6 Brain Health Mistakes You're Probably Making

You know how it is.

You're juggling work, family, and social obligations; before you know it, another year has passed.

And while you may have been taking care of everyone else, have you taken care of yourself?

Your brain health that is.

Like the rest of your body, your brain needs some TLC to stay in tip-top shape.

Although genetics and family history play a significant role in cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease, research suggests there are lifestyle choices you can make to help keep your mind sharp well into your golden years.

To help you maintain a healthy brain, we share the five most common mistakes people make that put their cognitive health in danger.

Avoid these missteps to give your noggin the nutrients it needs for a lifetime!

 

Mistake #1 Not Getting Enough Sleep

Whether it's because of work, a health condition, or a personal crisis, more and more people are finding it harder to enjoy a restful sleep.

In the past, we associate lack of sleep with productivity or success.

But that's not the case.

Not getting enough sleep can negatively impact productivity, decision-making, and creativity.

It can also lead to weight gain, increased risk of chronic diseases, and decreased life expectancy.

On top of that, not getting enough sleep can have several negative consequences on your brain health, including:

• Increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia
• Poorer performance on cognitive tests
• Impaired judgment and decision-making
• Increased anxiety and depression

A study from Michigan State University demonstrated how just one night of sleep deprivation could lead to brain structure and function changes.

They split the participants into two groups.

Group A stayed awake all night in the lab, while Group B went home and slept for eight hours.

The following day, both groups took part in a battery of tests that measured their attention, working memory, and executive function.

The researchers found that the group who had stayed up all night performed significantly worse on the tests than the group who had slept.

Kimberly Fenn, the study's author, said:

"Our research showed that sleep deprivation doubles the odds of making placekeeping errors and triples the number of lapses in attention, which is startling."

"Sleep-deprived individuals need to exercise caution in absolutely everything that they do and simply can't trust that they won't make costly errors. Oftentimes – like when behind the wheel of a car – these errors can have tragic consequences."

As you can see, sleep is essential for brain health, allowing the brain to rest and repair itself.

To improve your brain health, get at least 7-8 hours of sleep each night.

Better yet, soak up some sun during the day!

Not only will you get a little Vitamin D, but exposure to sunlight also helps regulate your body's natural sleep-wake cycle.

And if your place doesn't get enough sunlight, try using a light therapy lamp for 30 minutes daily.

 

Mistake #2 Eating an Unhealthy Diet

As an old saying goes, "You are what you eat."

Eating processed foods, refined sugars, and unhealthy fats can damage the brain and lead to cognitive decline.

These foods can change someone's brain, especially if that person is between 10 and 19.

Study author Amy Reichelt of Canada's Western University London explains how an unhealthy diet impairs brain function.

In a series of experiments, her team fed a group of mice a diet in which most calories came from fat.

That number is equivalent to eating cheeseburgers and ice cream daily.

These mice not only gained weight, but they were also forgetful.

Another experiment found that rats fed a high-fat diet were less likely to explore new things.

What do these findings mean to your daily life?

Well, consider having reduced brain function.

What if you need help remembering where you put your keys or how to get to your favorite restaurant?

Worse, what if you suddenly forget your laptop's passcode and can't access your work?

Or how about when you're trying to learn a new hobby?

It can be enormously frustrating to be unable to focus or have difficulty excelling at what you love.

You may not experience these effects to such an extreme, but an unhealthy diet will impair your brain function in some way.

Conversely, foods rich in antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamins can help protect the brain and improve cognitive function.

To improve your brain health, follow a healthy diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats.

 

Mistake #3 Not Getting Regular Exercise

Exercise will not only make you slimmer and fitter but could also make you smarter!

According to the CDC, "Regular physical activity can also reduce your risk of cognitive decline, including dementia. One study found that cognitive decline is almost twice as common among adults who are inactive compared to those who are active."

Moreover, Heidi Goldman, Executive Editor of Harvard Health Letter, explained how exercise affects the brain.

Goldman suggests that exercise leads to better memory and thinking, both directly and indirectly.

She noted that exercise not only reduces insulin resistance and inflammation but also stimulates the release of growth factors.

Growth factors are chemicals that regulate brain cell health, the growth of new blood vessels, and the survival rate of new brain cells.

In other words, with less exercise, your brain will stop growing and improving -- leading to memory decline, decreased thinking ability, and, eventually, dementia.

Goldman added that exercise indirectly affects brain health by improving mood and sleep quality while reducing stress.

So how is this information relevant to you?

Well, consider this: if you don't get enough exercise, your brain health will suffer.

