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CAUSES & WHAT TO AVOID: 

HEAD TRAUMA

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an injury to your brain from a blow to your head (closed injury) or an object penetrating your skull and entering your brain (open injury).

Open injury often ends up with an intracranial hematoma, when  a blood vessel ruptures within your brain or between your skull and your brain.

The collection of blood (hematoma) compresses your brain tissue, causing damage or death in 40% of undetected and untreated cases.

Although some head injuries – such as one causes only a brief lapse of consciousness (concussion) – can be minor, an intracranial hematoma is potentially life threatening and in most cases requires surgery to remove the blood.

If not fatal, symptoms of any type of TBI can be long lasting, full recovery may vary from 6 months to 2 years.

TBI can interfere with memory, speech and mobility.

You are at higher risk of head trauma if you:

• Are 75 or older
• Are a man
• Are in car or motorcycle accident
• Play contact sport
• Do not wear protective gear
• Are in military
• Are victim of violence
• Abuse drugs or alcohol
• Have had a previous TBI

DRUGS 

Deadliest STREET Drugs

According to scientists, researchers and law enforcement alike, there are some drugs that have the potential to completely devastate your world. Furthermore, science maintains that any of these drugs could prove extremely dangerous to your health, and in many cases, deadly.

Alcohol   

Yes, it’s not the heroin or any other drugs top danger, it’s the alcohol. Alcohol abuse is so common and destructive like nothing else. Unfortunately many will not agree. It’s scary when we are in denial and do not understand the danger of drinking alcohol, long and short term consequences. Even moderate drinking leads to short–term or chronic impairment.   Been said that the moment you have your first drink, your brain cells start dying.

In my country, abusing alcohol as a tradition, generation after generation has damaging effect on so many young people.  Did you know that 21 restriction just doesn’t work in Bulgaria and many more countries, it’s completely ignored there. Wine and hard liquor, taken as medicine on a daily basis, beer as a cleanser, just so absurd and wrong.

So, forgive me fellow Bulgarians for being bitter and sarcastic, but if you want to live to the fullest, have loved ones in your life, and still thinking of acting heroic and childish after a beer detox – think again!

Flakka

Flakka is a man-made substance which shares similarities with cocaine and bath salts. Unfortunately, however, it can be much more dangerous than either. Even the slightest overdose can cause the user to encounter symptoms of “excited delirium” which includes violent behaviors, high body temperature, and paranoia. In the end the drug can cause permanent psychological damage because of its effects on the chemicals in the brain.

 Bath Salts

 There is not much scientific information regarding bath salts. However, this popular drug containing substituted cathinones. Most types contain mephedrone or methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV). They cause major changes in brain activity and can certainly cause brain cell death. Elevated stress, paranoia, anger, stimulation, etc. are all side effects from this substance. By using bath salts you are likely going to get brain damage from the excessive stimulation and inability to wind down. Additionally, there may be chemicals in this drug that you are not aware of that may kill more brain cells. Bath salts have a very similar makeup to methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy. It is considered a designer drug due to the fact that it is synthetic and created in a lab. The drug looks very similar to household bath salts, however, if ingested it can cause paranoid delusions, hallucinations, violence, anger, and death.

Purple Drank

If you have ever listened to the last rap era, then you have probably heard this term tossed around in the 90’s. Rappers like Jay-Z rapped about the substance that is a mix of soda water, sweets and codeine cough syrup. Unfortunately, this ‘drank’ can cause your upper respiratory infection to fail, and possibly even your heart. It is addictive due to it being an opioid, and in many cases, it can easily prove deadly.

Heroin

Everyone knows that heroin is a killer. It takes fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, brothers, it doesn’t discriminate, it can take anyone. Sadly, and quite often, people unintentionally overdose on heroin, leaving their families behind. If they don’t overdose, many of them will spend a life in the agonizing turmoil of being an addict.

Ketamine

Otherwise known as Special K, Ketamine can be a quite powerful hallucinogenic that can also be accompanied by paranoia. Others may end up with blood pressure and heart problems for the rest of their lives. And unfortunately, many others find it fatal. Prolonged exposure to ketamine has been linked to the death of neurons and neuronal toxicity. The death was found to have happened in the frontal cortex of monkeys. Ironically enough ketamine is currently being investigated as an alternative treatment for depression. Short term exposure was not associated with any adverse effects; you really have to abuse ketamine to kill brain cells.

 AH-7921

This synthetic opioid was legal until January of this year. Many have referred to it as ‘legal heroin’ and is believed to be quite dangerous by medical experts and scientists alike. Side effects include upper respiratory arrest and gangrene.

Whoonga

Whoonga is actually a drug used in the treatment of HIV, however, when it is abused, it can cause vivid dreams along with a variety of other central nervous system effects. When the HIV patient abuses it, it causes mutant versions of the virus to replicate in the person’s system that is then resistant to the medicine. 

The Devil’s Breath

The Devil’s Breath or Scopolamine is derived from the nightshade plant that can be found in the Northern region in South America. Typically it is a powder that can also be used as a strong poison. Many report having it blown in their face, causing them to become unable to defend themselves. The person will be unable to form memories leaving them unable to recall what happened. Most lose all sense of self control.

