Every fully-grown human being has a brain that weighs around 3 pounds. But there are a lot of external and internal factors that can cause the growth or decrease of brain cells. According to certain studies, a favorable environment that provides the brain stimulation can make the person up to 25% better at learning and memory. But unfavorable factors can cause your brain cells to deteriorate, leading to memory problems or learning disabilities. These can be a lack of proper brain stimulation, a boring and inactive lifestyle or the topic of discussion here: an improper diet. Certain foods can literally cause the destruction of your brain cells. Here are 5 such foods that you need to stop eating right now:
Trans Fatty Acids
Trans Fats or Trans Fatty acids are present in many snack and food items that we eat on a daily basis like margarine, refined oils, chips, processed foods, and more. We eat them so much that the average American exceeds the limit of consumption recommended by the RDA (less than 10 g) by tripling it every day! Trans fats have been found to be very harmful to the brain cells. It can increase your LDL cholesterol and even lead to long term neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia. Studies have found that reducing the amount of trans fats in your diet can improve cognitive, visual, and memory issues.
Saturated Fats
Saturated fats are those fats that are present in meat and dairy products, like beef, cheese, full fat milk, cream cheese and more. A study conducted in 2012 concluded that having a diet high in saturated fats can cause a slow decline in brain activity, affecting understanding and memory,
Sugar
No matter how many times you hear it, it’s not enough: stay away from refined sugar! Most foods that we eat contain sugar, especially store-bought items like cookies, fizzy drinks, bread, and even baby food! This is because most commercially produced food items are artificially sweetened using ingredients like high fructose syrups, because they are inexpensive and readily available. Consuming such high amounts of sugar can prove to be detrimental to our health. It can cause a significant slowing down of our metabolism, and also lead memory and learning problems.
Carbs
Carbs are also something that we need to omit from our diets to keep our brain cells healthy. We are talking about refined carbs, the kinds that’s there in bread, cakes, doughnuts, you name it! (Not to mention such foods are also full of sugar, fats, and more unhealthy stuff). Eating too many carbs can also slow down your metabolism and make you feel more lethargic and cause chronic tiredness. Carbohydrates are also high in GI, which increases the risk of diabetes in people by releasing glucose at a faster pace.
Junk Food
Junk Food is a no-no if you want to be maintain a healthy brain. It basically contributes to just about any health problem you can think of. The fact that junk food is to be avoided like plague is because it is full of all the previously listed foods that can cause harm to your brain cells like sugar, carbohydrates, MSG, trans and saturated fats, and so much more unhealthiness.
Food Additives
Food additives are often used in the production of commercially-produced food items in order to make them look and taste better. But at what cost? MSG, one of the most commonly-used and one of the most harmful food additives is a neurotoxic chemical that has been proven to damage nerve and brain cells. MSG can cause too much stimulation in the brain, resulting in a many neurological problems like learning incapacities, memory issues, and long-term diseases.
