CRAZY!!! 7 Habits That Are Bad for YOUR Brain!
Inside your head is one of your most valuable organs: the brain. Unfortunately, we usually pay too little attention to the daily care of this high-performance organ. Yet almost all of our vital functions depend on it. Without your brain you would not be yourself. You've probably developed habits that aren't really good for your brain. In this article, we'll reveal seven of these weak spots and give you tips for a healthier lifestyle.
So what are the things that aren't really good for our brains?
1. Not enough sleep
Sleep is the only time your brain fully recovers. Even meditation and extended rest during the day can't accomplish what healthy sleep can. During the night, a brain goes through different stages. These sleep stages are like the wash cycle of a washing machine; your brain needs them all in a specific order to stay healthy. Information gathered during the day is sorted and processed. Then the brain rests during the deep sleep stages and goes into a state that normal people can't reach during the day. Deep detoxification and renewal takes place in the delta frequency range. Many people lack this deep sleep or it lasts too briefly. Stress, medications and stimulant toxins are to blame. The hippocampus in particular suffers from a lack of sleep. Even after a restless night, this important switching point of your brain no longer functions properly. Among other things, the hippocampus is responsible for how emotional stimuli are processed. If it is overloaded, it preferably sends signals to the fight-or-flight center, the amygdala. When rested, on the other hand, the hippocampus directs information to the creative part of your brain. This is the only way to make experiences, new circumstances and creative peak performance possible. To promote your deep sleep drive, you should avoid excitement one to two hours before bedtime, consume little screen media, and feel really good before going to sleep.
2. Too much sugar
Sugar is an insidious poison. It's not just candy that provides your body with sugar. Sugar hides in almost every fast food meal, sweetened coffee in between meals, and simple carbohydrates. A diet too high in sugar alters your metabolism. Sugar is like a turbo food, it's short-chain, easily processed and gives you quick energy. This kind of energy can save you during stressful times. It's not for nothing that they say sugar is nerve food. However, the permanent change in metabolism caused by sugar foods can also ensure that stress is maintained just to get more sugar. Along the way, important nutrients are simply left out by the body during such periods. Urgently needed proteins, vitamins, minerals and fiber pass through your body unused. Your brain consumes about 20% of the total food you eat every day. In addition to a certain amount of sugar, it needs valuable fatty acids, proteins, vitamins B6, B12 and minerals. If instead of a healthy mixture almost only sugar arrives, the stress areas of your brain work again preferentially. If your body lacks nutrients in the long term, a silent, so-called starvation takes place internally. Stress becomes normal. and you can't even remember what calm and serenity feels like. Get your sugar balance back on track with healthy candy substitutes. Omit sugar if possible and replace candy bars with dark chocolate, sweet berries or dried fruit. These three foods are actually considered good brain food.
3. Eating too little, too hastily, or too much.
In the morning, a quick coffee with milk and sugar and maybe greasy bacon with toast and sugary jam. If this is you, you already put your brain in a state of emergency in the early morning. During the night, your brain and body have used up almost all available nutrients in the regeneration phases. Now it would be time to supply new vital substances from proteins, fruits, vegetables and wholemeal bread. If you eat hastily or too large portions during the day, this can also leave your system. What you eat quickly, you usually do not chew well. eat Under stress, you have stress hormones in the body, which in turn will make your body prefer to process sugar. If, on the other hand, you take time to eat and enjoy balanced meals, your body will absorb the nutrients it needs. Comfort while eating ensures that feel-good hormones are released. This keeps blood sugar levels constant, and your brain works reliably in rest and serenity mode.
4. Drinking too little water
Your brain is made up of over 80% water. The water in the cells is constantly exchanged, and in the process waste products are flushed out. Only in this way can your cells and your brain work optimally for you. If you drink too little or the wrong kind of water, the water in your cells will remain and with it the waste products. Drinking lots of uncarbonated water is the best and cheapest cure-all in the world. Remember, when you drink soda or sparkling water, areas of your metabolism that have more to do with stress than brain power and balance react again. You can get into the habit of drinking water regularly, try different waters, not all taste the same. Only if you find a water really tasty, will you drink with pleasure and sufficiently.
5. Permanent sensory overstimulation
Every second, your brain processes around eleven million sensory impressions. That is a masterpiece. Only a minimal portion of this gigantic mass reaches your waking consciousness. Filtering and sorting is one of the main tasks of your brain, it decides which part of the world you perceive. You can accommodate your brain by reducing the amount of stimuli. Turn off the TV unless there is something really profitable and interesting on, avoid loud and exhausting music or constant exposure to headphones. Watch your internet consumption and build times of silence into your life. After times of sensory overload, allow yourself deliberate periods of compensation at home or in nature.
6. Smoking and other addictive habits
Nicotine releases the so-called reward substance dopamine in the brain. It makes you feel like something special has happened. If you get your brain used to regular dopamine injections through an addictive behavior like smoking, your serotonin balance suffers. Serotonin is the basis of true human happiness. However, the effect of this hormone is less noticeable in noisy everyday life. Many people have therefore developed into real dopamine junkies. If you smoke a cigarette now and then with pleasure, this is not a huge problem. But if you use smoking to compensate for stress or smoke in large quantities, the healthy functioning of your brain suffers. After only four years of habitual smoking, your brain is so severely reorganized that it is difficult for you to feel joy and satisfaction without a cigarette. The same applies to other addictive substances, of course.
7. Too little oxygen while sleeping
Your brain needs oxygen to regenerate. If you sleep in poorly ventilated rooms or pull the covers over your head at night, your brain suffers. If you snore or have other breathing problems, you also get too little oxygen. Give your bedroom a good airing just before you go to bed. This can help you fall asleep faster and more peacefully.
Today’s Conclusion:
As you can see, there are a few traps lurking in everyday life for the optimal functioning of your brain. With a little more mindfulness and awareness, you can do your brain some good. By the way, changing your daily habits too quickly is not good for your brain either. Start slowly but steadily with healthier behaviors and consciously say goodbye to old habits. That's it for today.