Focus and concentration problems

[EdenBound]

Just skimming, there are some solid ideas that are coming from a science-army balancing the available evidence. You deserve reinforcement of the ones with solid evidence.

B12 supplementation is a must. You're going to feel a laundry list of things without it. 2000mcg of the sublingual dose once a week before eating anything. You're going to get the most out of it this way.

Stay away from 'vegan' foods that have labels with more than a few ingredients. The food industry is happy to sell junk and slap the words 'organic' or 'vegan' on it to satisfy our built-in need to conserve energy with convenience foods. Impossible burgers should not be considered food. It's just another product on the inflammatory spectrum. All the 'vegan' junk out there will also have you feeling run down.

Stick with a variety of colorful plants. No ingredient list is necessary. Ditch the supplements except for the sublingual b12, 2000IU vitamin d3, and an algae-derived DHA.

 

[EdenBound]

Just skimming, there are some solid ideas that are coming from a science-army balancing the available evidence. You deserve reinforcement of the ones with solid evidence.

B12 supplementation is a must. You're going to feel a laundry list of things without it. 2000mcg of the sublingual dose once a week before eating anything. You're going to get the most out of it this way.

Stay away from 'vegan' foods that have labels with more than a few ingredients. The food industry is happy to sell junk and slap the words 'organic' or 'vegan' on it to satisfy our built-in need to conserve energy with convenience foods. Impossible burgers should not be considered food. It's just another product on the inflammatory spectrum. All the 'vegan' junk out there will also have you feeling run down.

Stick with a variety of colorful plants. No ingredient list is necessary. Ditch the supplements except for the sublingual b12, 2000IU vitamin d3, and an algae-derived DHA.

Also, don't even consider yourself vegan. Vegans eat vegan junk food most of the time. And the word vegan inspires competition which gets everyone exactly nowhere. Just be a human that eats humbly. Leave the pride for people with midlife crises to address.

 

[vegan89]

I find I feel both mentally and physically sluggish if I eat a diet with too much fat in it. I also feel a lack of focus if I haven't brushed my teeth recently enough. This is just my personal (and subjective) experience though, and I'm definitely not an expert on nutrition.

I have also heard of people having issues like this from food allergies, so you may want to try and investigate to see if you have a food allergy or a food sensitivity of some type.

Here is a great website with abundant information about the health benefits of a whole food plant-based diet (a type of vegan diet):

NutritionFacts.org | The Latest Nutrition Related Topics

 

[bEt]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for replying! I tend to eat 3 meals and a snack a day - cold brew coffee and a small protein shake (powder only) for breakfast; some sort of noodle, rice or potatoes based lunch with various veg and greens, vegan gravy or soy sauce, and nutritional yeast and brags amino acids; popcorn, wasabi peas and pumpkin seeds for snack; and the same type of meal as lunch for dinner. I also usually try to throw tofu in my meals too. I take 1 mulitivitamin ‘almost’ everyday, but if I don’t I take a calcium/mangesium/D/zinc one. I also try to take a big B complex vitamins (B6, B12, Folate) and a omega 3 pill every other day as well. I also drink several drinks that are fortifies with B 12 (e.g., vitamin water). I’m pretty health conscious and think about my nutrition, so I don’t know why getting this right is so hard! I talked to some of my friends who have been vegan before and they said the never have gotten the type of brain fog I’m describing. My Dr also suspects I have ulcerative colitis but I need a second scan to confirm. Maybe this is impacting? Last time, when I had to quit bc I was having nerve type problems, I felt better if I ate cheese even as little as 3 times a week. And this time I’m doing everything I can to fix it nutritionally, but I’m still feeling my brain progressively shut down (e.g., serious concentration problems, word finding issues, etc). Maybe it’s an absorption thing? I don’t know….

One nutrient I have recently read about is choline. You can read about it on the Linus Pauling Institute site. It is something I wasn't getting enough of. I eventually figured this out partly because I was craving soy lecithin. Most people probably haven't heard of lecithin. I know about it because my omnivore mom has always baked her own whole-wheat bread and added lecithin granules from an old-school-type local health-food store because it improves the bread's texture. Even as a kid, I would sneak spoonfuls of the lecithin granules, I just loved the fatty taste!

Turns out lecithin has a lot of choline in it. It also has some inositol, which is also in a lot of fruits, like cantaloupe, and is sometimes recommended for lessening the symptoms of ocd and other psychological derangements, all of which I can fall into too easily!

Choline and one of its metabolites, betaine, are important in cognition, according to what I understand from the Linus Pauling Institute article. In addition to allowing myself some lecithin sprinkled on rice, buckwheat, millet, vegetables etc I have also been using a 1/4 tsp of betaine anhydrous in the mornings in some water. I bought a big bag online from a company that caters to bodybuilders, who use it for endurance apparently.

Do you mind if I also put in a plug for tempeh? I am a huge fan, like it a lot more than tofu for health benefits and brain health. Most of the store-bought has a bitter taste because of how it is processed, I am guessing, but if you are feeling brave, you can search online to find out how to grow your own.

