10 habits that may damage your brain

Brain is the most important part of the human body and it controls and coordinates all other body parts for us to function well in our day to day lives. Dysfunction of any brain part or damage to the brain causes serious impairments and may affect the quality of life. Here is a list of 10 habits that could lead to damage of the brain, along with the solutions to cope up well.

1. Skipping breakfast regularly

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and skipping it due to irregular or busy routines could lead to serious brain damage, not instantly and directly but slowly and quite indirectly. Skipping breakfast affects the blood sugar level by lowering it below normal blood pressure. It could further lead to decreased energy in the brain and other parts of the body.

If people skips having breakfast everyday, they may probably feel low, sluggish, less energetic and processes the information less effectively which decreases their efficiency of doing any work. Skipping breakfast also results in feeling dizzy and getting frequent headaches.
Breakfast in the morning, works like a fuel for person’s body for the rest of the day and it is also believed that breakfast is the most important meal of the day as it contains all the nutrients an individual’s body and mind requires to function well. Make sure to have a healthy, light breakfast everyday without any hurry. Also, include fruits as a part of daily breakfast to have a balanced diet.

Also Read: Sleep Disturbance can affect brain functioning and mental health

2. Not sleeping enough

Sleep is necessary for an individual to restore their energy to be able to work more effectively. A person should have at least 7-8 hours of sleep every day for their brain to function well. Inadequate sleep makes a person more prone to brain diseases or disorders like dementia, insomnia and Alzheimer’s. Disruptive or less amount of sleep effects the thinking capacity of an individual, causes mood swings, irritation, agitation and it may further leads to brain damage. It has also been proven that less amount of sleep causes memory loss and thereby reduces the brain volume.

Sleep helps in removing all the toxins from the brain and helps us to relax. Make sure to get enough sleep that ones Body requires. Rest well after work and take power naps in between the work when one feels mentally exhausted or drained out. Balance the work and life balance and prioritize appropriate hours of sleep over everything, then only the work could turn out to be effective.

3. Listening loud music

Listening to loud music or being in presence of high decibel sounds not only impairs a person’s hearing ability by damaging the ears but also damages the person’s brain. It causes serious brain problems like disruptive thinking abilities, which includes malfunctioning in the process of judgement, memory and reasoning. There is a link between hearing loss and loss of brain tissues in elder persons. This link exists due to increased use of brain to possess information, making up for the hearing issues.

Also Read: Brainstorming: A valuable technique for getting ideas

This problem could be taken care of by listening to soft music more often instead of listening to rock n roll music and tones. If one prefers to listen loud rock music, enjoy it by keeping the volume low which doesn’t feels like too much for the ears and brain. Use earplugs or headphones to cover one’s ears when present in noisy places.

4. Drinking coffee in excessive amounts

High caffeine intake could cause severe health damages which also includes damage to the brain. People often consumes large number of cups of coffee or cappuccino in order to get energized and feel productive to be able to complete their work on time. They need coffee to stay awake at night. People drink coffee when they feel tired or sleepy.

Although, drinking coffee does provide temporary relief and satisfaction and it may increases the productivity of an individual, high consumption of caffeine in ones body leads to increased number of adenosine receptors, the chemicals in brain, which results in the feeling of tiredness and hence developing high tolerance to caffeine and the vicious cycle of caffeine consumption goes on. Drinking multiple cups of coffee in a day could also lead to frequent headaches and appearance of withdrawal symptoms in a person. To reduce the caffeine consumption, make sure that one drinks maximum 4 cups of coffee per day and not more than that. Keep track of caffeine intake in one’s body and try to replace every cup of coffee with fresh juices or healthy drinks Instead.

Also Read: Why Is Exercise And Good Nutrition So Important For A Healthy Brain?

