People obsess over looking younger, but what about staying sharp?<\/p>\n
For many, the brain isn\u2019t a priority until something goes wrong. But by then, you may have missed the chance to get ahead of the problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically every single thing that we\u2019re doing now is shaping our brain health down the road,\u201d Dr. Randy D\u2019Amico<\/a>, director of the Brain and Spine Metastasis Program<\/a> of Neurosurgery at Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital, told The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n Everyday choices you\u2019re making might be taking a toll on your long-term brain health. Warawan \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n After all, genetics play a role, but they aren\u2019t the whole story. Unlike your DNA, many of the factors that shape your cognitive health are within your control.<\/p>\n \u201cThe habits you build now are an investment in who you\u2019re going to be in the future,\u201d D\u2019Amico said.\u00a0<\/p>\n These are the seven everyday habits quietly damaging your brain and what you can do about them.<\/p>\n 1. Sitting too much<\/p>\n Your brain doesn\u2019t love being a couch potato.<\/p>\n In fact, physical inactivity can take a toll on your vascular health, the condition of your blood vessels, which can have an impact upstairs<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you have to be a big athlete, but you just have to move,\u201d D\u2019Amico said.<\/p>\n A sedentary lifestyle significantly increases the risk of cognitive decline. Tracy King \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n The American Heart Association recommends<\/a> 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week for adults to maintain good health. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the number you want to try to get to,\u201d D\u2019Amico said. \u201cYour brain expects your body to move.\u201d<\/p>\n 2. Treating sleep like it doesn\u2019t matter<\/p>\n Skimping on shut-eye isn\u2019t just a recipe for a groggy morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you treat sleep<\/a> like it\u2019s not important, you\u2019re doing your brain a disservice,\u201d D\u2019Amico said.<\/p>\n Regularly getting too little or poor-quality sleep can hurt attention, memory and mood. It can also take a toll on metabolic and vascular health.<\/p>\n The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends<\/a> that adults get at least seven hours of sleep a night, although the ideal amount varies from person to person.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone is a little bit different; you have to get the amount of sleep that works for you,\u201d D\u2019Amico said. \u201cBut it\u2019s important to be regular about it.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s because your brain doesn\u2019t simply power down when you hit the hay. Instead, it\u2019s busy doing important maintenance<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is when you consolidate education, learning and memories<\/a>,\u201d D\u2019Amico said. \u201cIt\u2019s actually critical for just maintaining brain health to incorporate sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. Living on ultraprocessed foods<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just one type of food that\u2019s a bad thing; it\u2019s dietary patterns,\u201d D\u2019Amico said.<\/p>\n A diet heavy in refined and ultraprocessed foods<\/a> \u2014 and light on vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, healthy fats and quality protein \u2014 can affect your weight, cholesterol, glucose levels and blood pressure.<\/p>\n And all of those factors matter to the brain.<\/p>\n Dr. Randy D\u2019Amico is the director of the Brain and Spine Metastasis Program of Neurosurgery at Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital. Randy D’Amico \/ Facebook<\/p>\n \u201cCerebrovascular health and cognitive health are critical together, so if you\u2019re not paying attention to nutrition, you\u2019re ignoring one of the major determinants of long-term brain health,\u201d D\u2019Amico said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the best way to think about it is that what\u2019s good for your arteries is good for your brain, so cardiovascular health is brain health. You want to limit ultraprocessed food.\u201d<\/p>\n 4. Ignoring your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels<\/p>\n \u201cIf you want to preserve your brain, you have to pay attention to these numbers,\u201d D\u2019Amico said.<\/p>\n High blood pressure<\/a>, high cholesterol<\/a> and diabetes can damage blood vessels, including those that supply the brain with oxygen and essential nutrients.<\/p>\n The trouble, D\u2019Amico explained, is that these warning signs are often overlooked.<\/p>\n \u201cYou feel fine, so people ignore it, but these processes can be developing silently for years before you ever notice symptoms \u2014 and doing that can have significant long-term consequences,\u201d he said. \u201cWe see this every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n 5. Living in a constant state of distraction<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a big one and should resonate with kids and adults alike,\u201d D\u2019Amico said.<\/p>\n Between smartphones<\/a>, nonstop notifications, social media and an endless stream of content, modern life can easily fracture our attention.<\/p>\n The fallout goes beyond simply feeling distracted. Constant stimulation can interfere with sleep while crowding out activities that challenge and strengthen the mind. Over time, that can take a toll on our ability to focus and think clearly.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a problem D\u2019Amico worries about in his own children \u2014 and admits he struggles with himself.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re all guilty of doomscrolling, and there are moments in our life where we can\u2019t stop,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if you never challenge yourself to sustain attention for a period of time, you can\u2019t really be surprised if you can\u2019t maintain attention.\u201d<\/p>\n Over time, constant multitasking can overload the brain, draining mental energy and harming cognitive performance. Cultura Creative \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n D\u2019Amico\u2019s solution? Build some boredom back into your life<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI read every night now. I go home, turn off everything, lay on my couch and I just read, quietly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard for me \u2014 and I\u2019m a neurosurgeon. I read for so many years to learn everything. And I still find it really difficult to just focus on that because my brain always wants to go to something else.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s a lesson he\u2019s also trying to teach his kids. <\/p>\n \u201cYou have to teach yourself to tolerate boredom again,\u201d D\u2019Amico said. \u201cYou don\u2019t need to fill every empty moment with stimulation.\u201d<\/p>\n 6. Letting your social world shrink<\/p>\n Humans are social creatures, but as people spend more time behind screens and less time interacting face-to-face, meaningful social connection<\/a> can fall by the wayside.<\/p>\n \u201cSocial isolation has been identified as a modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline for dementia,\u201d D\u2019Amico said.<\/p>\n Scientists don\u2019t fully understand all the mechanisms behind the connection, but meaningful social interaction forces the brain to work \u2014 engaging attention, language, memory, emotional processing and the ability to respond to another person.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not the same as having 20,000 social media followers. That\u2019s not social engagement,\u201d D\u2019Amico said. \u201cYour brain has evolved to interact with actual human beings, with other brains, to kind of have this back-and-forth.\u201d<\/p>\n 7. Using substances to regulate how you feel<\/p>\n \u201cIf you think you need nicotine<\/a> to concentrate or alcohol<\/a> to relax or fall asleep, that\u2019s worth examining,\u201d D\u2019Amico said.<\/p>\n Tobacco exposure is harmful to vascular and brain health, while heavier alcohol consumption has been linked to neurological and cognitive harm.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s another issue, D\u2019Amico noted. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen a substance becomes your automatic response to stress, fatigue, boredom or sleep, you\u2019re building dependence into your daily routine,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n \u201cThe goal should be to develop ways of regulating those states that don\u2019t require a substance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People obsess over looking younger, but what about staying sharp? For many, the brain isn\u2019t a priority until…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":923671,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[3374,65342,49,48,282,408,84,392,9078,138660,409,10747,31589],"class_list":["post-923670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-alcohol","tag-brains","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-exclusive","tag-exercise","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-neuroscience","tag-northwell-health","tag-sleep","tag-tobacco","tag-ultra-processed-foods"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/923671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}