Cocaine

Although using cocaine once or twice may not do much damage, there is significant evidence that cocaine use kills your brains pleasure cells. So the cells that allow you to get high off of cocaine are the very cells that become damaged and killed from the drug’s use. The cells that die from cocaine use are in your brain’s pleasure center, which help you feel good via the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Things that previously brought you pleasure may no longer bring you any pleasure due to all of the extinct pleasure neurons in the pleasure center. Crack cocaine became most popular in the 1980’s, and due to its rarity it was excessively expensive. However, many drug dealers broke it down by cooking it with baking soda and created ‘crack.’ Crack and cocaine both can destroy the liver, kidneys, lungs, blood vessels and cause untimely death.

Amphetamines

Drugs like Adderall are not likely going to cause any major brain damage or loss of neurons if used properly. However, if you abuse amphetamines, it can have detrimental effects on cognitive functioning even years after use. Amphetamines release large amounts of dopamine to help stimulate brain activity. A point of excitotoxicity may be reached if amphetamines are abused and you could lose brain cells.

Antipsychotics

The class of drugs known as antipsychotics is documented as being linked to brain shrinkage as well as killing brain cells. This is a double whammy for people that already have a disease like psychosis or schizophrenia. Their disease is causing significant distress and functional problems, and the medication that they are taking is actually slowly damaging the brain.

Benzodiazepine abuse

Should you end up abusing a benzodiazepine drug like Xanax or Valium over the long term, you put yourself at risk to lose brain cells as well as develop dementia. Although not everyone taking this drug will experience the negative side effects, it can lead to cognition problems in the long term. There are a lot of conflicting results from benzodiazepine studies, but in most the long term effects do not seem favorable.

Cigarettes / tobacco products

A compound in tobacco products including cigarettes and chewing tobacco called NNK (procarcinogen) causes white blood cells in the body’s central nervous system (CNS) to attack healthy brain cells. Normally immune cells called “microglia” attack unhealthy and damaged cells in the brain to help promote healthy functioning. However the NNK causes the microglia to attack healthy cells.

Ecstasy (MDMA)

One extreme myth regarding the popular rave drug ecstasy is that it will “put holes in your brain” – however, it does have the potential to kill brain cells – specifically ones that are of central importance to the serotonin system. Not only can it deplete natural stores of serotonin, it can damage axons and other nerve cells.  Some researchers believe that the brain is not able to restore its axons.  Read more about how ecstasy may cause brain damage if you are interested.

Inhalants

The poisons in inhalants can cause major problems in regards to brain functioning and can damage many brain cells. If you chronically sniff or huff things like paint and glue, you are risking your brain. Some people experience significant brain damage from years of huffing paint to get a high. Individuals that sniff paint are putting themselves at major risk for brain damage. Don’t huff paint or other inhalants as a way to get high – this is a surefire way to end up with brain problems.

Methamphetamines

If you want to severely damage your overall brain functioning, consider meth. Over time, this is a sure-fire way to roast your brain cells and cause long term damage to many areas of the brain. What’s interesting is that chronic use of meth can cause changes to the brain similar to those found in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and stroke victims. Scientists have found that the more you use meth, the more damage your brain cells will incur.

Nitrous Oxide

When used by a medical professional for anesthetic purposes, nitrous oxide is relatively safe – it will not damage the brain. However, when it is used recreationally in a repetitive manner to maintain a high, it can deplete oxygen levels may inhibit the uptake of vitamin B12. If you take “laughing gas” or “whippets” on the regular, you are putting your brain at risk for cell death – especially over the long term.

Steroids

Taking steroids can lead to elevated levels of testosterone which in turn can kill brain cells. It was determined that at high concentrations, cell viability decreases. It is believed that the excess testosterone is what plays a role in damaging and knocking neurons out of commission. If you are getting your muscle by taking steroids, you may want to think twice before you have to deal with some brain damage.

CHEMICALS

Fluoride

Fluoride is a trace mineral that naturally occurs in the earth’s crust and in water.  Artificially adding fluoride to drinking water is a highly controversial practice and World Health Organization puts fluoride, along with arsenic, on their “naturally occurring hazard” list.

• Fluoride is a developmental neurotoxin. 

A neurotoxin is a substance that’s poisonous or destructive to the tissues in the brain, spinal cord and nervous system. A developmental neurotoxin is one that affects the brain during the most susceptible stages of life — before birth and during early childhood.

• Fluoride increases risk of low thyroid.

Fluoride, especially when added to drinking water, nearly doubles the risk of developing hypothyroidism. Fluoride binds with iodine receptors in the thyroid, displacing iodine. And when there isn’t adequate iodine available, the thyroid can’t synthesize thyroid hormones.  And that is bad news for your brain. Brain fog, memory loss, lack of focus, depression, anxiety, and other cognitive and mental health issues are some of the most problematic side effects of thyroid disorders.

• Fluoride causes nervous system degeneration.

Once fluoride crosses the blood-brain barrier, it causes degeneration to specific parts of the brain — the hippocampus, the neocortex, and the cerebellum. The hippocampus is considered the seat of memory and is critical for learning, emotional regulation, and shutting off the stress response. The neocortex is considered the most evolved area of the brain where sensory perception, conscious thought and language skills largely take place. The cerebellum is responsible for coordination and balance. The damage from fluoride doesn’t stop at your brain — it continues on to your spinal cord and sciatic nerve.

