Bad Habits That May Be Damaging Your Brain and Memory Every Day

Living a healthy lifestyle helps to improve an individual both mentally and physically, and the risks of too many bad lifestyle habits are well documented. From gaining weight to being susceptible to illness and disease, there are countless reasons to drop bad habits from our lives for physical and mental well-being.

Many overlook the dangers that bad routine habits can cause to our brains. There are many worrying side effects that an unhealthy lifestyle can cause to mental health, particularly with memory. The importance of a fully functioning memory is rather obvious, which is why doing what you can to ensure it remains at its best for as long as possible couldn’t be more advisable.

The best place to start? Dropping those bad habits that hurt and slow down your brain function.

Stress

There are few people in life, if any at all, that have never suffered from stress. It is part and parcel of modern life. We get stressed thinking about the future, work, relationships, personal health, finances, or even insignificant events in the day like getting caught in traffic or missing the bus.

While moderate amounts of stress won’t damage the brain, consistently suffering from high levels of stress can wreak havoc on our long-term mental well-being.

For example, one of the ways the brain reacts to stress is by releasing a stress hormone known as cortisol. Once the stress subsides, the brain reacts by releasing calming chemicals that counteract the effects of cortisol.

However, those suffering from constant stress continue to have high levels of cortisol in the brain, which can cause some significant damage. For instance, one test conducted on adults with high cortisol levels showed they performed poorer in memory tests compared to those with normal levels.

Likewise, long-term chronic stress is linked to the deterioration of the neurons of the hippocampus – the brains memory center.

Smoking

The dangers of smoking cigarettes are well-known – almost everyone knows the damage it can cause to the heart, lungs, throat and mouth, with health risks ranging from heart attacks to lung cancer.

However, not everyone is fully aware of just how dangerous smoking can be for the brain and memory.

The damage caused is linked to the lack of oxygen the brain receives in people who smoke regularly. Smoking restricts the flow of blood and oxygen, and when done frequently, the damage to the brain can accumulate, leading to memory issues later in life.

For instance, one study conducted on 5,000 males over a ten-year period highlighted cognitive decline in general, whether they smoked, were non-smokers, or had previously quit smoking. What was noted in addition to this however, was that the cognitive decline was much faster for regular smokers compared to non-smokers.

The good news was that this cognitive decline can be slowed down to a much healthier rate when the individual stops smoking. Just another big reason to quick the cigarettes!

Excessive Alcohol

There is nothing wrong with enjoying a few drinks now and then to unwind. Many people continue to do this and will normally suffer no damage to the brain or memory, but those who consume far too much alcohol aren’t as lucky.

This shouldn’t come as too much of a shock when you consider how easy it is to forget things after just a few drinks – imagine what the long-term damage can do! The reason for this is the fact that your brain’s ability to process is impaired by alcohol, and when too much is consumed, the brain can even ‘forget’ to record memories into the memory store of the brain. Continue to drink excessively over a longer period and your brain will suffer extensive damage.

Alcohol causes so much chaos to the chemical balances in your brain that it can result in a fair amount of damage – the brain needs the right chemical balances and processes to function healthily.

This occurs because the liver can struggle to break down too much alcohol, causing it to spread to other parts of the body such as the brain. When here, it affects many areas besides just the memory, and over time the chemical imbalances caused by it can become far more serious, causing lasting damage to the brain with side effects such as slurred speech, drowsiness, and memory lapses.

Furthermore, excessive drinking is linked to anxiety and stress, which in their own right cause damage to the brain and memory!