The brain is considered the most valuable asset in the human body. But unknowingly, we are damaging our brains, impairing their functionality with our bad habits. Constant screen time and avoiding morning breakfast are two such toxic habits that negatively impact our brain’s health. The good news is that you can easily make changes in your habits and see a significant impact on your brain.
In this article, we have listed 6 toxic habits that may be damaging your brain and also offer the better alternatives to deal with them and improve your mental clarity, focus, and long-term cognitive function. Whether you wish to feel more mentally balanced or to increase your focus ability, these simple lifestyle changes will bring notable results.
- Using the phone in the morning
It has become a common habit among people to check their phones after getting up. Some even scroll for hours before leaving their bed. Using a phone in the morning as soon as you wake up overloads your brain with demands, information, and other people’s plans before you can even establish your own emotional baseline. This habit creates anxiety circuits and stress hormones like cortisol that last long after you put down the phone. Consider avoiding your phone for the first hour after you get up in the morning.
- Ignoring Breakfast
If you have a habit of skipping breakfast due to work or personal reasons, you are actually harming your brain’s energy supply. Your body has been fasting for hours after a night of sleep, and your brain needs fuel to function. This habit can lead to a lack of motivation throughout the day, and also poor concentration and irritability. Consider including breakfast in your routine and take it as soon as you begin your day.
3. Scrolling Mindlessly before Sleeping
Although aimless scrolling is harmful to brain health at any time, it is even more harmful right before bed since it shortens your normal sleep length by suppressing melatonin and increasing the production of stress hormones like cortisol.
The brain stabilizes knowledge from the previous day into long-term memory during both REM and deep sleep (non-REM). Scrolling just before sleeping breaks this rhythm.
- No Physical Activity
As per the study published in PLOS ONE in 2018, continuous sitting causes the brain’s memory region to shrink. Even if you are short on time, incorporate movement into your regimen. It helps you in reducing inflammation, supporting weight control, managing blood pressure and blood sugar, and increasing blood flow to the brain. An expert suggests short, regular workouts; wearing a weighted vest when walking the dog; having a walking pad beside your desk; and holding walking meetings can help you include physical activity in your routine.
- Staying Alone
While having few friends does not always mean loneliness. Even those with many friends can experience loneliness from time to time. Here, as in many other areas of life, quality is what counts. Loneliness sometimes causes cognitive issues that lead to stress and inflammatory reactions in the brain. A study at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago stated that people with small social connections were experiencing the most severe cognitive decline. Make a friend circle, and often meet and talk to them.
- Poor Hearing
You might be surprised, but ears suffer the most from the cacophonous environment of today that ultimately harms your brain. Our ears have to go through a lot of noise these days. The subways are roaring, automobiles are honking, there is music at the grocery store, in your headphones, and there are building projects all over the place. It’s also making your ears hurt: new research indicates that hearing loss is on the rise. According to a Johns Hopkins University study, those who are hard of hearing are 30–40% more likely to have cognitive decline that destroys the brain. To safeguard your brain health, make sure to stay away from such damaging noise.
These were the 6 toxic habits that can destroy your brain, with the suggestion of how you can protect your brain health.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the top 5 brain toxins?
Here is the list of the worst food for the brain:
- Artificial sweeteners
- Trans fats
- Alcohol
- Foods are heavy in sodium.
What is the unhealthiest habit?
Some of the unhealthy habits include using social media continuously, nighttime screen time, sitting too much, skipping breakfast, and more.
How to train your brain?
To train your brain, consider engaging with brain games, doing puzzles, playing word recall games, learning a new language, listening to music, reading book and getting knowledge; these are some good habits to train your brain.