10 Brain Damaging Habits You Need To Drop

On the evening of Thursday 14th February 2013, while lovers basked in the euphoria of Valentine’s day, exchanging gifts, coy glances and everything else in between, the news of Goldie’s sudden passing hit cyberspace and just like that the conversation changed. Several questions, speculations and controversies later, it turned out the vivacious singer died as a result of  ’intracerebral haemorrhage’ triggered by the fact that she had  ‘hypertensive heart disease’. Shock of shocks! Not drug abuse, not Stroke, not even Deep Vein Thrombosis aka blood clot as was alluded a few hours after news of her death broke but hypertension, a condition we generally associate with folks past middle age.
Often times, we take our youth for granted which is why when someone young suddenly passes away; especially from health-related issues, it seems too far-fetched a thought to grasp. But the truth is these occurrences aren’t quite as far-fetched as we’d like to think. From poor diet regimens to distressing sleep habits, there are so many little things we do which contribute to shortening our life span without us even realising it and no matter how much we ‘reject’ it or console ourselves with thoughts of ‘it is well’, there are certain outcomes that can’t just be wished away.
On this note, we bring you 10 of such brain damaging habits you need to drop like its hot!

• Skipping Breakfast: We’ve probably heard from our days in Health Education class that breakfast is the most important meal of the day but have we really spared any thought to what this means? No? Here’s why you should: breakfast being the first meal of the day gives you the needed energy to sustain you through the day. Now, if you skip it and go without eating for many hours, the body falls short of glucose which is a main source of energy. To make up for this, the liver will then start to release glucose from the stored glycogen or produce new glucose from the protein molecules which will lead to a rise in blood sugar level. When this goes on for a while, the body will fall short of nutrients to the brain which in turn will cause brain degeneration…surely you know it can’t be a good thing when the brain starts to degenerate.

• Anti-Social Behaviour: I bet you didn’t see this coming but there it is. Meaningful relationships and a strong support system are vital to brain health. Its also as important to the brain to participate in engaging, intellectual conversation as good food is to the body. Its not enough to just do any kind of talking but witty, intellectual conversation that actually engages the brain is most advisable to develop the brain and also reduce the risk of memory decline. In a study by Harvard School of Public Health, people with active social lives had the slowest rate of memory decline. Also, laughter is indeed the best medicine..laughing engages multiple regions of the brain as opposed to other emotions so just laugh it off!

• Lack of Stimulating Thoughts: Again, we can’t stress the importance of engaging the brain..reading, writing, crossword puzzles and even movie watching are just some of the ways you can stimulate the brain. Lack of brain stimulation causes brain shrinkage which will do you no good. On the flip side, stressing over things on a high level leads to the production of cortisol which interferes with the part of the brain that handles recent memories also causing brain shrinkage. For instance, ever wonder why you never seem to find something you’re looking for when you’re panicky and stressed? Exactly.

• Over Eating: While it’s important to have breakfast, it’s also important to keep meals in moderation. Eating more than the body requires can lead to fat build-up and subsequently obesity which could cause the brain arteries to harden thereby decreasing mental power. So the next time you want to go overboard with food, ask yourself if you really want to sacrifice your brain cells for a few minutes of taste-bud pleasure.

• Smoking: This goes without saying, even the cigarette companies never fail to warn us after each commercial that ‘smokers are liable to die young’. But just incase you missed the memo, smoking over time can lead to  lead to multiple brain shrinkage which damages the memory, learning and reasoning  abilities eventually resulting in Dementia and Alzheimer’s. Need we say more?

• Sleep Deprivation: Scientists recommend an average of 7-8 hours of sleep for adults and for good reason too. Sleep is necessary for memory consolidation as memory-enhancing activities occur in the deepest stage of sleep. That said, long term loss of sleep can accelerate the death of brain cells which results in loss of memory. Now do you really want to sacrifice hours of sleep for things you may lose the ability to remember several sleepless years down the line?

• Covering the Head While Sleeping: Are you guilty of throwing a pillow over your head as you sleep? Well you may want to change that habit because a covered sleeping head hinders oxygen supply to the brain. Instead what happens is an increased concentration of carbon dioxide which has brain damaging effects so take note. Ladies, you may also want to lay off the hair nets once in awhile…and the weaves too of course.

• High Sugar Consumption: Again like some of the other habits, we’ve most probably heard of the disadvantages of excessive sugar consumption for as long as we can remember. In the case of the brain, it interrupts the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and interfering in brain development. It also reduces the production of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) which is responsible for us forming new memories, learning and remembering.

• Staying in an Air-Polluted Environment: The brain is the largest consumer of oxygen in the body and so it follows that staying in an environment that denies it an abundance of oxygen is not unlike a parched throat. Polluted air, therefore, reduces the supply of oxygen which in turn reduces brain efficiency.

• Working Brain During Illness: Are you home recovering from an illness and still accessing emails and drafting work schedules? Stop! Turn off that phone and shut down that system because when you’re ill, there’s a chemical imbalance in the chemical neurotransmitters that coordinate the brain and body activities. Moral of the story: if you keep pushing your body, then you risk slowing down the effectiveness of your brain cells which could lead to brain damage.

Healthy, Brain-Friendly Alternatives:

• Vitamin B: Rather than eat the first thing you can lay your hands on, ensure that you have a healthy dose of Vitamin B in your daily food intake. Vitamin B delivers oxygen and provides protection against free radicals. It also sharpens the senses and boosts the memory. Leafy green vegetables like spinach, broccoli and fruits like mangoes and water melons are rich in antioxidants which are a great source of oxygen for the brain. Green tea, red wine (in moderation), cranberry juice and peanuts are also recommended not for Vitamin B now but because they are rich in antioxidants which provide oxygen and enhance blood flow to the brain.

• Omega-3: Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel and tuna as well as walnuts, kidney and soybeans are some food items that are rich in Omega-3 which are very good for the brain.