Education Credits: @zhealth_performance , @zachariah_salazar Ray Peat, and many others. *Image of two brains comes from @zhealth_performance ebook NeuroFundamentals which is free if you go to their website zhealtheducation.com

So what does brain fog, weight gain, memory loss, poor sleep, trouble focusing, pain, lack of patience, overwhelm, depression and anxiety all have in common? First of all, they are protective outputs that are created by the brain, in order to signal the brain to take action, but it's also directly connected to poor nutrition, high stress, low fuel availability, and suppressed metabolic function.

"The more we enter "survival" mode (mostly due to hypothyroidism), the more hypophysical and adrenal activity becomes dominant over thyroid activity. If your blood sugar is chronically low due to illogical food choices or unbalanced or infrequent meals, the “alarm” (survival) state is active too often and problems develop over time.

Increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system during hypoglycemia is similar to that in hypothyroidism and during prolonged darkness, exercise and malnutrition.

The interdependence of stress mediators is important as they tend to promote each other in vicious, self-accelerate loops, especially when the tissues are rich in polyunsaturated fats, if the gut is toxic or in a context of low carbon dioxide or high estrogen content. The response to stress changes with age depending on our previous food choices.

Using multiple means, the body protectively slows down the metabolism (swings into economy mode) during stress to extend survival since the body consumes itself and consumes itself during these periods. This effect is favorable if you are really hungry and food is unavailable, but not favorable if long-term weight management is desired.

Immune function is also suppressed, making the body more susceptible to infections and disease." - Ray Peat PhD

You may have heard of the old brain and new brain before, or maybe the “Lizzard Brain” and the “Neocortex.” Basically you can think of your brain as a marriage between two brains.

The new brain is made up of the cortex and does:

New brain, Conscious thought, memory, language creativity, decision making, movement, conscious sensation, vision, empathy, compassion. Main job is to inhibit the old brain.

The old brain is made up of the limbic system, brainstem, and everything under the cortex, and it’s primary job is:

Survival Brain, non-reasoning, non-logical, emotional center, in charge of unconscious, reflexive and autonomic functions. Only cares about keeping you alive/safe right now.

When fuel availability is low, the survival brain will always get the resources first. Which means logical thinking, decision making, compassion, empathy, communication tools, voluntary motor function (movement quality) and memory recall all become compromised.

This can also occur when Neurons don't receive the activation needed to keep them healthy. Which in turn can create it's own energy crisis.

So when we feel depressed, anxious, overwhelmed, irritable, tearful, agitated, fatigued, or have difficulty focusing, it's usually a great sign that you should probably eat a snack. Preferably with easy to digest carbohydrates like fruit, honey, sugar, etc so your brain can get the fuel that it needs to function.