Our brain is the control center of our body and is highly complex. Among other things, our brain takes over the control of breathing and circulation. As we age, our brain power decreases and our cognitive abilities begin to deteriorate.
But not only our age weakens our brain power, certain habits can also damage our brain – without us knowing it. Which ones are they exactly? We will tell you below!
These habits affect your brain
Too less sleep
If you don’t sleep enough all the time, you are not only tired, but also affect your brain in many ways. Attention is throttled and memory performance suffers. A lack of stroke inhibits the activity of the hippocampus, the memory center of our brain. But that’s not all: Too little sleep is also responsible for the fact that the brain does not have the opportunity to repair damaged DNA in the resting state. Nerve cells are broken down more easily, which can promote the development of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. To prevent this, an ideal sleep duration of seven to eight hours is optimal.
>> You can find more regarding sleep at meinschlaf.de
Zucker
Nutrition plays an important role in our brain health. Just as certain foods came to our brains (like walnuts and fish), there are numerous that are far from good.
We all know that sugar can promote obesity and tooth decay. But our brain doesn’t like excessive sugar consumption either. Sweet treats reward our brain and ensure that more dopamine is released. However, the risk of dementia also increases. Because if we eat regularly and lots of sugary and carbohydrate-rich foods, we have a constantly high blood sugar level. The body then releases large amounts of insulin. When insulin levels are high in the body, they are low in the brain. And that has consequences: the cells are no longer adequately protected and defective insulin receptors occur. As a result, glucose can be absorbed worse due to the defects. Proteins cannot be broken down well and deposits form which lead to the death of nerve cells in the brain.
Smoking
This point will not surprise you either: Smoking has many negative effects on your health and accordingly on your brain: The risk of Alzheimer’s can sometimes be increased, and brain mass can also be reduced. The attention span can also be shortened. Why? Because the oxygen supply suffers from smoking, the nerve cells in the brain are damaged or die off.
Alcohol
For most people, alcohol is simply part of everyday life – be it just the classic following-work beer. According to the Federal Ministry of Health, around ten liters of pure alcohol are consumed per capita in Germany every year. With dangerous consequences: Not only does excessive alcohol consumption increase the risk of diseases such as heart attacks or fatty liver, our brain is also damaged. Alcohol is a cell toxin that affects messenger substances in the brain that transmit information between nerve cells. studies according to the consumption of alcohol can even shrink the brain mass.