Possible Precautions to Keep Our Brain Healthy
Let us see the habits that damage our brain and possible precautions to keep our brain healthy – Particularly for young adults but not limited to them!
A faculty was rushing to my cabin around 08.45 am and reporting that a girl student was not feeling well and had fainted. Following her, two faculty members brought that girl and we made her relax and gave her some water. We informed the office with a request to send the college vehicle to take her to our doctor. In parallel, we had a conversation with the girl to know the possible reasons and the reason was that she had not taken her breakfast and just because of that she had fainted.
It is a usual thing that happens in the morning at my department office, faculty will bring some students, mostly girls, ( boys also not exempted), as they are not feeling well and fainted. This has become a fashion amongst youngsters to skip the morning breakfast.
Not only are the young students making this mistake, but even the working ladies miss their breakfast stating that they were so busy in the morning preparing for the day that they could not find time for breakfast. Homemakers are also not exceptions, they also keep them busy in making ready the needs of all the family members who are going out on their work. These dutiful women happily skip their morning food!
After reading my blog on the Daily Routine – based on the Circadian rhythm, some of my friends shared with me that they are also not having their breakfast often, but they assure that they would change from now on!.
This made me think, why people are giving the least importance to such an important thing. And I wanted to guide my students not to skip breakfast, giving some convincing facts to support my saying. So, I started searching for the same. Actually, I was taken aback when I saw the ‘Skipping Breakfast’ topping the list of brain damaging habits!
Let us discuss the brain damaging habits and possible precautions to keep our brain healthy:
- Skipping Breakfast – People who do not have breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.
We know very well that we need energy for the whole day’s work from breakfast. Further, if we are not having breakfast, then the time gap between the two meals will be too long from last night’s dinner and the lunch on the consecutive day which leads to acidity and related issues. But, it was new for me to know this will affect the brain. So, I thought of sharing this with everyone as knowingly or unknowingly many of us have the habit of skipping breakfast. In the name of fasting, dieting, people skip their breakfast.
Whatever may be the circumstances, do not skip breakfast. Good amount of breakfast is required for us. Even if you are fasting or dieting you may plan your schedule in such a way that you are not skipping breakfast. You can reduce the amount of food intake in the afternoon and even less for dinner.
- Overeating – It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power.
Nowadays, we can see that more than 60 % of children are obese. With the technology available now, it is difficult for us to restrict our desire to eat whatever we feel like eating! When these apps are not there, if we get the craving for some food either we have to prepare or go to the shop and buy. In the process, we will drop the idea of eating those things most of the time. Is that the case now? When we get the first thought of “Oh, what if I could get a cake now”, even before the thought is complete, we start ordering through any of the many apps available very handy on our mobile. I have seen my friend who used to order all kinds of junk food whenever she felt like eating. Youngsters who are working night shifts and students learning late in the night are more prone to overeating. I have seen shops, particularly biryani shops, pizza or other such kinds of food being very busy, even after midnight, delivering online orders!
Let us be mindful of eating, and overeating! That is being aware of what and when I am eating and whether that is for nurturing my body or just for taste(sensation) alone I am eating? That is the only suggestion to avoid overeating!
- Sleep Deprivation – Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long-term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.
There are many reasons for people not getting enough quality sleep like working the night shift, meeting the target results, using electronic devices during bedtime, taking care of someone who is not well etc. We get addicted to the usage of social media and that steals most of our sleep time! Have you noticed this? We are advising the youngsters not to get addicted to social media but, if we see closely, irrespective of age almost all are sailing in the same boat!
The right amount of sleep varies from person to person. But, a rough guideline is minimum 7 hours of sleep may be required. Not only the quantity of sleep, the quality of sleep also matters. You can try a few things to get a quality sleep: 1. Set a routine of going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, including weekends, 2. Have dinner 2 to 3 hours before bedtime, 3. Stop using electronic devices and keep them away from the sleep area, 4. Keep the bedroom quiet, dark and cool and 5. Of course, do your regular exercise during the day.
- High Sugar Consumption – Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.
Not only sweets contain sugar. The cool drinks, preserved and caned food items, the coffee/ tea that we are consuming, etc are also high sources of sugar. We should be aware of hidden sugar in our day to day intake and try to avoid such items.
- Air Pollution – The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency.
So, to the maximum possible be away from the pollution-prone area or take some precautionary steps if you happen to be in a polluted environment and please do contribute to providing an unpolluted and resourceful environment to our next generation. Ref: https://pavaiarun.blogspot.com/2024/05/let-us-provide-resourceful-and.html
- Head covered while sleeping – Sleeping with the head covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decreases the concentration of oxygen which may lead to brain-damaging effects.
Be mindful while going to sleep!
- Working your brain during illness – Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in the effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain.
So, if you are feeling sick, you may please delegate the work that you have to complete or get due permission to extend the target date. Do not have the preconditioning that you have to complete the work even if you are ill and you only can do that!
- Lacking in stimulating thoughts – Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.
When was the last time you learnt something new? Make it a habit to learn something new. Yes, put a shark in your tank and let it drive you to learn new things stimulating your brain. Ref: https://pavaiarun.blogspot.com/2024/04/jack-of-all-and-master-of-none-is-this.html
- Talking Rarely – Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain.
- Smoking – It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.
You may please say ‘NO’ to smoking and do not get influenced by your peers.
- Consumption of alcohol – Alcohol has a toxic effect on the nervous system and can cause significant brain impairment.
We have got influenced by western culture which glorifies alcohol. Alcohol is a bare minimum requiement there because of the climatic conditions. Our younger generation has to understand this and be away from alcohol. Peer pressure is one of the major reasons for getting into such habits of smoking and drinking alcohol. You can give a strong NO to your friends without any guilt. You have to do anything and everything for your friends, I accept, but not these (A separate blog is needed for this!).
You can understand the impact of these habits on your brain health, not only brain health, it’s impact can be seen on almost every aspect of our physical health too. If the brain gets damaged then it means the complete body system is affected, right? Let us be mindful!
