tests and treated with medication.’

Another condition that is strongly linked to brain fog is menopause. Research shows that two-thirds of women who suffer from midlife hormone changes will experience this.

The good news is that prescription hormone replacement therapy, also known as HRT, can often reduce brain fog.

Long Covid can also trigger brain fog. Experts say this partly explains the increase in the number of people suffering from the disease in the UK in recent years.

It is not possible to treat the long-term effects of the virus, but evidence suggests that light exercise can improve symptoms.

However, there are also millions of UK patients who suffer from brain fog but do not experience any of these underlying problems.

According to a 2024 study of nearly 25,000 UK patients, those without a clear cause of brain fog tend to share the same characteristics: These women are over 35 and less likely to sleep well or exercise regularly. But experts say the main cause of brain fog is the time we spend on our digital devices.

Dr Bernath said: ‘We are all multitasking all the time; “Our brains were never designed for this,” he says. ‘We are often on our phones while doing other tasks such as watching television, shopping or working.

‘Whenever we turn our attention to something new, we experience a dopamine rush’ [a feel-good chemical]. However, over time, this may tire the brain.

‘That’s why I see so many women in their 40s with brain fog. They usually have a successful career and a happy family, but as they get older all this multitasking starts to wear them down and they start to have cognitive problems.’

Avoiding looking at screens before bed and going to bed and waking up at around the same time improves sleep quality and combats brain fog, Dr Bernath says.

He adds that regular exercise has the same effect as taking up hobbies such as playing an instrument or learning a language.

‘These are tasks that require your full attention,’ he says. However, the most important factor in reducing brain fog is an active social life. ‘All research shows that people who socialize regularly have healthier brains.’

‘You don’t need to do anything special. “Sharing a meal with someone once a day may be enough,” adds Dr. Bernath.

For Wolverhampton’s Sharan Sammi, the answer was a combination of better sleep, more exercise and better nutrition.

‘One day I realized I needed to improve my lifestyle,’ he says. ‘Not just because of the brain fog, but also because of my overall health. I realized that I wasn’t taking good care of my body.

‘My diet and sleep were terrible and I did very little exercise. Last year, I changed my bedtime from 11pm to 9pm, cut out unhealthy foods like sugary tea and cheese toast, and started doing 15-minute home exercises five times a week before the kids woke up.

‘Within a few weeks I started to notice a real difference. I noticed that I remembered the dates and details of the books I read better. I didn’t need to take a shopping list to the supermarket.

‘When I experienced brain fog, I felt unproductive and lethargic. I feel much better now; It’s like I have the brain of a 20-year-old.’