• Fluoride  impairs pineal gland function.
• The pineal gland is a pea-sized structure in the brain where melatonin is produced. Melatonin is known mainly as a sleep hormone, but it’s much more than that. Melatonin is a potent antioxidant that is especially protective of the brain. It can offset the damage of serious brain disorders including dementia and Alzheimer’s. It may even help you live longer. The pineal gland is prone to accumulating deposits in a process known as calcification. Calcification, in spite of the name, isn’t always caused by calcium. These deposits can be caused by other minerals including fluoride which is found in strikingly high concentrations in the pineal gland. This affects melatonin production contributing to insomnia, depression, and accelerated brain aging. Pineal gland calcification is known to contribute to dementia and Alzheimer’s since it is significantly higher in patients with these diseases.

• Fluoridated water increases risk of lead ingestion.

Lead is another neurotoxin, it has been banned from paint since 1978, phased out of gasoline in the 1990s, and outlawed in the manufacture of water pipes since 1986. But if you live in a house built before 1986 you may still have lead water pipes. Even new brass or chrome-plated faucets contain some lead. If you have fluoridated water coming through lead pipes and chrome faucets you have the “perfect neurotoxin storm”, since fluoridated water leaches lead and greatly increases the amount in your water — up to 9-fold more.

Young brains are most at risk but brains of all ages can suffer from lead exposure that can manifest as memory loss, mood disorders, lower IQ, and learning disabilities.

• Fluoride linked to ADHD.

Rates of ADHD skyrocketed in the 1990s, about the same time that fluoridation of water supplies was also on the rise in the United States.  This may not be a coincidence since researchers have found a correlation between water fluoridation and ADHD. States with the largest number of ADHD cases also have the greatest proportion of people drinking fluoridated water. If you live in Washington DC, the chances of fluoridated water coming out of your tap are 100%. States with the lowest levels of fluoridated water are Montana at 32% and Hawaii at 10%.

• Fluoride is found in antidepressants (and causes depression).

If you are one of the millions of people taking Prozac you may have noticed that the generic name for Prozac is fluoxetine. It’s not a coincidence that the name sounds a lot like fluoride. Some of the most commonly prescribed drugs contain significant amounts of fluoride, including antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs. This is disturbing since fluoride causes depression. Besides Prozac, other antidepressants that contain fluoride include Paxil, Zoloft, and Lexapro.

• How to Avoid Fluoride

The main sources of fluoride are toothpaste and drinking water.

It’s not hard to find toothpastes without fluoride, but it’s very hard to find a water filter that removes fluoride. You can find tons of filters using reverse osmosis on the market, be careful as most of them are fake.

I am using Hydroviv filters installed to my kitchen sink and shower (super easy), remove the Fluoride, Lead, Mercury, Chromium VI, Arsenic, Cadmium, Vanadium, Barium, Thallium, Chlorine, Chloramine.

It’s also very important to shower with fluoride free water, because every 10 min of showering is equivalent to drinking 1 glass of tap water

Keep in mind that only 5.7% of the world’s population drinks artificially fluoridated water, many parts of the world have naturally high fluoride concentrations in their groundwater that can reach dangerous levels. These areas are known as “fluoride belts” and include parts of Africa, China, India, and the Middle East. People who live in these areas are at risk for dental fluorosis, which stains and pits teeth, and skeletal fluorosis, a crippling bone disease.

Aluminum 

We have come into the Aluminum age awhile ago

There has been a dramatic increase in neurological diseases linked to aluminum toxicity past 10 years. The blood brain barrier doesn’t stop aluminum’s intrusion into our gray matter. Aluminum accumulates and remains in tissue that doesn’t have a rapid cellular turnover leading to apoptosis (natural cell death that occurs throughout the body, excluding cancer cells. Cancer cells keep reproducing and colonizing into tumors).

Aluminum accrues to toxic levels over time in slow apoptotic cell turnover tissues, such as bone matter, the heart and the brain. The brain and its associated nervous system is where diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, MS, chronic fatigue and other neurological or autoimmune diseases manifest, including the complete autistic spectrum, from learning disorders to full blown autism.

And it’s not just your kitchen aluminum foil, where else:

• All Vaccines
• Cookware
• Beverage containers
• Cigarette smoke
• Cosmetics, antiperspirants, sunscreen,
• Antacids
• Ubiquitous chemtrails that most ignore from which aluminum nanoparticles can be breathed into our lungs and routed directly into our blood or through the sinuses into our brains (vinyl flooring, adhesives, detergents, lubricating oils, automotive plastics, personal-care products like soaps, shampoos, hair sprays, nail polishes).

How to eliminate aluminum? 