One more annoying piece of advice: please find a way to be more consistent in taking b complex daily. As they are water soluble, it is important to take at least daily. Personally, I do better if I take small doses twice a day and I add my own extra b6 and niacin too, but just tiny amounts.

It also seems I have seen some vegan-specific multivitamin supplements recommended on this forum. You can probably do a search from the forum homepage to see posts with those.

 

[EdenBound]

One nutrient I have recently read about is choline. You can read about it on the Linus Pauling Institute site. It is something I wasn't getting enough of. I eventually figured this out partly because I was craving soy lecithin. Most people probably haven't heard of lecithin. I know about it because my omnivore mom has always baked her own whole-wheat bread and added lecithin granules from an old-school-type local health-food store because it improves the bread's texture. Even as a kid, I would sneak spoonfuls of the lecithin granules, I just loved the fatty taste!

Turns out lecithin has a lot of choline in it. It also has some inositol, which is also in a lot of fruits, like cantaloupe, and is sometimes recommended for lessening the symptoms of ocd and other psychological derangements, all of which I can fall into too easily!

Choline and one of its metabolites, betaine, are important in cognition, according to what I understand from the Linus Pauling Institute article. In addition to allowing myself some lecithin sprinkled on rice, buckwheat, millet, vegetables etc I have also been using a 1/4 tsp of betaine anhydrous in the mornings in some water. I bought a big bag online from a company that caters to bodybuilders, who use it for endurance apparently.

Do you mind if I also put in a plug for tempeh? I am a huge fan, like it a lot more than tofu for health benefits and brain health. Most of the store-bought has a bitter taste because of how it is processed, I am guessing, but if you are feeling brave, you can search online to find out how to grow your own.

One more annoying piece of advice: please find a way to be more consistent in taking b complex daily. As they are water soluble, it is important to take at least daily. Personally, I do better if I take small doses twice a day and I add my own extra b6 and niacin too, but just tiny amounts.

It also seems I have seen some vegan-specific multivitamin supplements recommended on this forum. You can probably do a search from the forum homepage to see posts with those.

Your liver produces adequate choline. If it isn't, you have bigger problems. Also, this:

Choline intake and risk of lethal prostate cancer: incidence and survival - PubMed

Of the 47,896 men in our study population, choline intake was associated with an increased risk of lethal prostate cancer.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Detection of increased choline compounds with proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy subsequent to malignant transformation of human prostatic epithelial cells - PubMed

In this study, a panel of normal human prostate cells (HPCs) and tumor cells derived from metastases were studied by (1)H NMR spectroscopy to determine whether the malignant transformation of HPCs results in the elevation of choline compounds. Although an elevated choline signal has been...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

You don't need dietary or supplemental choline.

 

[bEt]

Yes, that is what I read in an old anatomy and physiology textbook I had laying around, which is why I resisted the idea for a long time. But the fact that I crave it makes me wonder if there is something about my individual system that does need more than I "should". (And it is quite possible that I am predisposed to liver problems, although I don't have any traditional risk factors.) I guess I am more open to the idea that not everyone needs exactly the same thing. Thank you for the information, though. The more, the better! I do appreciate being able to make informed choices.

In quickly skimming those abstracts,

One of those articles says that prostrate tumor cells had more choline than the normal prostrate cells. To me, it would be a leap to conclude that choline caused the tumor to form.

The other article tells the results of a survey about what prostate cancer patients ate, their dietary habits. They ate a lot of eggs, meat, and milk, which just happen to have a lot of choline. The authors refer to previous work pointing to choline metabolism being different in tumor cells than in normal prostate cells. That is why they wanted to see if there was a connection between dietary choline (in meat, eggs, dairy) and prostate cancer. To me, I do not conclude from that that choline alone will necessarily lead to cancer. I prefer to allow that there may be some other factor that leads cells to respond differently to choline and become cancerous. In other words, I am not ready to accept that choline is the whole story.

To be honest, for me personally, my cognitive function is more important to me than my cancer risk, and there are some hints that choline and especially betaine (which is entirely vegan), play a role in cognition.

Choline | Linus Pauling Institute | Oregon State University

For me, the vegan soy lecithin and the betaine help me feel better day-to-day, and that is really all I can go on for now, for myself.

 

[EdenBound]

Yes, that is what I read in an old anatomy and physiology textbook I had laying around, which is why I resisted the idea for a long time. But the fact that I crave it makes me wonder if there is something about my individual system that does need more than I "should". (And it is quite possible that I am predisposed to liver problems, although I don't have any traditional risk factors.) I guess I am more open to the idea that not everyone needs exactly the same thing. Thank you for the information, though. The more, the better! I do appreciate being able to make informed choices.

In quickly skimming those abstracts,

One of those articles says that prostrate tumor cells had more choline than the normal prostrate cells. To me, it would be a leap to conclude that choline caused the tumor to form.

