Brain fog in menopause gone and all symptoms down by 85% in 8 weeks

Linda’s story

A 59-year-old post-menopausal woman with severe menopausal symptoms: severe brain fog, low energy all of which were stopping her from achieving her dream of doing a mountain trek.

Linda had gone up a dress size in the previous year and although she had cut down on eating biscuits and cakes, this didn’t make any difference to her weight. She was still having some hot flushes and night sweats. She regularly fell asleep straight after dinner and was tired in the daytime. She wanted to do regular exercise to prepare for the trek that she planning, but she just didn’t have the energy to do it. 

“I have always had a busy, active life and enjoyed walking and cycling holidays. Now when I have an active day at work I get home exhausted and sleep most of the evening. I find I have a ‘fog’ in my brain which makes it difficult to work especially as I have several ongoing responsibilities at any one time. This year I am transitioning to retirement and I want my energy back in order to enjoy it and finally do my trek.”

— LINDA, AT HER FIRST CONSULT

Health history

What she had been carrying

• Last menstrual period at 53;
• Six years post-menopausal at first consultation
• Twenty years of combined oral contraceptive use prior to menopause
• No HRT — she had chosen not to start it
• Gradual weight gain over the menopause transition, up one dress size
• Persistent exhaustion after working days, falling asleep in the evening
• Cognitive symptoms (“brain fog”) interfering with work
• Difficulty training for a long-distance mountain trek

Nutrition history

What she had been eating

• Breakfast — cereal or porridge, with sugar
• Mid-morning — tea with milk; biscuit or fruit
• Lunch — bread with soup, or a sandwich
• Afternoon — tea with milk; biscuit or fruit
• After lunch — a dessert
• Dinner — rice or pasta-based, generous portion
• After dinner — a dessert
• Drinks — five to seven cups of tea with milk daily

Every eating window contained starch or sugar. 

Significant test results

What her blood tests showed

Marker	Level	Interpretation
Vitamin D	Severe deficiency	Brain, mood, muscle, bone, immune — all under-resourced
Cholesterol	High	The liver is processing too much sugar and refined carbohydrate
Liver enzymes (ALT/GGT)	High	Liver under metabolic strain, not a dietary fat problem – causing inflammation

Root causes

Why a post-menopausal brain goes foggy

During the menopausal transition and post-menopause, a woman’s body is switching from using sugar as an energy source, to using fat. Hence menopausal symptoms are not really an oestrogen problem, they are an energy deficiency problem. 

Linda’s diet was too high in sugar for this phase in her life. Her body was converting her dietary carbohydrates to fat, and at the same time it she was not able to burn fat for energy. This meant that her brain and body were starving for energy, leading to severe brain fog, weight gain, hot flushes, night sweats and feelings of severe exhaustion. 

Her high sugar intake was affecting her liver, possibly leading to a fatty liver, and at the same time her vitamin D deficiency was lowering her brain function and preventing restful sleep.

First consultation protocol

What we changed

Initial symptoms

Where Linda Started

Severity is scored 0 – 3 points.
A score of 3 indicates a symptom interfering with daily life.

Symptom	Scale
Memory deficit	3
Brain fog	3
Fatigue	2
Hot flushes	2
Night sweats	2
Vaginal dryness	2
Pain with intercourse	2
Bloating	2
Mood swings	1
Poor sleep	2
Anxiety	1
Headaches	1
Hair loss	1
Weight gain	2
Decreased sexual desire	2
Decreased sexual arousal	2
Decreased sexual response	2
TOTAL SCORE	34

Week 8 results

+8 weeks – symptoms reduced by 85%

• Linda reported that she was feeling much better and the brain fog had completely lifted. She was able to multi-task with ease, and she happily started and finished writing work proposals on time and with pleasure. 
• Her energy was back and she had started going to pilates classes, as well aiming to go swimming 2-3 times a week, and starting Tai Chi. 
• She found the nutrition recommendations easy to follow and had upgraded her meals. 
• She was now only eating 2-3 meals a day without any cravings or energy dips in the daytime. 
• Linda’s nutrition and supplements were further adjusted for the next 3 months to ensure complete remission of symptoms.

Week 8 comparison

Where she was, and where she got to

Symptom	Scale	Week 8
Memory deficit	3	0
Brain fog	3	0
Fatigue	2	0
Hot flushes	2	0
Night sweats	2	0
Vaginal dryness	2	1
Pain with intercourse	2	0
Bloating	2	0
Mood swings	1	0
Poor sleep	2	0
Anxiety	1	1
Headaches	1	0
Hair loss	1	0
Weight gain	2	0
Decreased sexual desire	2	1
Decreased sexual arousal	2	1
Decreased sexual response	2	1
TOTAL SCORE	34	5 – symptoms reduced by 85%

Linda’s review

In her own words

My reflection

I was delighted for Linda, she cognitive function was excellent and she had more than enough energy in day, enough to start training for her mountain trek.

What changed for Linda was not hormones but the fuel her brain started using.

For most of her adult life, oestrogen had been papering over a diet that her metabolism could not really handle. Once oestrogen left — as it is supposed to leave — the compensation also left. The fog, the exhaustion, the weight, the cholesterol, the tired liver: these were not symptoms of menopause. They were symptoms of a sugar-and-starch-driven metabolism meeting a post-menopausal biology that had been waiting, to be allowed to burn fat instead.

Eight weeks of eating in a way that let her make ketones via fat burning gave her back the brain she thought she had lost.

That is the work. Not replacement. Adaptation.

No woman should be suffering through menopause and the main change that needs to made is with nutrition.