Is My Brain Inflamed? What to look out for and natural, holistic ways to heal.

How do you know your brain is inflamed?

The other day I was talking to a young woman who works a full time corporate job, goes to school for her masters in the evenings, and still finds time for self-care. When she asked about my #GetYourSparkBack program, I told her that the journey teaches about how to decrease the stress response while also working to change the brain. The term "brain inflammation" came up and she asked what that meant.

The term inflammation in its simplest description is actually the process in which the body heals.

That sounds like a good thing, right?

Well, inflammation can be good. When there is an infection, injury, or toxin the process the body goes through to heal and repair creates "inflammation." For example, bruising, swelling, redness, heat, or fever are all "inflammatory" symptoms. Basically, the healing process can be kinda' painful and messy.

Ever heard the phrase, "too much of a good thing can be bad" ?

Too much inflammation for too long creates an "inflamed" environment. This can look like decades of eating the Standard American Diet, high stress, chronic exposure to toxic chemicals, infections, and more.

Essentially, the body gets overwhelmed with too many external insults and can't completely heal anything therefor putting the body in a chronically "inflamed" state.

So, how do you know your brain is inflamed? What are the symptoms to look out for?

Anxiety

Depression

Insomnia

Nightmares or night terrors

Headaches

Brain fog

Lack of focus

Irritability or moodiness

Poor stress reactions or responses

Having a short fuse

Negative self-talk

OCD, ADD, ADHD

Mental fatigue

Emotional fatigue, flat affect, apathy

Overwhelm

Dementia

Extreme Neuro-inflammatory Conditions: Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinsons, ALS, etc..

When the brain is "hurting" it can present in a multitude of ways. The main complaints that I see with my clients are anxiety, depress, poor stress tolerance, brain fog, insomnia, and negative self-talk.

Regardless of the presentation, the key is to identify what is coming into your body from your external environment that could be contributing to neural injury aka inflammation.

A Naturopathic Doctors Perspective on Brain Inflammation and Stress Reduction:

A. The Gut-Brain Connection

When you can identify what foods are inflaming your body and remove those foods, not only do you experience improved focus and mental clarity, but your mood stabilizes. Those stressors that were mountains before can seem like small hills instead.

It's truly amazing to watch my clients go through a process of cleaner eating and see how this one lifestyle change can make such a positive impact on the list of symptoms they are experience - including stress.

The Gut also has an ecosystem of bacteria that helps our body and brain function optimally as well. Some digestive tracts have imbalanced gut flora that is negatively impacting there brain health. This is something we can explore, too.

B. Strengthening the Master Regulator - The Vagus Nerve

Chronic stress can weaken the brain's way of regulating and calming the system down. This can leave people feeling anxious all the time and in that "fight-or-flight" state. When you're stuck in this go-go state, its very difficult to get the body to calm and chill out. Many will turn to CBD, alcohol, and other sedatives just to knock themselves out.

Strengthen the vagal response is an important aspect in considering natural ways to take care of your brain. You may find tools online such as singing, humming, breathing, and even gargling. All these activities activate the back of the throat where you can access the Vagus Nerve. We call this #vagusnervestimulation.

One of my favorite vagus nerve tools is tapping. In fact, I fell in love with how powerful tapping can be that I got a certification in #EmotionalFreedomTapping.

When you are in a moment of high stress, worry, or anxiety; you need tools that you can access FAST and from anywhere. Tapping offers that when used properly. It can be even more impactful when you combine it with specific statements that are best done with someone who is trained.

If tapping or singing aren't your thing, I would definitely check out my new device: BrainTap. This headset offers a four things:

a. Blue and Red light therapy

b. Guided meditation

c. Bi-auditory hz and sound frequency

d. Balance of the right and left hemisphere's of the brain.

I've used this device to help manage stress for the past year and LOVE IT. What's nice is that this is a passive way to help yourself.

For more information, check out: Dr. Lexi's BrainTap Affiliate Link

C. Botanical Medicine

There are many herbs that offer anti-inflammatory actions for the brain. Depending on what is going on and the cause of your inflammation, Dr. Lexi may choose one remedy over the other.

Bottom line with nutraceuticals: Not every formula fits every case and no matter what, always ask yourself if what you are taking is working. Are you getting the benefits you were hoping for or not?

Other things to consider: chemicals, trauma, hormones, and genetics.

If you think your brain is inflamed AND:

1. You're ready to make some lifestyle changes for the BETTER

2. Opened and willing to explore

3. Excited about taking positive ACTION towards your health

4. Would like to have someone guide you along the way...

Schedule a Free Discovery Call with Dr. Lexi is learn more about how she can help you change your brain and reduce stress reactions.

Calmly,

Dr. Lexi