CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT BRAIN HEALTH TOO…?

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit-Aristotle

Neurons or nerves or neurocytes have different names but the same thing. We have studied the structure, function, electrical conduction etc., of a neuron but do we really study the application part? Mostly no or very little. We may claim to have the knowledge of everything concerning neurons, the brain or how their activities are executed but we sometimes lack knowledge of its proper functioning in our brain. Through my blogs, I will try to communicate the application part of Fundamental neuroscience.

Our brain took millions of years to evolve in the best form it could. We possess the most sophisticated brain in the history of evolution and modern life we are living is also because of this most amazing organ of our body. Neurons are considered to be the building blocks of the nervous system. So how do we take care of our neurons or in a holistic manner our brain? We are so busy in our lives and we have plenty of time to damage our brain cells but we have limited time to take care of the most important part of our body ‘OUR BRAIN.’ In this blog, I am talking about BRAIN Health and not mental health. I am not denying the fact that mental health isn’t important or both are not interrelated. They are of course intricately related to each other but here I am just emphasizing the point that due to our lifestyle there are a number of instances that are damaging our brain which in turn leads to some of the other mental health issues like depression, anxiety etc., and these need to be avoided. Why? Come on, don’t you have those retiring plans or just a dream to travel the whole world or dreams of living on Mars or at least leading a healthy life with your family? If you do then you need to possess a healthy functioning brain to actually make most of this life. Day-to-day activities that we do have both positive and negative effects on our brain. The daily habits that are most damaging to our brains from the time we wake up are the following:-

• SLEEP DEPRIVATION OR OVERSLEEPING: If you aspire to kill your brain cells then you must sleep less. Proper sleep is key to a healthy brain. Sleep is something that varies from individual to individual. But research suggests that sleeping more than 10 or less than 6 hours damages our brain cells.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Taking 7–8 hours of sleep and sleeping or waking up at the same time every day helps our brain. Even a power nap in the afternoon refreshes brain cells.

• HITTING ON CAFFEINE RIGHT AFTER WAKING UP: One lifestyle mistake which we make every day after waking up is craving for coffee or tea, which is really damaging to our brain and body. After a gap of 8–10 hours, our body is already dehydrated and it needs water the first thing in the morning but what we do is dehydrate more by coffee or tea.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Drinking water before consuming caffeine the first thing in the morning hydrates our body and brain and helps for its proper functioning throughout the day.

• DRINKING LESS OR MORE WATER: Drink 8 glasses of water! We must have heard this. But do we do it? And soft drinks don’t qualify to be water as it’s loaded with artificial sweeteners and it’s damaging to our body as well as the brain. Again a plain glass of water works the best.

WHAT CAN WE DO? An optimum amount of water is 8–10 glasses recommended by doctors but it varies from person to person and seasons.

• LESS OR OVER EXERCISING: Okay sorry to disappoint gym enthusiasts but open space and early morning exercise is best for our brain. Because the oxygen level is high in the morning and it is really nourishing for our brains. It also keeps our brain active throughout the day. At the same time, over-exercising damages our brain too because, in the long run, it affects our brain adversely. This may be a reason why bodybuilders have comparatively lower IQs.

WHAT CAN WE DO? A simple 10 mins walk or taking stairs instead of a lift works best on busy days but half an hour of exercise is best on normal days.

• NO MENTAL EXERCISE: The mental exercise here does not mean playing those stupid games that claim that we use only 10% of our brain and by playing it claims to increase brain power. There are some good games but too much technology is also not good for our brain. Reading a book, solving a puzzle or crossword or just doing simple Maths instead of using a calculator on the phone helps our nerve cells in a better way. Research suggests that mental exercises form new neural connections and also help in the production of new nerve cells in the brain.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Engaging in a mentally stimulating activity not only forms neural connections but also is helpful in having a cognitive reserve in our brain which is useful for older adults. Learning something new is also helpful.

• SKIPPING OR EATING UNHEALTHY BREAKFAST: In today’s fast-paced life we usually skip the first most important meal of the day. The brain needs nourishment from the food we eat but regular skipping devoid the brain from much-needed nourishment it must have after long hours of sleep. But eating breakfast does not mean eating junk or too oily food or eating packaged food that is equally damaging to our brain too.

WHAT CAN WE DO? A healthy breakfast with proteins and fibres or even a milkshake works, on busy days instead of skipping it totally.