Remembering your friend's birthday, doing your job well, or sprucing up your sales presentation will feel like swimming upstream.

Solving day-to-day problems seems impossible, and your quality of life plummets.

Even worse, if you don't get regular exercise, your risk of developing dementia skyrockets.

So how much exercise do you need?

The CDC suggests that most adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week.

You can break it down into 30 minutes a day, five days a week -- or even just 10 minutes 3 times a day.

It is crucial to find an exercise routine that works for you and stick with it.

Your brain will thank you for it!

 

Mistake #4 Not Challenging Your Brain

Mental stimulation is vital for brain health, as it helps to keep the mind active and prevents age-related cognitive decline.

You can challenge your brain in many ways, including reading books, doing puzzles, and learning new skills.

Even meditation, a low-level activity, has been shown to improve brain function.

At first, these activities may sound like child's play.

But keep in mind that it's the level of difficulty that counts, not the activity itself.

According to Denise Park, Ph.D., professor and director of research at the Center for Vital Longevity in the School of Behavioral Sciences at the University of Texas in Dallas, it's necessary to stimulate your mind with learning activities so that you're constantly progressing.

Park's team conducted a study in which a group of seniors from 60 to 90 years old learned digital photography and quilting.

Dr. Park's team chose these activities because they needed complex planning and learning to complete them.

The researchers conducted the test for 15 hours a week over three months.

The results showed that those who participated in the study significantly improved their memory.

"It's important to have the optimal amount of challenge to maintain a healthy mind," says Park.

"If there's too much, you will get stressed out, which can damage the cognitive system. But if there's too little, there may not be any gain. Adding novel behaviors that you never performed before helps build new neural circuits that will be built to handle that challenge."

In other words, if you want to keep your mind sharp, find neither easy nor too difficult activities.

And it's important to keep challenging your brain throughout your life, as cognitive decline can start as early as age 45.

So the sooner you start, the better.

 

Mistake #5 Overexposing Yourself To Blue Light Late At Night

A common mistake is exposing themselves to light late at night from screens such as phones, laptops, and TVs.

Blue light exposure late at night can disrupt the body's natural sleep cycle and lead to sleep deprivation.

How is this possible?

You need to understand how your body's natural sleep cycle works.

There are two types of sleep: REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM (non-REM).

NREM sleep has three stages: N1, N2, and N3.

N1 is the lightest stage of sleep, N2 is the deeper stage of sleep, and N3 is the deepest stage of sleep.

REM sleep is when you dream and your brain is more active.

The average person cycles through all four stages of sleep several times a night.

Blue light exposure from your smartphone or tablet can disrupt the natural sleep cycle by delaying the onset of REM sleep.

REM sleep is crucial because it helps the brain consolidate memories and process information.

It's like restarting your computer after you turn it off for a while.

It will only work as efficiently if you let it go through its complete start-up cycle.

The same goes for your brain.

If you don't get enough REM sleep, you'll feel groggy and disoriented the next day.

It may also be difficult for you to focus and learn new information.

Additionally, blue light exposure causes the brain to stop producing melatonin, the hormone that makes you sleepy.

But melatonin has many other functions in addition to making you sleep.

This hormone is also responsible for resetting your internal body clock, or circadian rhythm.

Your circadian rhythm tells your body when it's time to sleep and wake up.

Exposure to blue light at night can interrupt your circadian rhythm and make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Melatonin also stops you from rummaging through your fridge in the middle of the night.

Melatonin does this by acting directly on the region of the brain called the hypothalamus that controls hunger.

If you don't get enough sleep, you're more likely to seek out high-calorie foods the next day.

Melatonin is also responsible for increasing the amount of brown adipose tissue in your body, which helps you burn belly fat.

So not only will blue light exposure at night make it harder for you to sleep, but it will also make you more likely to eat junk food and store fat.

You can avoid these negative consequences by reducing your exposure to blue light before bed for at least an hour.

 

Mistake #6 Not Getting Enough Protection From EMF Radiation

This is the most serious mistake because it can have severe implications for your health.

To realize how crucial this mistake is, you first need to understand what EMF radiation is and how it can affect the brain.

EMF is electromagnetic radiation from wireless devices such as cell phones, laptops, and tablets.

You can call it "invisible pollution" because although you can’t see, touch, or feel it, the damage it can cause to your central nervous system can be catastrophic.

No wonder the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified EMF from mobile phones as “possibly carcinogenic” based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer.

While the jury is still out on the exact mechanism by which EMF radiation causes these health problems, a growing body of evidence suggests that it has an effect.

