7 COMMON BRAIN-DAMAGING HABITS YOU SHOULD AVOID RIGHT NOW
Certain lifestyle behaviors have an impact on our brains. Even if the link isn't clear, these habits can have a big impact on the health of our brains.
In light of this, here are seven harmful practices that can damage your brain.
1. Skipping Breakfast
Breakfast is regarded as the most crucial meal of the day, and skipping it can result in low blood sugar levels, which are extremely harmful to the brain. The brain consumes the most energy of any organ in the body, and frequently depriving the brain of adequate nutrition generates a deficit in that energy budget, causing the brain to become less receptive to stimuli.
2. Sleep Deficiency
Inadequate sleep deprives you of neurons and your ability to function normally. Sleep deprivation also dulls the perceptions and reflexes. Chronic sleep deprivation has the potential to make these consequences permanent. So, the next time you feel too busy to get enough sleep, realize that you won't be performing at your best unless you prioritize your sleep.
3. Prolonged Stress
While temporary stress is beneficial to the body because it prepares it to fight or run in the case of danger, chronic stress raises cortisol levels in the brain and causes long-term damage. Chronic stress also promotes brain cell death and shrinkage.
4. Excessive Sugar
Although the body and brain require sugar to function properly, eating too much of it on a regular basis can create chronic inflammation in your cells, including brain cells. This impairs the body's capacity to absorb essential nutrients from food and begins to deprive the brain of what it needs for proper cognition.
5. Overeating
According to various studies, there is a link between obesity and dementia, and while the causes are unknown, it is assumed that obesity originates when the food we eat lacks nutrition, leading to the need to overeat in order to meet the body's demand for vitamins and minerals. So, even if you eat a lot, you could be starving your brain.
6. Dehydration
Because the body is made up of 70% water, it is essential to every bodily function, including brain function. Researchers discovered that even two hours of vigorous exercise without water can trigger cognitive deterioration. According to studies, dehydration was found to have the greatest impact on functions including sophisticated problem-solving, coordination, and attention.
7. Smoking
Smoking has many harmful effects on the body and definitely destroys cell membranes and neural viability in parts of the brain that govern balance, coordination, and both fine and gross motor skills. Not only that, but it also thins the cortex, which is where activities like language, memory, and perception take place.