Lifting the Fog of War
For most of my life, "brain fog" wasn't an occasional annoyance; it was my baseline operating system. It was the soupy, cognitive "static" that defined my waking hours, a constant and exhausting tax on every single mental task.
When you live with Inattentive ADHD, "brain fog" means having 50 browser tabs open in your head at all times, all playing different videos. It's the inability to track a thought from A to B without getting derailed by C, F, and Q. When you layer Dysthymia (Persistent Depressive Disorder) on top, that fog becomes heavier, weighted with low energy and a profound lack of motivation that makes even starting a task feel like climbing a mountain.
My medication (Wellbutrin, a brand name for Bupropion) has been a vital tool in managing the underlying neurochemistry of this. But I've discovered that my clean keto lifestyle has been the other half of the solution. It's the protocol that finally cleared the "air," quieted the "static," and given me the mental clarity I've been chasing my entire adult life.
This clarity didn't come from a pill; it came from fundamentally changing my fuel.
Part 1: The "Fog Machine" (The Standard High-Carb Diet)
I used to think my brain fog was just a non-negotiable part of my ADHD/Dysthymia. I never considered that my diet was the one pouring fuel on the fire.
Running on the "Glucose Engine" (as I discussed in my
The Blood Sugar Rollercoaster: I was living in a state of constant metabolic chaos. I'd eat carbs, get a brief "sugar high" (which felt like temporary clarity), and then, 90 minutes later, I'd have the inevitable, crushing blood sugar crash. This crash was where my brain fog was thickest. My energy would vanish, my motivation would hit zero, and my ADHD brain fog would become an impenetrable wall.
The Neuroinflammation Factor: My old diet was full of inflammatory "dirty keto" ingredients—not just sugar, but
inflammatory seed oils processed starches
My medication was trying to tune the engine, but I was simultaneously filling the tank with dirty, watered-down fuel.
Part 2: The "Fog Lights" (How Clean Keto Clears the Air)
My clean keto lifestyle is a systematic, three-pronged attack on the root causes of that fog.
1. It Smashed the Blood Sugar Rollercoaster
This was the most immediate and profound change. By eliminating sugars and starches and keeping my net carbs under 20g, my blood sugar stabilized. The crashes stopped. The 2:00 PM "I need a nap" feeling vanished. Just this one change alone cleared about 50% of my daily brain fog.
2. It Changed the Brain's Fuel
This is the "clean burn" that finished the job. As I became fat-adapted, my brain stopped running on inconsistent, "dirty" glucose and started running on ketones (primarily β-hydroxybutyrate, or BHB).
This isn't a small thing. The brain loves ketones. It's a cleaner, more efficient, and incredibly stable fuel source. The "energy" it provides isn't a spike; it's a calm, steady, all-day current. The "50 browser tabs" of my ADHD brain didn't vanish, but for the first time, I felt like I had the focus to deal with them one at a time. The "signal-to-noise" ratio of my own thoughts dramatically improved.
3. It Douses the (Neuro)Inflammatory Fire
This is the "deep" fix. My entire "clean" protocol—eliminating inflammatory seed oils, processed starches, and artificial additives—is designed to stop systemic inflammation. By calming the "fire" in my body, I'm calming the "smoke" in my brain.
Part 3: The Case Study: Prepping a Game
For me, the most obvious, real-world proof of this change is in my TTRPG (tabletop roleplaying games) prep.
As a Game Master for my Thursday night group, I have to do complex, creative work. This involves world-building, writing narrative, balancing encounters, and managing complex rules systems.
Prep "Before": This was a huge challenge. It was the perfect storm of my ADHD and Dysthymia. I'd sit down to work, but my brain would refuse. I'd stare at the screen (ADHD inattentiveness), feel a total lack of motivation (Dysthymia), get distracted by a random video, check my email, try to start again, and feel completely overwhelmed by the "fog." What should have taken one hour would take four, and I'd end up feeling defeated.
Prep "After": Now, I often do my TTRPG prep deep into my 22-hour fast. My brain is running on nothing but clean ketones. The "fog" is just... gone. The "static" is quiet. I can sit down, focus, and access my creativity. The ideas flow. I can organize my notes. I can build a complex encounter from start to finish without getting derailed.
This same clarity applies to many other tasks: work, writing, research, even simply recreational reading.
It's not that the ADHD is "cured"—I still have a fast, non-linear brain. But the fog is gone. The "clean" fuel (ketones) and the "clean" system (low-inflammation) mean I can finally use my brain the way I always wanted to.
This clarity extends to every part of my life—my work as a manager, my problem-solving skills, and my ability to just be present in a conversation. Lifting the fog has been one of the most profound and unexpected rewards of this entire journey.
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