• Silicic acid (Ionic Silica) 

It’s basically an oxygenated silica. The best and most bio-available way to get silica through the gut and into the blood, then into brain matter where it binds with the aluminum molecules and leads them out of brain cell tissue safely through the urine. Perhaps coconut oil is better for reversing AD, but mineral waters high in Orthosilicic or ionic silicic acid  will reduce aluminum toxicity in the brain to help ward off AD. Mineral water with highest  levels of silicic acid, which can penetrate the blood-brain barrier, are Volvic and Fiji. My personal favorite is Fiji because it has the highest level of ionic suspended silica as silicic acid, bottles are BPA free, and is the least expensive. Walmart have it at $1.99 per liter. Other rated highly as BPA free are Voss, Evian, and Smart Water with lower ionic level. Other good sources of silica are the herb horsetail, cucumbers, and diatomaceous earth powder. 

Although these three other sources are helpful for the recent aforementioned reasons, they lack the ionic suspension of silicic acid found in the mineral waters to penetrate the blood-brain barrier.

• Hemp Oil 

The neutral cannabinoids in hemp oil are all small molecules that are highly lipophilic and cross the blood-brain barrier.  The acid forms are  lipophilic and also cross the BBB. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL

Stress  

 Stress is an unavoidable part of life, still we can avoid OR benefit from it. There are two main kinds of stress — acute stress and chronic stress — and not all stress is bad for you.

• Acute stress –  is the reaction to an immediate threat, commonly known as the “fight or flight” response. Once the threat has passed, your levels of stress hormones return to normal with no long-lasting effects. Some degree of acute stress is even considered desirable as it primes your brain for peak performance.  There is no borderline between pressure and the acute stress (the good one). Epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) and norepinephrine are stress hormones produced  in moments of extreme excitement. They help you think and move fast in an emergency. In the right situation, they can save your life. They don’t linger in the body, dissipating as quickly as they were created.

Need to quote the great Billy Jean “Pressure is a privilege”!

• Chronic stress — the kind most of us face day in, day out — is a killer. Chronic stress makes you more vulnerable to everything from cancer to the common cold.  The non-stop elevation of stress hormones not only makes your body sick, it negatively impacts your brain as well.

Then the cortisol comes in play. Can’t “stress” enough how dangerous is the cortisol when spikes up. Cortisol streams through your system all day long, and that’s what makes it so dangerous. Excess cortisol leads to  weight gain, osteoporosis, digestive problems, hormone imbalances, poor sleep, short attention span, memory issues, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

When stress becomes chronic, it changes your brain’s function and even its structure down to the level of your DNA, that will also be passed on your kids.

Cortisol creates a surplus of the neurotransmitter glutamate. Glutamate creates free radicals — unattached oxygen molecules — that attack brain cells much in the same way that oxygen attacks metal, causing it to rust.

• Stress creates free radicals that kill brain cells.

Free radicals actually punch holes in the brain cell walls, causing them to rupture and die. If stress causes you to lose sleep, eat junk food, drink too much alcohol, or smoke cigarettes to relax, these are contributing to your free radical load.

• Stress creates never ending vicious cycle of fear and anxiety

It builds up an area of your brain called the amygdala. This is your brain’s fear center. Stress increases the size, activity level and number of neural connections in this part of your brain. This makes you more fearful, causing a vicious cycle of even more fear and stress.

• Stress halts the production of new brain cells.

Every day you lose brain cells, but every day you have the opportunity to create new ones. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a protein that’s integral in keeping existing brain cells healthy and stimulating new brain cell formation. It can be thought of as fertilizer for the brain. BDNF can offset the negative effects of stress on the brain.  But cortisol halts the production of BDNF resulting in fewer new brain cells being formed.  Lowered levels of BDNF are associated with brain-related conditions including depression, OCD, schizophrenia, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.

• Serotonin, the “happy molecule“,

It plays a large role in mood, learning, appetite control, and sleep. Women low in serotonin are prone to depression, anxiety, and binge eating. Men, on the other hand, are more prone to alcoholism, ADHD, and impulse control disorders. CBD directly activates multiple serotonin receptors in the brain, giving you the balance you need in positive decision making

• Dopamine – the “motivation molecule.”

It’s in charge of your pleasure-reward system. Too little dopamine can leave you unfocused, unmotivated, lethargic, and depressed. People low in this brain chemical often use caffeine, sugar, alcohol, and illicit drugs to temporarily boost their dopamine levels. Serotonin-based depression is accompanied by anxiety and irritability, while dopamine-based depression expresses itself as lethargy and lack of enjoyment of life. CBD derived from hemp is known for its fast interaction with dopamine and is highly recommended for optimal brain health

Stress can cause your brain to seize up at the worst possible times — exams, job interviews, and public speaking come to mind. This is actually a survival mechanism. If you’re faced with a life – death situation, instinct and training overwhelm rational thought and reasoning. This might keep you from being eaten by a tiger, but in modern life this is rarely helpful.

Stress impairs your memory and makes you bad at making decisions. It negatively impacts every cognitive function

• Stress can let toxins in your brain

Your brain is highly sensitive to toxins of every kind.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a group of highly specialized cells that acts as your brain’s gatekeeper. This semi-permeable filter protects your brain from harmful substances while letting needed nutrients in.  Stress makes the blood-brain barrier more permeable, in effect making it leaky.

This lets things into the brain you don’t want there such as pathogens, heavy metals, chemicals, and other toxins. Having a leaky BBB is associated with brain cancer, brain infections, and multiple sclerosis.

• Stress leads to premature aging on a cellular level, causing cells in both your body and your brain to commit suicide prematurely.

