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PART 2 Let me guess… by now you are slowly scraping the surface of the inflammation that has been spreading in your brain for the past few years, like an overconfident AI startup with no revenue model. You are trying your best… You drink your GABA Oolong tea every afternoon, obviously, because: 1) Angela said so; 2) Nothing says “I’m fine” like fermented leaves in a ceramic mug. You unsubscribed from all unnecessary and necessary pages and online shops (especially news websites… because you can always find them again if you suddenly feel an urgent need to know what happened in the Strait of Hormuz 2 seconds ago). You switch your phone to silent mode and turn off all notifications after 6:30 p.m. (just as Barbara Corcoran does, because you believe you’ll become a billionaire by 20XX). Well, if you didn’t do any of this, get ready for part 2, where Angela Marrant is going to try to help your brain function properly… or at least attempt to show you a path toward dealing with toxic relationships and food.
What is a toxic relationship? It’s like having your own personal admirer who texts you all the time. It sounds nice, doesn’t it? At least in the beginning… The most troubling thing—and the part that can perversely make you feel good about such attention—is that your admirer doesn’t suck your soul out in one go. No, they are usually connoisseurs. They take it sip by sip, like a fine wine, except you are the bottle. Let’s take a small step right and move on to emotional clutter Emotional clutter is the mental equivalent of that drawer where you shove everything you don’t want to deal with but still want people to think you are Marie Kondo—except the drawer is your brain. It’s filled with old arguments, imaginary comebacks, and 2003 guilt that refuses to die. You keep telling yourself you’ll sort it out “when things calm down,” which they never do, because the clutter itself is running the show. Always! Decluttering starts when you admit some of these thoughts are just emotional hoarding and deserve to go straight into the trash bin. No goodbye, no closure, just drag‑to‑trash immediately…
How to? Simple trick: why not follow RJ Spina’s advice—every time you wake up, pretend you don’t have a past or a future. You just arrived here. This is your now, and anything is possible. The change you want is possible. The brain you want is possible. The body you dream about is possible. Try it. But to deal with your fake admirers, you need to set some boundaries. Setting boundaries is basically telling everybody, “This is where I stop, and you don’t get to build a house on my spine or crumble my heart into dust.” But of course, it’s not that easy. At first, your inner people‑pleaser files a complaint, insisting you are horribly rude to Anna, Felix, or whatever their name is, and that if you behave this way, you will most certainly be abandoned. Don’t be scared to be abandoned by people who manipulate you. If you can’t breathe freely, then no matter how well you take care of your brain, you’ll definitely lose it. In reality, boundaries are just quality control for your life: less chaos and a happier brain. If someone respects you less because you have boundaries, congratulations—you’ve just discovered who they really are.
The next step in the cleaning strategy is saying “no” Saying no feels dangerous because your brain keeps whispering, “If you refuse this one favor, the tribe will leave you in the forest to die.” So you keep saying yes while your soul quietly lies face down on the floor, licking the feet of your ruler. The irony is that people trust you more when your yes actually means yes and not “Okay, I’ll do this and then remember it forever and secretly hate you.” So go ahead and say no as often as you can – it’s scary only the first time. By the way, if you’re wondering whether you should say no to your friends, you might want to warm up with a fiction story by Hannah Richel, where six old friends gather for a weekend, but one doesn’t make it home alive—proof that sometimes the polite thing really is to just stay home, enjoy “me time," and ignore the group chat. Yes, it isn’t easy. Your brain wants to say yes most of the time to everything and everybody. On an unconscious level, we all want to spread kindness, compassion, and love—and maybe be liked by everyone, including the niece of your second aunt you never met or that one cute neighbor who smiles all the time because she/he never remember your name.
But it’s impossible to please everybody. Even if you try, after a while, your body will give up. You’ll feel like you’re running a full-time marathon for everyone’s feelings while your own sit on hold. On the outside, you look confident, kind and chill. On the inside, you’re so stressed out that you believe one wrong move will get you fired from existence. The cruel twist of your constant yes is that people you’re trying to impress aren’t even paying attention. They don’t give a damn 30 seconds after you’ve agreed to do it. That’s why recovery begins when you realize: “I am not a human loyalty program, points are no longer being awarded. No is no, and yes is yes. And there’s a time for each.”
