Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Brain Damaging Habits??

Ever since I have been playing 'Who has the Biggest Brain' on FB, I have been wondering why my memory has not been as good as it used to be. A couple of friends told me that it is due to age. I don't buy it so I went googling over the internet in search for answers. So here is what I found out from this health wiki website.

  1. No breakfast. People who don't have breakfast have lower blood sugar level. This leads to insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain and that could cause brain degeneration. I used to skip breakfast as I don't normally feel hungry in the morning. However, I did notice that my mind was a bit sluggish up until before lunch even though I feel fine physically. Now I make a point to have breakfast in the morning.
  2. Overeating. It causes hardening of the brain arteries and this could lead to decrease of mental power. No wonder I feel a bit slow and spaced out after a very huge meal. I haven't been having many binging sessions lately as I am more conscious about my weight so that explains why my scores have been improving lately. Must remind myself to NOT overeat at all!!
  3. Smoking. It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer's disease. Since I don't smoke at all, I should not have to worry. But I do wonder whether secondary smoking does affect my brain too? Hmmm ..
  4. High sugar consumption. Too much sugar will interrupt the absorptions of protein and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development. I used to love sweet things (food and drinks) but since I found out that my family has a history of diabetes, I have been reducing my sugar intake.
  5. Air pollution. The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain thus decreasing the efficiency of the brain. Now I know why 'fellow co-workers' tend to do well when they are based in Europe and also in Japan. :-)
  6. Sleep deprivation. Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation of sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells. No more late night Sudoku, Scrabulous and blogging for me.
  7. Head covered while sleeping. Sleeping with the head covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decreases the concentration of oxygen to the brain. This could lead to possible brain damaging effects. I don't normally do such thing because I prefer not to inhale my own fart during the night. I am quite sure I do not have any control over such things when I am fast asleep. :-)
  8. Working your brain during illness. Working hard or studying during illness may lead to decrease in effectiveness of the brain as could also damage the brain. Hmm .. I should heed to this advice more often but my conscience always get the better of me.
  9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts. Thinking is the best way to train our brain. Therefore, lacking in brain stimulation may cause brain shrinkage. I suppose playing Sudoku, Scrabulous and 'Who has the biggest brain' on a daily basis might stimulate my brain.
  10. Talking rarely. Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain. I think talking too much over non intellectual matters could also lead to decrease in brain efficiency. I am saying this based on experience. :-)

Just going through the list made me think that I am actually 'positive' on 5 out of 10 items listed above. Pity my brain ... I have not been taking good care of it. Now a healthy body can definitely lead to a healthy mind. I just need to pay more attention to my soul / spirit now. Totally abandon it for a very long time. Schade!

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