To understand how this happens, we need to take a look at a part of your chromosomes called telomeres. You may recall from high school biology that when a cell divides, it passes on the genetic material to the next cell via chromosomes.

Telomeres are protective end caps on our chromosomes similar to the plastic tips on shoelaces. 

(Telomeres are shown in contrasting colors to the rest of the chromosome in this image.) Every time a cell divides, the telomeres get a little shorter. When they reach a critically shortened length, they tell the cell to stop dividing, acting as a built-in suicide switch. Subsequently the cell dies. Shortened telomeres lead to atrophy of brain cells and longer telomere length leads to the production of new brain cells.  Telomere length may be the most important indicator of biological age and disease risk.

• A little-known fact –  the brain has its own immune system.

Special immune cells called microglia protect the brain and spinal cord from infections and toxins. Unfortunately, a microglial cell has no ON or OFF switch, so once it is activated, it creates inflammation until it dies. Chronic stress is one of the factors that increases the risk of activating your microglia, thus producing brain inflammation. It’s generally believed that depression is caused by serotonin deficiency, but there’s a growing body of evidence that brain inflammation is the root cause of depression instead. This theory is called the “cytokine model of depression.” Activated microglia produce cytokines — proteins that turn on the inflammation response in the brain. Cytokine production is linked to depression including major depressive disorder and risk of suicide. It’s also associated with anxiety, memory loss, and inability to concentrate, as well as some serious disorders including schizophrenia, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s.

Did  you know that among all surgeons, brain doctors are the most relaxed and easy going. Dealing with stress – some are  natural – many of us need to learn how to calm down and have FUN.

So yeah, just take your time, don’t worry, give yourself a break, anything that bothers you will pass, try to benefit from it

Here are five simple tips to stop stress in its tracks and overcome its harmful effects on your brain. “Balance is the Key“

• Stop free radical damage by eating a diet high in antioxidant-rich foods like fruit, vegetables, dark chocolate, and green tea.
• Increase levels of brain-boosting BDNF by getting daily physical exercise. It doesn’t have to be strenuous. Walking is excellent, so are exercises with strong mind-body orientation like yoga, tai chi, and qigong.
• Meditate. Meditation not only reduces stress, it’s a proven way to rejuvenate your brain  by keeping telomeres long.  Meditation is also the best tool for learning how to master your thoughts. Stress does not come from events in your life as much as it comes from your thoughts — your automatic negative reactions and cognitive distortions
• Try one of the many mind-body relaxation techniques such as self-hypnosis, biofeedback, autogenic training, simple visualization, nanosizing
• Look into taking an adaptogenic herbal remedy. Adaptogens increase your resilience to stress while supporting overall health. They promote balance between feeling energetic and feeling calm. Examples of adaptogens include raw phytoplankton, adaptogenic hemp oil, ginseng, holy basil, arctic root, and bacopa.

Laziness

Ever heard 21st Century called “The Age of Inactivity”? Yes, we don’t read books or articles unless it has pictures, videos and highlights, summaries, we don’t write on paper either, but its ok (green is good, saving trees)

Yes, physical inactivity has its price tag. It is linked to the development of chronic health problems like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, depression, dementia and cancer.

We know that 90 to 95% of our biology and thinking is controlled by our subconscious mind. So, only 10% or less of our thoughts are generated from our conscious mind based on what we’re experiencing now.

What’s wrong with it?  Isn’t it better to automate more things in our life?

Automating your mind is fine if you are happy with the type of thoughts and beliefs you are conditioned to and you’re still able to enjoy life  without the need of growing. We are held hostage by our conditioned subconscious mind. We are more accustomed to I can’t, there is no way, ain’t gonna happen and so on.  We all can be whatever we want to be. It’s not a matter of capability but a matter of desire and belief. We have different unique talents. Unfortunately, the majority of us chooses to stick to the limiting thoughts and excuses.

How can we strengthen our conscious thinking muscle and reduce mind chatter?

This is not to be confused with fooling yourself to think positive thoughts. It is more about awakening to the pattern of your own thought and challenging the negative beliefs.

• Observe your thoughts.

The first step is to start observing your thoughts. Thoughts come and go. Just notice the thought as it passes by. Don’t judge or fight it. Become the observer. Experience it in your body. How does it feel? Don’t label – ALLOW.

The moment you pay attention to a thought, it starts to change, so you can shape it. As you continue to observe your thoughts, you will notice the ones that keep coming up. If they are positive – Enjoy them, if they are negative – Question them.

• Meditate.

You don’t have to be a guru, start a very simple practice of sitting still for a few minutes, breathing deeply and observing the breath. If you lose focus, bring your attention back to your breath (up, down, in, out)

• Practice mindfulness.

Pay attention to everything you do. Become aware of your surroundings; enjoy the food you’re eating; listen to the sounds around you. Experience life through your senses and body. As your awareness expands, your appreciation for life grows. This is the best way to overcome boredom and mind numbing thoughts.