The other article tells the results of a survey about what prostate cancer patients ate, their dietary habits. They ate a lot of eggs, meat, and milk, which just happen to have a lot of choline. The authors refer to previous work pointing to choline metabolism being different in tumor cells than in normal prostate cells. That is why they wanted to see if there was a connection between dietary choline (in meat, eggs, dairy) and prostate cancer. To me, I do not conclude from that that choline alone will necessarily lead to cancer. I prefer to allow that there may be some other factor that leads cells to respond differently to choline and become cancerous. In other words, I am not ready to accept that choline is the whole story.

To be honest, for me personally, my cognitive function is more important to me than my cancer risk, and there are some hints that choline and especially betaine (which is entirely vegan), play a role in cognition.

Choline | Linus Pauling Institute | Oregon State University

For me, the vegan soy lecithin and the betaine help me feel better day-to-day, and that is really all I can go on for now, for myself.

We're infinitely ignorant in a sea of information. I'm not qualified for research unless it's for a toaster. That came from Greger's army; the only group I know that's qualified to read every journal article in the world and then balance the available evidence.

 

[Brian W]

One nutrient I have recently read about is choline. You can read about it on the Linus Pauling Institute site. It is something I wasn't getting enough of. I eventually figured this out partly because I was craving soy lecithin.

How on earth can somebody crave lecithin??? If you are craving soy, how do you know which part of the soy you need, if any? I crave all sorts of food but it doesn't mean I'm short of anything, it just means I really enjoy these foods and haven't had them for some time.

 

[EdenBound]

How on earth can somebody crave lecithin??? If you are craving soy, how do you know which part of the soy you need, if any? I crave all sorts of food but it doesn't mean I'm short of anything, it just means I really enjoy these foods and haven't had them for some time.

Your cravings are a product of millions of years of survival programming. Your brain nudges you toward calorie density because it's stuck in a cave assuming you're not going to get anything to eat for the next month. And you're right, nobody craves specific nutrients.

 

[silva]

How on earth can somebody crave lecithin??? If you are craving soy, how do you know which part of the soy you need, if any? I crave all sorts of food but it doesn't mean I'm short of anything, it just means I really enjoy these foods and haven't had them for some time.

agreed.

Yes, that is what I read in an old anatomy and physiology textbook I had laying around, which is why I resisted the idea for a long time. But the fact that I crave it makes me wonder if there is something about my individual system that does need more than I "should". (And it is quite possible that I am predisposed to liver problems, although I don't have any traditional risk factors.) I guess I am more open to the idea that not everyone needs exactly the same thing. Thank you for the information, though. The more, the better! I do appreciate being able to make informed choices.

In quickly skimming those abstracts,

One of those articles says that prostrate tumor cells had more choline than the normal prostrate cells. To me, it would be a leap to conclude that choline caused the tumor to form.

The other article tells the results of a survey about what prostate cancer patients ate, their dietary habits. They ate a lot of eggs, meat, and milk, which just happen to have a lot of choline. The authors refer to previous work pointing to choline metabolism being different in tumor cells than in normal prostate cells. That is why they wanted to see if there was a connection between dietary choline (in meat, eggs, dairy) and prostate cancer. To me, I do not conclude from that that choline alone will necessarily lead to cancer. I prefer to allow that there may be some other factor that leads cells to respond differently to choline and become cancerous. In other words, I am not ready to accept that choline is the whole story.

To be honest, for me personally, my cognitive function is more important to me than my cancer risk, and there are some hints that choline and especially betaine (which is entirely vegan), play a role in cognition.

Choline | Linus Pauling Institute | Oregon State University

For me, the vegan soy lecithin and the betaine help me feel better day-to-day, and that is really all I can go on for now, for myself.

How do you even know soy lecithin?
The link between cravings and deficiencies has been shown to be more cultural and learned behavior than linked to needing nutrition. The one I recall having a link is the craving to chew ice for lack of iron. There is debate on what cravings for non food items, pica, may mean.
To me, it sounds like you have researched yourself into believing this.
So many other foods are high in choline the idea of choosing soy lecithin seems so very odd. I had some once and remember it was vile

 

[bEt]

We're infinitely ignorant in a sea of information. I'm not qualified for research unless it's for a toaster. That came from Greger's army; the only group I know that's qualified to read every journal article in the world and then balance the available evidence.

Well, I am guessing (hoping) that was a bit of a joking tone that you are not qualified to research, because it seems clear to me that you are. ( we all should aspire to be more proactive and curious, in my estimation.) And I want to thank you for doing some research for me and motivating me to do a bit more. I have decided that I do need to make sure that I am being moderate about my lecithin intake, since like just about everything else, too much can do as much harm as too little. Also I found a site about choline in general that may not interest anyone here, but maybe someone reading this thread in the future may find it informative

Choline Supplement: Overview & Benefits

Thank you to everyone for a lively discussion. It is giving me some good laughs and 'food for thought".