10 Habits That Can Damage Your Brain

The brain is obviously a very important part of your being. It is one of the largest organs in your body and is the main control center for every function that happens in your day-to-day life. It carries a heck of a lot of information around and has an endless list of responsibilities!

The brain is also surprisingly delicate. In recent years, the World Health Organization released what they consider to be the top 10 brain-damaging habits that are common among people today.

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I’ve listed them below so take a look and ask yourself… Am I guilty of doing any of these things on a regularly basis?

1 No Breakfast

We’ve seen it everywhere that breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day. The debate may go on as to what we should eat for breakfast and when or how we should eat it, but we know for sure that those who do not eat breakfast will have lower blood sugar levels. After a long night without eating, this can lead to an insufficient supply of nutrients to your brain. If repeated often enough over a lifetime this can cause brain degeneration.
2 Overeating

As if we’re not already feeling guilty enough about this one! Apparently, besides making us gain weight, feel bloated and damaging our self-esteem, overeating also causes hardening of brain arteries which can in turn decrease mental power. Sigh.

3 Smoking

We all know smoking is bad for one’s health. The most freaky side effect of smoking is that is causes “multiple brain shrinkage”. It is also a suspected culprit in Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-related diseases.

4 High Sugar Consumption

If you’ve been hanging around FitLife for any amount of time then you know all about the dangers of sugar and how it is hidden in nearly EVERYTHING we eat these days. Ditching the sugar habit will bring you more health benefits than most people realize. If you’re not convinced yet, turns out that high sugar consumption has been shown to disrupt the body’s ability to absorb proteins and nutrients, which causes malnutrition and issues with brain development. We may be starving ourselves and not even know it!

5 Air Pollution

This one is a bit harder to solve on an individual basis unless you walk around with a face mask all the time. The brain needs incredible amounts of oxygen to function properly (the reason people pass out so quickly or even die when deprived of air for a short amount of time) and constantly inhaling pollution decreases the oxygen supply to the body, leading to a decrease in brain efficiency.



6 Sleep Deprivation

Long term sleep deprivation speeds up the death of brain cells. We want and need to keep our brain cells around for as long as possible! Sleep gives your brain a chance to rest and repair itself after long and sometimes stressful days. Make sleep a priority and do what it takes to get more of it!
Head-Covered-SleepingSave

7 Head Covered While Sleeping

This one surprised me too. Sleeping with your head covered goes along with #5 in the fact that it reduces your oxygen intake at night. Since you are asleep, you might not even realize that you’re light-headed or air deprived. You also raise the chance of inhaling too much carbon dioxide. Play it safe and keep the covers off your face!

8 Working Your Brain During Illness

We live in a go-go-go society and some of us are so driven or determined to succeed that we refuse to rest when we get sick. The truth is, when our body shows signs of illness, it’s often the body’s way of telling us we need to SLOW DOWN and reconsider our current lifestyle. It is ALSO telling us that our BRAIN needs a break! Pushing through sickness, continuing to study or work or do whatever it is we do every day can actually decrease the effectiveness of and damage the brain.

9 Lacking In Stimulating Thoughts

Basically, if we don’t use our brain and stretch it with new and stimulating thoughts, it will SHRINK. Yikes! Thinking is a powerful tool and throughout all the years of your life, the thoughts you think create new pathways in the brain. The neuroplasticity of the brain ensures that you won’t stay the same forever – you’ll either create new pathways and improvements in your mind, or your brain will shrink to accommodate your lack of effort to think and discover new things. Weird!

10 Talking Rarely

Similar to #9, talking to people helps your brain to grow and develop. Participating in intellectual conversations will stretch and strengthen your brain and help the efficiency of the brain over time.

So as you can see, your brain is a marvelous gift. It’s fun learning new facts about how to take care of and develop the best brain possible. Don’t ignore these important little diddies of info! Do what it takes to keep your brain healthy and strong for your entire life and you won’t regret it.