• Learn & Play Games

Learning languages, playing sudoku, board games, card games, challenging but safe not full-contact sports is highly beneficial and fun

• Get clear about what you want in life

Nothing scares people more than intentionally thinking about what they want and what they can be. And because being scared is a protective mechanism, we hold back

Allow yourself to dream and explore the possibilities of what it is and what could be, make a dream/wish board, travel often, even in your mind, start with breakfast in Paris, then have some pizza for lunch in Italy 🙂

This is more effective in advancing your life. You don’t gain anything from continuous negative thinking and made-up excuses.

All great things come from happy thoughts first

• Reduce escapism activities.

It is OK to escape and enjoy entertaining activities to renew and relax. However, if you become obsessed with entertainment and heavily rely on it to feel good, you are numbing your mind and avoiding your life.

The same can be said about the consumption of alcohol and recreational drugs. People think they experience spiritual highs through such use. The opposite is true, drinking and using drugs will take a person below thought level (lower consciousness) and not enlightenment (higher consciousness).

Thoughts are very powerful. They are energy that resonates, creates and affects the quality of our experiences.  Being aware of our thoughts brings us one step closer to living up to our potential and being more at peace with life.

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.  

Watch your words, for they become actions.

Watch your actions, for they become habits.

Watch your habits, for they become character.

Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

Multitasking

Our brains are designed to focus on one thing at a time, and bombarding them with information only slows them down. This constant task-switching encourages bad brain habits. When we complete a tiny task (sending an email, answering a text message, posting a tweet), we are rewarded with dopamine. Our brains love that dopamine, and so we’re encouraged to keep switching between small mini-tasks that give us instant gratification.

This creates a dangerous feedback loop that makes us feel like we’re accomplishing a ton, when we’re really not doing much at all (or at least nothing requiring much critical thinking). In fact, some even refer to email/Twitter/Facebook-checking as a neural addiction.

Multitasking lowers your work quality and efficiency, makes it more difficult to organize thoughts and filter out irrelevant information. Multitasking amplifies automatic thinking. When you divide your attention, you sacrifice enjoyment, meaning and quality results.

Do one task at a time and give it all your intention, attention and effort. This is the best way to get in the flow and just be one with what you are experiencing at the moment.

A study at the University Of London showed that people who multitasked while performing cognitive tasks experienced significant IQ drops. In fact, the IQ drops were similar to what you see in individuals who skip a night of sleep.

Multitasking has also been found to increase production of cortisol. Having our brain constantly shift gears pumps up stress and tires us out, leaving us feeling mentally exhausted

Protect yourself from the multitasking mental tearing by establishing an e-mail/texting checking schedule.

Multitasking men have it the worst.

For men, multitasking can drop IQ as much as 15 points, essentially turning you into the cognitive equivalent of an 8-year-old.

A study from the University of Sussex (UK) ran MRI scans on the brains of individuals who spent time on multiple devices at once (texting while watching TV, for example). The MRI scans showed that subjects who multitasked more often had less brain density in the anterior cingulate cortex. That’s the area responsible for empathy and emotional control.

My point here: Multitasking is not a skill to add to the resume, but rather a bad habit to put a stop to. Turn off notifications, create set email checking time slots throughout the day (rather than constant inbox refreshing), and put your mind to the task at hand.

HEALTH CONDITIONS

Dehydration (Severe)

Due to the fact that the brain is 75% water, it is important to make sure that it stays hydrated. Although failing to drink 8 glasses of water a day isn’t going to do any sort of damage, if you go without any fluids for a 24 hour period, you will likely end up killing some brain cells. It may take even less time, but 24 hours is a long period to go without water. Make sure you keep yourself hydrated to avoid an unnecessary loss of brain cells.

Water intoxication

If you drink water in excess, you can actually become intoxicated and lose brain cells. When a person drinks too much water, it can actually result in brain cells swelling and increasing pressure within the cranium. In cases of extreme water intoxication, brain cells can die and brain damage may occur. Never flood your brain with too much water – drink it in moderation.

Sleep Deprivation

Sleep allows your body to repair itself- and that means creation of new cells in all organs, the brain included. Long term sleep deprivation can in fact cause brain damage as new cells are not being generated and the brain loses its ability to communicate properly with the nerve cells.

Oxygen deprivation (Cerebral hypoxia)

Hypoxia occurs when your brain cells aren’t getting enough oxygen. Neurons are extremely sensitive to oxygen levels and if oxygen levels are depleted, your cells start to die off. In layman’s terms, hypoxia means suffocation – so if you can’t inhale oxygen for a significant period of time, your brain cells begin to die and you would eventually become vegetative before brain death would occur.

Lyme disease

If Lyme disease isn’t detected and treated as soon as possible, the victim could end up suffering memory problems as well as have to deal with brain cell death. Other things that the victim may experience include: personality changes, anxiety, depression, and inability to concentrate. It is not going to result in instant brain cell death, but if left untreated may do some damage.

Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea can cause brain damage and kill brain cells due to lack of oxygen. If your breathing becomes obstructed, your brain will not get enough oxygen to keep cells alive and healthy. More specifically, sleep apnea can harm cells associated with memory and even lead to loss of actual brain tissue.

Strokes

If you suffer a stroke, it can cause major brain damage and involves extensive recovery to help get yourself back on track. In the aftermath of a stroke, many neurons continue to die even after normal blood flow has been reinstated to all areas of the brain. Researchers have found that the NMDA receptors activate the SREBP-1 protein, which leads to cell death. Although this cannot be prevented, scientists have developed drugs to help prevent this cell death from happening.

