You Are Destroying Your Brain
These often unconscious habits are slowly destroying your brain
We all know that lack of sleep or smoking can damage your brain. What most people don’t realize, is that there are many more habits that have similar effects. I recommend you take some time to look at yourself and see if you are doing any of the habits I’ve listed below.
Dehydration
A study done by Evian revealed that nearly half of Americans do not drink enough water each day. Other studies also suggest that the percentage might be even higher.
Drinking more water is one of the easiest ways to improve your health. Outside of being essential for your body, drinking more water has many different health benefits. Some include reduced snacking, better mental health, and improved self-control.
One of the leading causes of dehydration is unawareness. Many don’t realize how little they actually drink. For this reason, it’s a good idea to use some sort of tracker like Hydro Coach or AquaAlert (Both available on Android and IOS). If you own a smartwatch it’s also a good idea to see if it has a native hydration tracking app.
A lot of apps have built-in calculators to estimate how much you should be drinking. In case the one you chose doesn’t have one I recommend using this to get a good estimate of how much you should consume.
Inactivity
We all know exercise is important for our bodies, but did you know your brain also needs exercise. Your brain is like a muscle, you need to train it. While you don’t need to go solving complex equations every day, it’s important to make sure you keep your brain engaged.
When doing anything it’s a good habit to be mindful whilst doing it. Engaging your brain will not only lead to higher quality work but also good health benefits. Outside of keeping your brain engaged there are many great habits you can develop.
In our digital world, people often recommend apps that give you brain teasers to challenge your brain. While those apps are beneficial, it’s also important to make sure you don’t get too much screen time.
The most common and easiest approach is to pick up a book. It doesn’t even have to be an educational book. Prose can keep your brain just as engaged as educational content. The most important thing is to make sure it’s something you are interested in. That way you have the motivation to keep with it.
I personally like to go on “thinking walks”. I usually walk for about an hour or two and try to ponder. Usually, the walk starts with me thinking about everyday things and recent events. As I approach the end of the walk, I usually start thinking about something more challenging. It’s why I recommend walking for at least one hour.
Eating sugar
This one is pretty familiar to a lot of people, but it cannot be talked about enough. Stop eating so much sugar. It’s something a lot of people do without even realizing it. So many products contain sweeteners and different forms of sugar. You might be surprised how high your consumption is.
Studies suggest that over 40% of the population eats too much sugar every single day. Again, this percentage is probably too low, since so many people don’t know how much they’re actually consuming.
While being an important source of energy when rationed right too much sugar can cause the absorption of proteins to stop. This greatly reduces brain development. That is a big issue and can end up causing deterioration in the long run.
Most guidelines will recommend about 36 grams of sugar each day at max. That is approximately 7 cubes of sugar. Like dehydration, I recommend tracking how much sugar you are taking to see if you fall below this line.
Lack of socializing
Social connections are incredibly important for the brain. Talking to others and engaging in social situations increases brain development. You can get good stimulation from talking to friends or family, but even better than that is reaching out and making new friends.
The current pandemic makes this difficult as chatting online doesn’t stimulate the brain as well as face-to-face contact does. It’s still a good idea to keep this in mind. A lot of us still have to go out due to school or work, so we have plenty of opportunities to socialize with others.
It’s very easy to forget to socialize especially since most adults are so busy with simple everyday life. Personally, I started keeping a contact list, which reminded me to reach out to people I haven’t talked to in a month. This not only made me more social it also helped me keep friendships that I know I would’ve lost otherwise.
Outside of the benefits socializing has on the brain, it’s also an invaluable skill. Being a good talker and mindful of others in conversation can open up a lot of paths that might’ve otherwise stayed closed.
And as a sidenote, socializing doesn’t mean you have to be loud, talk over others and always go out to parties. You can be an introvert and be social. Socializing is more about keeping up with people on an individual level.
Final thoughts
The toughest thing when it comes to improving yourself is realizing what you’re doing wrong. Instead of scrolling through this article I strongly advise you to pause for a moment and think.
Consider if you could improve in any of the four areas I’ve covered here. I know I still have a long way to on many of these, but it’s important to start somewhere.