When you understand that, the next step is to protect your mental space Protecting your mental space is like having a bouncer at the door of your brain who finally stops letting every drunk thought and every dramatic person onto the VIP floor. Not every notification, crisis, or opinion deserves a seat at the table in your head. Sometimes the healthiest move is to mute, block, or walk away, even as your heart shouts, “But you are mean!”… while your nervous system quietly sighs in relief. The more you guard your mental space, the less your life feels like a house with no doors, where everyone is welcome to the party. When all that is done, the last two important things are exercise and nutrition. I know you’ve heard a lot about what you should and shouldn’t eat, so I’ll be as short as I can (and as you’ve noticed in my posts—this is not my strongest trait).
Exercise: Shaking the Dust Off Your Neurons Your brain is not a quantum computer. In fact, it is not a computer at all. It is more like a spoiled plant that desperately needs sunlight, water, and the occasional violent shake. Movement is that shake. When you exercise, you’re basically telling your neurons, “Wake up, darlings, the apocalypse isn’t here yet.” Suddenly, blood flows, oxygen arrives, and your brain stops acting like a robot that is trying to livestream all five senses and pretend it is human. Walking, in particular, is therapy without the invoice. You go outside, put one foot in front of the other 20-50 times, and somehow your worst problems shrink from “end of the world” to “that annoying email.” The rhythm of walking gives your brain a chance to sort the mental junk in your drawer: yesterday's worries, bad ideas, and that thing you said to your boss/bf/mom in 2011. After 15 minutes of walking in circles, you’re still broke, underpaid and misunderstood, just as before… but at least you can see it clearly. Desk stretches are the bare minimum you can do for your body to apologize for treating it like a chair attachment. Tilt your head, stretch your shoulders back and forth, twist a bit, and listen how your tired spine says, “Thank you, I will survive one more email.” Seriously, a sedentary lifestyle is basically a slow‑motion death attempt on your brain. Sit long enough and your creativity goes on strike, too, I promise you… When you move, your brain also releases endorphins, kind of biochemical cheerleaders that rush in yelling, “You are doing an amazing job,” even if all you did was walk up the five stairs without swearing and sweating.
Inside your brain, endorphins bind to receptors that calm everything down, turning your internal drama from “Shakespearean tragedy” into “Virgin River TV show.” It’s not perfect—I get it… but it’s good enough to keep you going without screaming into a pillow every night. What You Eat Matters: Your Brain Isn’t a Greasy Fast‑Food Joint Let’s take a quick look at a brain‑friendly diet—don’t worry, no one is taking your coffee away, just your health if you ignore this. A brain‑friendly diet is mostly whole, unprocessed food: vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats like olive oil and fatty fish. Think of it as taking your brain on a Mediterranean vacation instead of a break at the gas station.
This “Mediterranean/or MIND‑ish” way of eating is linked to slower cognitive decline and better memory, which means you might actually remember why you’re still here and didn’t unsubscribe right away.
The idea of eating healthy is simple: a colorful plate, real food, minimal junk.
Hydration and focus: Your Brain Is Not a Raisin Even mild dehydration can turn your brain from “sharp-ish” to “Who are you, and how do you know my name?” You know that feeling when you can’t remember why you opened Instagram again? Sometimes it’s not restlessness. It’s just that you’ve only had three coffees and an old sandwich since 8 a.m. Studies show that drinking water before any important tasks improves memory and visual attention, especially in kids, but your adult brain is just a tall, grumpy child with lots of taxes to pay. So staying hydrated heals you as well: it keeps nutrients reaching your brain, so your thoughts feel less sticky.
A simple guide: your urine should be clear or light yellow. If it looks like ale or cola, you need water. Sip regularly instead of chugging two liters in one heroic performance like a desperate camel. Be smart. Sugar and brain fog: Legalized Sabotage High sugar intake is like driving in a car with no brakes. You get the joyful spike—“I can do anything! I will start a new company! I will clean my emails!”— followed by the crash — “I hate you, Angela Marrant, and also myself.” Many people experience this as brain fog, irritability, or fatigue, and then blame life/parents/spouses/bosses/friends instead of the 25 cookies they inhaled after dinner. Over time, a sugary diet may mess with brain areas important for memory, like the hippocampus, and increase inflammation linked to slower thinking. Translation: your brain becomes as slow as a spinning beachball on your Mac.