ENVIRONMENTAL

Air pollution

Whether you are indoors or outdoors, it’s important to make sure you are not a victim of air pollution. In places like Mexico City where air pollution is rampant, many residents wear masks to help block the dirty air from entering their nasal cavities. In larger cities, there are toxins in the air that have the potential to cause brain damage and kill brain cells. If you live in a city where you suspect such air pollution, you should take some sort of action to protect yourself or move to a cleaner environment.

Your brain uses up significant amounts of oxygen in order to function properly- which can be a problem if you’re constantly exposed to air pollutants. Polluted air impairs the supply of oxygen to the brain, which lowers cognitive function and could also cause actual physical changes to the brain. Air pollution is caused by industrial waste, vehicles, dust, etc, and the pollutants can reach deep areas of your organs, inhibiting proper function of your body.

Carbon Monoxide poisoning

Carbon monoxide poisoning basically deprives the brain of oxygen while poisoning them. This results in a fairly quick cell death if immediate action is not taken to fix the problem. A minor exposure may not kill cells, but it could traumatize them or affect their ability to function normally. What’s interesting about carbon monoxide exposure is that people react differently to different amounts. For some people it may only take a little amount to kill brain cells, while for others it may take more.

Lead exposure

If you end up getting lead poisoning via things like lead paint chips, it can lead to major depression, problems with cognition, as well as kill brain cells. Although lead poisoning is less common these days, the most common ways to get it include: food, water, air, paint chips, soil, and various products. For adults the most common way to get lead poisoning is by exposure on a work-related job. Not only will lead cause increased brain aging and neurological problems, it can kill a lot of cells in the process.

Mercury toxicity

It is well documented that mercury toxicity can cause major problems within the nervous system and brain. In some cases things like mercury fillings cause depression and suicidal thinking in people with no prior history of psychiatric illness. If you have ever gotten mercury fillings, you may be a victim of mercury poisoning – which can cause brain damage and kill your brain cells. You can get mercury poisoning from a number of sources including fish like salmon – so make an attempt to avoid exposure. Mercury will cause your neurons to degenerate and die quickly.

Pesticides

Many individuals don’t realize how exposure to pesticides can cause major cognitive decline. We already know that pesticide exposure has a major impact on memory, so it should be no surprise that exposure to a significant amount of pesticides will cause brain damage and kill brain cells. How does a person get exposed to pesticides? Over half of people with lawns or gardens use some sort of pesticides to help maintain their flowers and crops. So residentially exposure via air, water, and food isn’t uncommon. Most people absorb pesticides through the skin while working certain jobs and aren’t even aware of it. Just keep in mind that if you work with them, you are putting your brain and body at risk.

Welding fumes

The fumes that are emitted from welding contain high amounts of manganese. It is the manganese that has been linked to damaging the brain in the same area that is found in Parkinson’s victims. Studies have shown that there was a significant reduction in dopamine as well as dopaminergic neurons. If you work as a welder or are located in an area where you are exposed to welding fumes on a consistent basis, just keep in mind that the fumes are detrimental to your brain.

Heat  

 Heat exposure, in general has degradative effect over your body and mind.  Whether it is a shower or a soak in a bath, very hot water, above  39 C (102 F) is a big NO

Babies should be bathed in much lower temperatures, as close to normal body temperature (37C/98.6F) especially for newborns.

Although moderate warm water stimulate the brain’s release of oxytocin, which can reduce stress and ease anxiety, if is too hot and longer than 10 min the heat will “boil” your brain.

Heating up and cooling down the body do not require equal amounts of energy.  The body needs greater energy (glucose) in order to cool down.  Hot climates will require the use of more energy than colder climates.  So once glucose is used to regulate body temperature, less glucose is available to be used for higher order cognitive function—like making decisions.

“Cold is health” The intense shock of the cold sends a jolt of electrical impulses from the peripheral nerve endings to the brain, boosting  your brain activity, your sharpness and your mood.

Cool showers are also less drying, and promote healthy skin and hair. They also cause the pores to close up, which helps keep out dirt and grime. Cool temperatures also stimulate weight loss.

The body essentially produces two types of fat: white fat and brown fat. White fat is what is stored when we consume more calories than we burn, and it is the kind of fat we struggle to lose. Brown fat is the healthy fat that our bodies need to stay warm. Cold showers promote brown fat activity, which  eliminate white fat. And not only you feel lighter, you are lighter after a cold shower, you are more energized, fearless, ready to ROCK your day.

Singers benefit from cool showers as well, taking down the inflammation, making more room for vibration, vocal cords become sharp and sound

I personally didn’t like cold at all, so started slow, alternating warm-cold water, finishing showering with cold. Now I love it, even willing to get a dog to walk in those lovely winter mornings in Chicago 🙂

GLUTTONY & JUNK FOOD

Many factors influence the development of and deterioration of brain cells. Unhealthy diet, lack of stimulation, overeating, and a sedentary lifestyle are major contributors to killing brain cells and memory problems.

Diets high in certain foods can actually harm or kill brain cells.

• Trans Fatty Acids.