5. Taking too much load on your brain

Stressing oneself and taking too much tensions for even small things in life leads to damaging ones brain. Overloading the brain with excessive and sometimes unnecessary information causes distress and severe brain damages. When an individual is feeling low or isn’t well, they still don’t stop being harsh on themselves and force their brain to do work efficiently, not keeping in mind that their brain also needs some rest unlike their body, this could lead to feeling of fatigue and may exhausts the person mentally as well as physically.

People should give their mind the time to relax quite often by practicing meditations to stay calm in stressful situations and mindfulness techniques to help being able to be in the present moment. If there is so much work to do, ask for help and delegate the tasks to other people around. If there is something stressful happening in life, talk to others and seek guidance from the elders without any hesitation.

6. Not socializing enough

People often distances themselves from others to seek comfort and embrace their me time. It’s good to have some time away for themselves, however if the person habitually distances themselves from people around and doesn’t socializes much, it may have a negative impact. Since we as humans are designed to be social creatures and have daily interactions with other people, being alone for a long time causes distress to an individual which may causes stress or depression thereby leading to brain damage.

Also Read: 10 Brain Foods That Improve Memory

To avoid isolation of oneself, reach out to friends and family, spend time with the ones who feels good to be with. Interacting with others provide an opportunity to exchange information, enhancing metal performances and brain functions thereby keeping the neurons of brain active and intact. Join social support groups to be able to socialize. Going for a walk in the morning or evening could also provides a chance of interactions with people around and making friends with them.

7. Less water intake each day

Water is the most important component of our body and it constitutes 75% of our body composition. Not drinking enough water every day leads to dehydration of body and the brain, which makes the brain tissues to shrink away thereby causing impairment in cognitive functions like thinking, reasoning and judgement. Also, deficiency of water in causes osmotic imbalance in the brain by disrupting the balance between water and ions. Dehydration often leads to low concentration, swelling of the brain, seizures, shock and may also leads to faintness of an individual.

So, in order to avoid dehydration, the most simple yet effective solution is to ‘drink water everyday’. Always carry a water bottle at work and keep it in front of eyes, in reach, on study table or work desk so that one doesn’t forget to drink water while working. Set daily reminders on mobile phones for drinking water.

9. Smoking cigarettes on daily basis

Smoking is injurious to our health. The habit, of smoking makes a person sacrifice so much in life, including ‘the life’ itself. Smoking damages the lungs and leads to deteriorating brain’s health. Smoking leads to slow processing of body and the brain functions. It reduces an individual’s ability to think clearly and concentrate on things properly. Smoking cigarettes or cigar can also lead to a condition called dementia which leads to forgetfulness.

Also Read: Do you experience brain fog?

Smoking is obviously a bad habit and by quitting Smoking one could lead a happy and healthy life. There are various Rehabilitation centres, which helps a person to quit smoking. Also, use nicotine patches and gums to control the habit of smoking. Cigarettes and electronics vapes are equally injurious to health, so avoid using either of them just to seek pleasure and know that there are more good things in life that could provide same pleasure in life without even sacrificing ones life.

9. Procrastinating brain’s exercises

Just like our body needs physical exercises in order to stay fit and healthy and for keeping the body in shape, our brain also needs mental exercises for keeping it mentally active and effective during work. Without brain exercises, the brain goes in a numbing state or leads to stagnation and complications in the brain resulting in brain damages.

Engaging in various mental exercises like brain storming activities and techniques, being curious for various things around and communicating with others effectively could help in making brain active and useful thereby reducing the chances of brain damage.

10. Sleeping in ‘covering the head’ posture

Sleeping by covering the head with pillow or blanket or just by hands leads to increase in accumulation of Carbon dioxide in the brain due to low oxygen supply from the sources and the ability to inhale while sleeping. Oxygen is required by the brain to work properly and carry out its functions smoothly without any trouble. Covering the head while sleeping may also lead to a feeling of suffocation, headache and dizziness while sleeping, leading to fatigue oneself.

So, a person must sleep in the right position without covering their head with anything and sleeping straight. Make sure that the person is not having any problem in breathing while sleeping and is getting enough oxygen to breathe in.