I’m a neurologist and here’s the 7 common habits that are ruining your brain

THE health of our brain is vital for everything we do in life. 

From our productivity and thoughts, to memory and our coordination skills, the brain really does rule the roost.

Our lifestyle plays a huge role in how our brain functions and there are several day-to-day habits that many of us have that can lead to a negative impact on our brain. 

The states that dementia - a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life - is currently the seventh leading cause of death among all diseases. 

Plus it’s one of the major causes of disability and dependency among older people globally. 

Alzheimer’s disease is a specific brain disease that accounts for 60 to 80 per cent of dementia cases.

The WHO also adds that although dementia mainly affects older people, it’s not an inevitable consequence of ageing. 

So, the way we live our lives day to day DOES impact our risk of dementia. 

Hana Burianová is a Professor of Neuroscience working with supplement and wellbeing brand.

Hana explains that all of the below habits decrease neural plasticity and increase our likelihood of dementia. 

Neural plasticity is the production of new neurons and the creation of new connections between them.

“It helps us prevent dementia and neural inflammation and supports our cognitive and emotional functions as we age,” says Hana.

Meanwhile, regular exercise, sleep, a good diet, lack of stress, plenty of mental activity and supportive social circles lower the risk of dementia. 

Fallen victim to any of the below habits? It’s time to make some simple lifestyle changes, to protect your brain and help it thrive…

1. Being too sedentary 

“This leads to poor circulation and poor oxygenation, dysregulation of hormones and neurotransmitters, faster ageing and predisposition to dementia,” says Hana. 

Prone to sitting down for too long? 

“Ideally, we should be standing up every half an hour, but it depends on how long one stands for. It should be at least 15 minutes per hour,” says Hana.

When it comes to exercise, Hana says that ideally, we need at least 30 minutes of light to moderate exercise per day or at least 15 minutes of high intensity exercise per day.

2. Too little sleep 

If you’re getting irregular and insufficient sleep, Hana explains this will have a negative impact on neural plasticity, plus it will worsen concentration and memory.

Ideally, we should all be looking to get seven to nine hours per night as well as aiming to go to sleep at the same time every day.

Hana also adds that just one bad night’s sleep can have an impact on our brain health. 

“It will already cause dysregulation of neurochemicals; if this becomes a regular pattern, there will be a chronic issue impacting our brain, however it is difficult to say exactly how long, as individual compensatory mechanisms take different times.”

Unfortunately, catching up on sleep on the weekends isn’t advised.

“The brain works on a 24-hour circadian rhythm, which should be consistent, regardless of whether it’s a working day or a Saturday/Sunday. Changing the balance of light and darkness leads to dysregulation of melatonin and cortisol.”

Melatonin is our sleep hormone and cortisol is our stress hormone, which drives us to wake up. 

We need melatonin in the evening and cortisol in the morning, to help with our sleep and wake cycle. 

Think you’re getting enough sleep? Turns out, there is such a thing as too much.

“There is some (but limited) evidence that too much sleep might lead to cognitive decline, possibly due to dysregulation of the hormones melatonin and serotonin,” says Hana.

3. Chronic stress

“This leads to dysregulation of hormones and neurotransmitters, faster ageing and the decline of neurocognitive functions - which includes poor concentration, memory, and emotion regulation - predisposition to dementia and neural inflammation,” explains Hana.

If you feel you might be dealing with consistently high stress levels, it’s important to take urgent steps to try and reduce this stress.

Devote time away from work or other stressful scenarios every day, prioritise sleep and find an exercise or activity that allows your mind to fully rest and zone out.

4. Poor diet

The food you eat does have an impact on the health of your brain. 

“A poor diet leads to inflammation of the gut, which negatively impacts the brain, as they’re directly connected, and this leads to neural inflammation,” says Hana. 

She adds that a poor diet is classed as one that’s filled with pre-processed, low fibre and high fat foods as well as foods with too much sugar and salt. 

Overeating and undereating can also cause problems. 

Hana explains that the gut and brain are connected through a nerve called the vagus nerve, so when our gut is unhappy, our brain may be unhappy too.

Enjoy a mediterranean diet filled with high fibre foods, fruits, vegetables, fish oils and olive oil. 

Plus probiotics, which help to keep our gut happy. A probiotic supplement can help, as can probiotic foods such as yoghurt and fermented foods.

5. Lack of socialising 

“Lonely people have a twice higher chance of dementia due to inertia and a lack of communication with people,” says Hana.

“Weak and unsupportive social contacts also lead to depression, anxiety and chronic stress, which have a negative impact on the brain.”

Although feelings of loneliness and the general absence of socialising can both cause problems for the health of our brain, it is the feeling of loneliness that might be worse in that it causes anxiety and/or depression.

“This has a further negative impact on one’s well-being; the absence of socialising is problematic for neural plasticity which slows down if there are no new stimuli and we don’t interact with other humans/animals,” says Hana. 

Although it does vary, Hana says that communicating and socialising should be done daily where possible.

6. Long-term multitasking 

Constantly juggling several things at once?

“This causes a fragmented mind and shallow thinking, poor concentration and memory, fatigue, anxiety and stress, all of which lead to poor brain processing,” says Hana.

Make a list, and try to work through your daily jobs one by one. Need help? Ask! Sometimes, delegating tasks can help ease the burden.

7. Mental stagnation 

If you’re not using your brain, it can lead to a decline in cognitive abilities.

Hana says it can also cause weakening of brain connectivity, faster ageing and a greater chance of dementia. 

To keep your mind active, try some mentally stimulating activities. 

“Anything that is challenging, new, and needs our concentration such as puzzles, crosswords, cooking without a recipe, coming home via a new route, learning a new language, taking courses and even learning to play an instrument,” says Hana.