• TOO MUCH TECHNOLOGY: Life without technology is impossible these days but too much use of technology is equally harmful to us. Blame the pandemic but we cannot deny the fact that our work has become more on computers or laptops these days but taking regular small breaks will help our brains to get rid of the monotonous work. At the same time taking a break from smartphones seems impossible but too much of its use is damaging to our brain development and affects our cognitive functions in the long run.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Avoiding it at the first hour in the morning and before going to bed is helpful. Besides this muting, all the notifications are also a better idea to keep our brain with constant distractions.

• MULTITASKING OR SITTING IDLE: Sitting idle is not a possibility in our generation. By this, I mean idle in an unproductive way. We are glued the whole day on cell phones or laptops for entertainment which is really bad for our brains as it affects our attention and hinders brain development. At the same time, multitasking is damaging too as we are overburdening our brain to do a lot of tasks at the same time which may lead to cognitive load. The most common ones are having food, with the TV on, talking to family members and checking the notifications on our phones.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Saving time doing multitasking is not a good idea but doing things one at a time should be practised. Being glued to our phones must be avoided for our better brain health. We must learn to take technology breaks once a week or month.

• LIVING IN ISOLATION OR OVER SOCIALIZING: These days we choose either of them but don’t have a mix of these which is damaging to our brain. Living in isolation means people who are into gaming, or glued to social media or stick to watch all the movies on OTT apps instead of socializing with real friends is damaging to our brain as we live in a virtual world. Also, the content we watch or violent games we play damages our brain permanently. But at the same time over socializing is bad for us too as our brain needs rest to recover with a lot of energy spent.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Socialization should be done at an optimum level; the two extremes are always damaging to our brain. Also, we should be careful about the content we watch.

• EATING JUNK OR UNHEALTHY HABITS: You must have heard that eating junk is damaging to our body and makes us obese but it is damaging to our brain as well. Junk food usually has less nutrition and consists of bad fat that is not good for our brain. Smoking or drinking is also very bad for our brain and it affects our cognitive functions too.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Okay, I’m not saying that we all should become a saint but too much junk or unhealthy habits should be avoided.

• TAKING A LOT OF STRESS: Being anxious all the time or taking too much stress makes our brain release more stress hormones like cortisol which in turn takes the form of headaches, irritable mood or depression in the long run. We must learn to relax so that our brain cells also do not have to do a lot of work every time.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Doing a mindful exercise for 10 mins helps us to deal with it. We must learn to relax instead of taking too much stress.

• DOING YOUR DAILY CHORES: Always dependent on others to do your daily chores is not so good. Doing your work and finishing even the small daily works makes you feel accomplished and helps in releasing dopamine in the brain which helps in uplifting your mood.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Decluttering or organizing the workspace and bedroom is best for our brain to avoid distractions and for better attention.

• NOT PLANNING THE NEXT DAY OR NO GOALS IN LIFE: We have time management problems only when we are not planning our day well in advance. Planning makes our brain organized and it alerts us to manage our time well. Living an aimless life is damaging for our brain too as there will be no motivation to achieve anything in future and our brain may also start procrastinating the day to day works.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Simply planning our activities for the next day before sleep makes our brain follow and complete it in a better way. Also, a long term goal as simple as travelling can make our brain to do work productively.

• BAD SITTING OR SLEEPING POSTURE: 90% of the stimulation and nutrition to the brain is generated by the movement of the spine- Roger Sperry. The bad posture of our sleeping or sitting also affects the brain functions that go upwards from the spinal cord and makes us more productive. Young people with poor posture actually turn into sicker adults.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Like how unconsciously we trained our brain to have a bad posture likewise training ourselves to have a better posture every day will slowly make us get over this mistake.

• TECHNOLOGY BEFORE SLEEP: We sleep and wake up with phones irrespective of reading all those forward messages about how these electromagnetic radiations cause brain tumours. These days we sleep only after we finish all the notifications of our social media or the happenings in the world which is not good at our last hours before sleep as it inhibits the production of melatonin hormone and also makes our brain to be alert. And also the posture we look at phones also affects our brain.

WHAT CAN WE DO? Starting to read a book before sleep will avoid our temptation to look at phones and make us sleep better as well.

We need our brain to do everything we want from simple things like waking up and standing and daily chores to all the complex activities of studying, running, dancing, problem-solving and decision making which requires coordination of brain and body. We burden our brain with a lot of daily life mistakes but we can undo all these by just taking care of them and avoiding it. Brain and body are intricately connected to each other. That’s the reason if we are suffering from some diseases it’s easily shown in our body and vice-versa. These lifestyle changes can’t be done within a day but over a period of time training our brain will make us get rid of them.