Unravelling the Devastating Precursors of Brain Destruction -By Abdulazeez Toheeb Olawale

There are numerous habits that can lead to brain destruction. Unfortunately, most individuals overlook the effects of these habits, majorly out of ignorance. Other reasons could also be carelessness or negligence. If we do not take proper precautions, keeping these habits will likely cause harm to your brain.

The premier amongst these habits is the lack of exercise. It’s medically proven that adequate exercise improves our memory by increasing brain-derived neurotrophic factors. Sadly, exercising is largely uncommon amongst students. When students see their colleagues engaging in physical exercise, particularly early in the morning, they consider them idle or deviants. However, adequate exercise helps you to form new synapses and improve memory and learning. Not exercising on a regular basis is a recipe for brain atrophy.

The second factor is not getting enough sleep. As a student, without quality and adequate sleep, you can’t form or maintain pathways in your brain that enable you to learn effectively and create new memories. Unfortunately, it has become habitual for students to cut out sleep from their activities. Some students deprive themselves from adequate sleep to pursue distinction, disregarding the hazards it poses to the brain. Mind you, without adequate sleep, it will be harder to concentrate and respond quickly. When you deprive yourself of sleep long enough, you are at risk of catching neurological diseases or illnesses.

The third factor is eating inflammatory food. What you eat has a direct effect on your mind and mood. A diet high in foods that are fried or processed can lead to chronic inflammation, memory loss, lack of mood control, confusion and depression, as well as other neurological diseases.

Also, having a big belly is one of the factors that can facilitate brain damage, majorly because higher amounts of belly fat increase inflammation, which results in the shrinkage of the brain. High body fat has also been associated with a decline in the gray matter, which enables us to control movement, memory and emotions

Beyond these, not learning new things is another factor that triggers brain destruction. The brain is like a muscle, which grows and shrinks based on its usage. This, it’s advisable for every individual to try to cultivate the habit of deliberately acquiring knowledge, especially as students, because learning new things or skills stimulate neurons and form new pathways that allow electrical impulses to travel faster. Therefore, when you don’t learn new things and skills, you limit the functionality of your brain.

Similarly, another major factor that facilitates brain damage is watching porn. Watching of porn has become widespread across our society today, especially among the youth. According to research, 83% of pornography watchers are students. Chronic porn usage is correlated with changes in the brain. Watching porn highjacks the brain’s reward system and overwhelms it with cheap hits of dopamine. The result is the brain physically deteriorates in shape, size and chemical balance. Stay away from pornography to avoid brain malfunction.

Lastly, spending too much time indoors also deprives you from getting exposure to sunlight, which can easily decelerate the active functions of the brain. Without enough exposure to sunlight, your circadian rhythm is likely to get disrupted and your serotonin level can dip, leading to seasonal affective disorder depression.

Abdulazeez Toheeb Olawale is a 300l student at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto UDUS.
He can be reached via
toheebazeez200@gmail.com