Are you causing brain damage without not knowing it?
Nowadays we all are focused on improvement, hustle culture, and longevity, however, have you ever considered at what cost?
How many people have you met that show off their productive lifestyle, working two jobs, having side hustles, reading one book a week but avoid exposing and mentioning their feelings and thoughts about what is lacking in their life and how it is affecting their health? No one wants to show their sleep deprivation, 5 cups of coffee a day, junk food three times a day, lack of exercise and meaningful human connection, which is not only focused on work and productivity, and almost forgot to mention — fragmented mental health. How can you show your weaknesses instead of how great and effective genius you are?
After all, we all are encouraging the next generation to follow this trap and become successful. But have you ever considered this, how can you become successful if you are sacrificing your health and making sure that in 30 years you will lose your potential and clear thinking? We all need to have more balance instead of looking for productivity tips and new pills that would improve our fast thinking.
As much as I want to expand on all factors and thoughts about this productivity trap, this article will be devoted to our brain health, above all, isn’t this the most important part of our body that lets us do whatever we are supposed to do? Let’s focus on this and avoid the guilt trap when it’s too late to change things.
Chronic sleep deprivation
Chronic short sleep is defined as getting less than 6 h of sleep a night and it is more prevalent than you would think. In the United States, it is estimated that approximately 30% of adolescents suffer from this day to day. Among college students, the percentage is similar about 25%, even for high school teenagers it is not a surprise to hear that someone is sleeping 4 hours a night. It is well known that sleep deprivation decreases your focus, and physical or intellectual performance but little do they know that this could have lasting effects on sleep/wake patterns or long-term consequences on neurobehavioral performance, brain development, neurogenesis, neurodegeneration, and connectivity. Most of them just think that they will catch up on sleep on weekends, why else do we need those two days? Many studies demonstrated that a particular group of neurons that are activated across wakefulness die off. These neurons cumulate in the brainstem locus coeruleus and play a major role in vigilance. It is scientifically proven that extended wake results in a 25–30% loss of these neurons. In addition, another group of neurons, called orexinergic neurons, were lost (40%). Fragmented sleep, sleep with consistent waking up during the night, increases oxidative stress and neuroinflammation. This is especially relevant for those who suffer from sleep disorders, including sleep apnea, periodic limb movement, and mental health conditions. What’s more, it increases leptin resistance, which is a hormone that helps us feel full after eating. So as a consequence could lead to obesity or diabetes. The other factor contributing to neural consequences is loss of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. It is known that during REMS brain undergoes neuroplasticity, which is not only important during development but also for elderly people. Another study showed that long-term deprivation significantly suppressed the production of new progenitor cells in the hippocampus, so-called neurogenesis, which is important for learning and memory. Only 3 days of sleep restriction showed a reduction in neurogenesis in the adult brain.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35971998/
Exercise
Most of us know that exercise is essential not only for physical health but also for brain health. In this article, I want to present HOW and WHY it is important for our brain health.
Firstly, it is demonstrated to play a significant role in neurogenesis, neuroplasticity and cognitive function. Aerobic and anaerobic exercise increases the generation of several brain factors, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), lactate, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and additional proteins within the brain. In contrast to these types resistance training influences brain plasticity by myokines such as irisin, and insulin-growth factor-1 (IGF1), which can cross the blood-brain barrier, also skeletal muscle secretes BDNF this way stimulating neurogenesis.
Secondly, these neurotrophins reduce symptoms of depression, and anxiety while enhancing mood and coping capacity in response to stress.
Furthermore, exercise induces hippocampal cell proliferation which is important for memory and learning.
One study showed, that subjects diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease remarkably improved cognitive function in comparison with the controlled group.
If we compare aerobic activity (moderate intensity like running, and biking) with anaerobic (high intensity like HIIT), we will get different outcomes. Although a limited number of studies demonstrated these comparisons, however, it is stated that high intensity is superior to lower intensity. HIIT has been indicated to increase circulating BDNF concentrations to a greater extent compared to moderate-intensity. However the greatest impact on spatial learning, pattern separation has been reported when 3 exercises were combined — aerobic, anaerobic and resistance.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5449441/
Diet
By explaining what is important for brain health, I want to focus on one of the healthiest countries — Japan. One study especially concentrates on the Japanese diet and how it could be beneficial to cognitive decline in individuals with mild cognitive impairment and dementia. And the main idea behind this article is that it is important to consider that eating is not only a way to obtain nutrients, but also a day-to-day habit to maintain physical and mental health.
Many diets have been suggested for brain health — The Mediterranean diet, and the DASH diet, however, the Japanese diet is unique among all of them. The brain consumes 20%-25% of glucose and requires vitamin B, folic acid, calcium, zinc and other elements that are important for metabolism in the brain and regulation of neurotransmitters. Fatty acids, phospholipids and amino acids are used to form a neurotransmitter’s structure. Additionally, lipids — phospholipids, glycolipids and cholesterol — are needed in neuron and glial cell formation. Among all the fatty acids, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is the most important and the hippocampus, which is involved in memory, contains an even larger amount of DHA. Why is it significant? Here are two examples — infants who lack DHA show signs of immature neural development and Alzheimer’s patients have a lower concentration of DHA. Furthermore, anti-inflammatory foods and antioxidants — polyphenols and carotenoids — are greatly recommended to incorporate into everyday meals.
Although it is difficult to have good quality long-term research on food intake and specific illnesses, however, several observational studies suggested that fish-derived n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, DHA, eicosatetraenoic acid, folic acid, vitamin E, and antioxidants such as polyphenols and carotenoids greatly improved signs of dementia and are recommended as prevention. Fish, shellfish, green and yellow vegetables, and fruit have large amounts of these nutrients. Japanese diet contains large quantities of fish and shellfish. In addition, this diet has a low-fat content. The traditional diet has several staple foods — rice, miso soup, fish, meat, mushrooms, seaweed, pickles, vegetables and green tea. The Japanese diet suggests that rather than single food or nutrient is required but balanced and various everyday nutrition. Notably, they incorporate meals into their lifestyle. They sit at the same time to eat with close friends or family with no TV, and no phones. For them, it is important to combine food and social interaction which bring not only nutrients to their bodies but also enjoyment, love and calm.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36002912/
Summary
There are so many more things that we should consider, but these three combined can save your brain from all the factors a bit longer. We can’t change pollution, stress and many other things but we can follow a lifestyle that supports our brain health and help us feel more focused, less stressed and more capable of achieving what we strive for.
