One of the perils of staying at home because of COVID-19 is acquiring the snacking habit. Many of my friends complain of weight gain in the last three weeks. Worse, we’re having afternoon brain fog.Could snacking, weight gain and brain fog be related?
For myself, after keeping my weight down to ideal for the last three years, I’ve seen an additional five pounds since January. I can’t blame it all on lock-down, but the proximity of the kitchen to my home office is a factor. (Hear that? My smart refrigerator calls my name now.)
I saw a televised interview of Andy Roddick, the tennis champ, who was asked how he was staying in shape without tennis or gym. He replied he did interval sprints and power walks…to the kitchen. He’s young and muscular so it will take him some time to put on weight, not like us seniors.
A friend described her problem eating too often as “snacksidents!” She didn’t mean to open the fridge and eat that leftover pie, it just happened. It was a snacksident.
The Snacking Habit and Brain Fog
Most of my snacks are after lunch and mostly carrots, bell peppers and radishes. I’ve been careful about sugar and salty snacking, but nevertheless I have terrible brain fog and fatigue in the afternoons. Could the snacking habit itself cause brain fog? I researched. I suspected that eating often – even with healthy snacks – was not good for brain functioning. And I was determined to get rid of fuzzy focus, forgetfulness and flagging energy.
What Is Brain Fog?
“Brain fog” isn’t a medical condition. It’s a term used for certain symptoms that can affect your ability to think. You may find it hard to focus or put your thoughts into words. Brain fog can be a symptom of a nutrient deficiency, sleep disorder, bacterial overgrowth from overconsumption of sugar, depression, or even a thyroid condition. Other common brain fog causes include eating too much and too often, inactivity, not getting enough sleep, chronic stress, and a poor diet.
The Snacking Habit in American Culture
Americans no longer limit eating to three meals a day. It’s become common to think we need a mid-morning snack, an afternoon snack, and a little something in front of the TV before we go to bed. This puts the digestive system into overdrive.
If we’re always ingesting food, our metabolism has a constant supply of calories and never goes into fat-burning mode. Energy is directed away from the brain and to the gut where it is needed. Eating too often is a big contributor to weight gain even when snacks are healthy.
Ingesting Fuel for your Body and Brain
You are either ingesting energy and storing it or using it as fuel for your brain and body. You can’t do both at the same time. When the body is in constant metabolism, it can’t complete other jobs. It is a big cause of lack of focus, forgetfulness and flagging energy.
With a constant supply of fuel (carbohydrates, protein, fats), the cells are busy metabolizing and breaking elements down into components for energy. The cells need to clean out debris in a process called autophagy. But they can’t when they’re busy turning food into fuel. The cells become dysfunctional, DNA gets damaged, free radicals are left to wreak havoc. Open door to faulty replication and diseases.
Kick the Snacking Habit for Mental Clarity
I’ve been a snacker all my life. Leftover, chips, candy…it was all fair game. I loved the dopamine fix of a little something between meals. Some days, I snacked so much in the afternoon that I was too stuffed to eat dinner. That’s a recipe for disaster for anyone trying to maintain weight and health.
But guess what? When I don’t snack, I’m not too tired in the evenings to eat a good meal, converse, or even write. Limiting how often I eat has been a big gift: mental clarity, sharp focus, energy, and NO brain fog. Hard habit to break but worth it.
I’m not saying I’m there yet. This staying home is challenging in many ways, most of which is the desire to snack. I’m thinking about drawing up a list of other things I enjoy doing so that I stay out of the kitchen. What’s your advice for breaking the snacking habit?
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