Fatty acids are found in all sorts of things including: processed foods, margarines, salad oils, deli meats, bakery goods, potato and corn chips, and candy. Americans consume an estimated 10-30 grams of trans fatty acids every day. The RDA is less than a third of that. Regular consumption of such things as: trans fatty acids, saturated fats or refined sugars can raise levels of harmful LDL cholesterol, linked to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

To make trans fatty acids, natural unsaturated vegetable fats are heated to a high temperature with a nickel catalyst and hydrogen gas. This process is called hydrogenation. Trans fatty acids have an unnaturally long shelf life..

• Saturated Fats

From a chemical standpoint, saturated fats are simply fat molecules that have no double bonds between carbon molecules because they are saturated with hydrogen molecules. Saturated fats are typically solid at room temperature.

• fatty beef,
• lamb,
• pork,
• poultry with skin,
• beef fat (tallow),
• lard and cream,
• butter,
• cheese and
• other dairy products made from whole or reduced-fat (2 percent) milk.

In addition, many baked goods and fried foods can contain high levels of saturated fats. Some plant-based oils, such as palm oil, palm kernel oil and coconut oil, also contain primarily saturated fats, but do not contain cholesterol.

• Sugar, Syrups and Simple Carbs

Refined sugar, syrups and simple carbs increase the risk of metabolic syndrome.
High-fructose syrups are an inexpensive way to sweeten such processed foods as: soft drinks, condiments, applesauce and baby food.

A UCLA lab study showed that a diet high in fructose slowed down cognitive functions, hampered memory and retarded learning. Lab animals fed a diet high in fructose for six weeks had trouble signaling each other. Their ability to think was disrupted. They had difficulty recalling things they had learned before being fed the high fructose diet.

Sugar, syrups and simple carbs have the highest GI. They release glucose very quickly. This causes spikes in blood sugar and cognition. Consuming carbohydrate foods with a lower GI means eliminates peaks and spikes which controls and maintains brain cells healthy

•  Food Additives

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is frequently used in processed foods to enhance the flavor. MSG is an excitotoxin, that over-stimulates nerve cells, actually killing them. This can result in serious neurological disorders and mental cognition difficulties. MSG is found in: salad dressing, low-fat yogurt, frozen dinners, condensed canned soups, canned meats, potato chips and flavored crackers.

Aspartame is a common food additive (artificial sweetener) that is highly controversial in terms of impact it may have on your overall health. There is some evidence that excess aspartame can excite your brain cells to a point of overstimulation – leading to excitotoxicity and brain cell death. Aspartame contains amino acids that are capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier which can lead to neuronal destruction and damage.

Sucralose –  Despite its marketing slogan “Made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar,” Splenda (sucralose) is not sugar -It is a chlorinated artificial sweetener in line with aspartame and saccharin,  a substance that acts as an excitotoxin. Basically what it does is excites your neurons to such an extreme that they die.

Miscellaneous

Anesthesia – Many types of anesthetic drugs can cause significant brain impairment and even memory problems after use. Although anesthesiologists are highly trained professionals, the anesthesia exposure can wipe out some brain cells. Although there isn’t conclusive evidence in humans that anesthetic drugs kill brain cells, there is significant evidence in rats and mice. Currently there hasn’t been any direct research conducted in humans to find whether anesthesia causes neuronal death.

Chemotherapy – Not only can chemotherapy cause brain cells to die off rapidly, but certain drugs given post-treatment continue to damage and kill neurons. Most chemotherapeutic agents target rapidly dividing cells – an extremely common trait of cancerous cells. Because these agents kill rapidly dividing cells, they also kill non-cancerous cells that divide rapidly as a part of their normal everyday functioning.

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) – There are many psychiatrists that promote the heck out of ECT as being a good option for treatment-resistant depression. If you’ve tried all the medications, and tried different therapies, why not give ECT a shot? The fact is that ECT works by shocking your brain cells to trigger a seizure. The goal is to help normalize activity within a person’s brain and alleviate their depression. However, in many cases ECT ends up damaging the brain and killing neurons. Some people find it effective, but most end up with memory and other cognition problems. In some cases people are worse than ever before.

Helium – Helium is a gas that is non-toxic – so it won’t do any direct damage to your brain or cells. However, what helium does is basically suffocates the person breathing it in via the displacement of oxygen. If you are inhaling helium instead of oxygen, your brain cells aren’t getting the oxygen that they need to survive – which can not only kill cells, but lead to brain death. So indirectly helium can be classified as something that kills brain cells.

Radiation – Radiation damages the cells that make up the human body. Radiation is extremely effective at helping destroy cancerous and tumor cells. However, this exposure can have an impact on other areas of the brain and cells. Although radiation is typically only given once per day to avoid damaging other parts of the brain, it still can have an impact on other brain cells. Most people notice changes in cognition, mood swings, and memory issues during radiation. It’s quite obvious that this treatment can kill some healthy brain cells, but doctors do their best job to target the exposure strictly to the area with the tumor.

Good news: Your brain can repair itself from damage

Even though your brain may lose cells from harmful toxins, it also has the potential to heal itself. Your brain has the ability to grow new cells through a process called neurogenesis. More info in my next posts!

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