People often notice they think more clearly when they swap sodas and candy for things like yogurt with oats, chia seeds, flaxseeds, dates, and fruit—aka dessert pretending to be responsible. Natural sugars in fruit are less of a problem because they come with nutrients and the illusion that you have your life together. Caffeine: Friend, Foe, or Legal Drug? Caffeine blocks adenosine, the brain chemical that whispers “sleep now” in your ear every night, which is why you suddenly believe it’s Monday morning again after your evening cup. In the short term, it boosts alertness, reaction time, and sustained attention, especially when you’re tired and spiritually fragile. But too much caffeine—or drinking it after 2 p.m.—can turn you into an anxious, overthinking, and absolutely not-sleeping-tonight raccoon. Then the next day, your focus is trash again, and you solve it with more caffeine. Congratulations, you are now in a cycle of energy‑debt crisis! Try flirting with alternatives: Daffee (made from date kernels), a strong GABA tea, camomile or lavanda infusions, or a sleepy decaf. After a couple of days, your nervous system will stop texting your amygdala “we’re all going to die.”
I don’t know about you, but I belong to people who can drink coffee in the evening and still sleep peacefully because of a genetic variation that helps me metabolize caffeine faster (or lowers my sensitivity to caffeine’s interaction with adenosine receptors). In simple words: the liver produces more of the enzyme that breaks down caffeine, up to four times faster than in slow metabolizers. Omega‑3: Brain Lube (The Respectable Kind, Don’t Worry) Omega‑3 fatty acids like DHA and EPA are basically WD‑40 for your brain cells: ultra-smooth, super-slick, hypoallergenic, and long-lasting. They help cell membranes stay flexible and help your neurons talk to each other without shouting. Higher omega‑3 levels are linked with better memory and larger hippocampal volume in midlife adults, meaning more “I remember that” and less “What was I saying right now?”. Where do you get it? From fatty fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel), algae‑based products, flaxseeds, chia seeds, and nuts. Daily intake helps long‑term brain health, and believe it or not, it is like an espresso shot for your IQ. Conclusion: Omega-3 is magic for your neurons, but it’s more like a slow romance than a speed‑dating.
Healthy snacks? Let me say no to any snacks. And yes, you can hate me… Since November 2025, I stopped snacking, and shockingly, I did not die; I just got less annoying to myself. When you combine lots of fiber (30–50 g a day), healthy fats, and a big chunk of protein (around 1.5 g per kg body weight) – 30, 35 g at each meal, your energy rises slowly and stays steady instead of doing a telenovela arc every two hours. Breakfast example, a.k.a. “bowl of chaos that works”: Cottage cheese (200–250 g), 1 spoon flaxseeds, 1–2 spoons mixed nuts, 1–2 spoons chia, 1 spoon bee ambrosia or fruit (frozen is fine, just thaw unless you enjoy chewing ice), buckwheat flakes, coconut shreds, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder, vanilla, and a spoon of almond butter. It looks like you emptied your entire pantry into a bowl, but your brain will clap! Yes, it’s a lot. I eat a lot three times a day, so I’m never hungry and don’t need snacks. If you move and walk daily, it feeds your muscles, your bones, and the tiny part of your soul that likes feeling like a functioning mammal. What is for lunch? A pot of stew—fish, meat, tons of veggies, maybe sweet potatoes or just classic potatoes—with pan‑fried steak, tofu chunks, or fish. Any fish works. Even sardines, the underappreciated canned heroes. Add kimchi, wakame, or whatever green you can find. I usually do this three times a week because I enjoy pretending I’m both a grandma and a nutritionist. If you love sushi, that’s fine, just remember that 10 simple pieces of sushi is a “surprise calorie bomb” – 500 calories without any soya sauce added. If you love pizza - 1 pepperoni pizza is 2704 calories.
Evening? I eat eggs. I am in a committed relationship with my evening omelet. Eggs with all possible veggies and carbs, and I sleep full, happy, and slightly smug. To drink: tea, coffee, sparkling water. As for chocolate, I buy 70% dark with stevia or 100% dark, which is my favorite because you can keep one piece in your mouth forever, and after a week or two, your brain decides it’s actually sweet. These options keep me away from the violent sugar spike‑and‑crash pattern of candy and pastries, and my gut no longer sends me aggressive messages about it. When you pair this way of eating with good sleep, regular movement for your mitochondria, and the dangerous new habit of saying no, your thinking usually becomes clearer and more stable. Your brain stops behaving like a feral squirrel on an energy drink and starts acting more like a sane human being who can finish a thought without needing a nap.
What more can you do to clean up the mess in your brain? Stay tuned for part 3 next week! And please, please… do the changes. Like today! Right now. |
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