For example, more than 250 scientists have signed the International EMF Scientist Appeal, which calls for health warnings and stronger exposure limits.

There's also Dr. Devra Davis, a former Clinton administration health and disease prevention adviser, who has spent the past two decades investigating the health effects of EMF radiation.

In her book Disconnect, she writes: "The evidence is now indisputable: cell phones cause brain tumors and brain cancer. The U.S. government's studies confirm it."

According to Dr. Davis, cell phone radiation exposure before birth can damage the brain and memory and cause behavioral issues in both animals and young children.

She further explained that children are more vulnerable to radiation because they have thinner skulls.

Additionally, their tissues, brains, nervous systems, and eyes are still developing and thus contain more fluid.

EMF can affect the brain in many ways, but you can group them into two:

1. Direct effects: where EMF radiation weakens the blood-brain barrier.
2. Indirect effects: EMF radiation exposure induces oxidative stress and DNA damage

The blood-brain barrier is a layer of cells that protects the brain from harmful substances in the bloodstream.

If this barrier weakens, toxins and other harmful substances can enter the brain and cause damage.

EMF radiation could also induce oxidative stress and DNA damage.

Oxidative stress is an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the body's ability to detoxify them.

Free radicals are highly reactive molecules that can damage cells and lead to inflammation.

DNA damage is another primary concern when it comes to EMF radiation.

One study found that EMF exposure caused double-strand DNA breaks in rat brain cells.

You may not notice the effects of EMF radiation right away, but over time, the damage can accumulate and lead to serious health problems.

The good news is that protecting your brain from EMF radiation doesn't have to be complicated.

You can take these simple steps to reduce exposure:

1. Avoid using cell phones and laptops when they have a weak or no signal.
2. Keeping devices away from your body when turned on.
3. Not sleeping with your cell phone next to your bed.
4. Turning off Wi-Fi at night.
5. Keeping your devices away from young children.

Lastly, use an anti-radiation technology to absorb and deflect EMF radiation away from your body.

One such technology is the Bodywell Chip.

This powerful device harnesses the power of rare metals and minerals to absorb up to 80% of EMF radiation that would otherwise enter your body.

Thanks to its design and technology, the Bodywell Chip lets you enjoy many benefits other EMF protection technologies can’t:

PORTABLE AND CONVENIENT

Inspired by Swiss luxury watches, Bodywell’s sleek size is hardly larger than a SIM card.

You can place it on the surface or in the battery compartment of any mobile device and inside the protecting case without causing any bulges.

NO EFFECT ON BATTERY LIFE OR PHONE RECEPTION

Bodywell Chip doesn't use electricity, so it won't affect your battery life.

It's also been tested in an FCC-certified laboratory and shown to have NO EFFECT ON PHONE RECEPTION.

You can finally have the protection you need without compromising your phone's performance.

FITS ALL MOBILE DEVICES

Bodywell is not model-specific. It can protect you from EMF radiation no matter what kind of mobile device you have.

It will also continue to work even if you upgrade your phone in the future. You don't need to replace your Bodywell Chip.

WORKS FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY

Not only does the Bodywell Chip protect you, but it also protects your loved ones.

You can place it on the back of your child's phone or tablet so they can stay safe while using their devices.

It's a great way to give peace of mind to parents and grandparents.

INSTANT EMF PROTECTION

Once you have the Bodywell Chip, you're protected from EMF radiation immediately.

You don't need to wait for it to "charge up."

Put it on your phone or tablet, and it works right away.

LASTS A LIFETIME

Bodywell Chip is built to last.

It doesn't wear out or break down over time.

You can expect it to provide EMF protection for the lifetime of your mobile device.

AFFORDABLE

The Bodywell Chip is an extremely cost-effective product.

You only need to buy one Chip; it will last you a lifetime. There's no need to replace it even if you upgrade your phone in the future.

 

In Conclusion

So, what can you do to help keep your brain healthy?

Luckily, there are plenty of things.

The first step is making sure you get enough sleep.

We’ve all heard that one before, but it is important.

After a good night’s sleep, eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables. And don’t forget about exercise!

A little bit every day goes a long way to keep your body and mind in shape.

Finally, be mindful of your screen time and the blue light they emit late at night.

Give yourself a break from screens for a few hours before bedtime.

Last but not least, make sure you have some protection from EMF radiation exposure.

But if you still feel like you need some extra help, don’t worry!

We’ve got you covered.

Click here to learn more about the Bodywell Chip – that revolutionary new product that helps protect your body from harmful EMF radiation.