Are you sad that you tend to forget about very simple things you shouldn’t be forgetting about? Does it bother you can’t remember the name of a colleague whom you got introduced to just a couple of days? Well, if you are experiencing such memory lapses, you should be concerned because they could be pointers to deep underlying mental issues, including the onset of conditions such as Alzheimer’s. But you should also be aware that you could be doing certain things that are total injustice to your memory. It is imperative that you identify such and keep away from them so that you can have a clean memory, always ready to retrieve information on a moment’s notice. Presented below are some of the things you may be doing that could be hurting your memory.
The internet
The world we live in today has ensured that every information we need is just a click away. Gone are the days when one would engage their brains into hyperactivity in search of information by actively reading in books. With the advent of the internet and the Big G, all you have to do is simply type what you need, and in just a few seconds, you will have all the information you wanted. In as much as this has enabled easy flow of information and the sharing of knowledge, it is a big stumbling block as far memory development is concerned. Why should you bother having it in your head when you can always look it up on the internet whenever you want to?
Electronics
If you need to read a book, you’ve got Kindle, if you need to do some calculations, including basic addition, subtraction and multiplication, you’ve got the calculator on your phone to help you out. The brain has simply gone for a safari to slumberland, as long as we still have the kinds of electronic gadgets we have today, the brain won’t have to think to try and help us find solutions. And this is a very dangerous trend because it will reach a point when we can’t live our lives without the gadgets. People will lose their visualization skills, forget how to think critically and rely on technology to solve very simple things.
Smoking
The effects of smoking are no secret. It has been blamed for a myriad of diseases, including very serious forms of cancer. If you have been experiencing memory lapses in the recent past, and you can’t do without smoking, then perhaps the time is now for you to review your association with the stick. Smoking is always injurious to health, and as far as memory loss is concerned, it is believed that smoking has the ability to degenerate memory and cognitive abilities of an individual. It is true that nicotine can impair memory and if you want to be completely safe, then you must work hard to kick the habit.
Eating junk food
Just as there are good foods for the proper functioning of certain body organs such as heart, liver, kidneys, and eyes, there are also good foods for the proper functioning of the brain, and by extension the improvement of memory. There are very many reasons why you should do away with junk foods completely. They won’t just risk your physical health in a number of ways, but also they are detrimental to your mental health. Junk foods contain all the bad nutrients not needed by the brain, and as such, they are a real impediment to memory functions of the brain. Though they are very sweet and extremely delicious, you get nearly zero as far as the nutritional benefits are concerned. Do away with them if you want to enjoy overall health and make good use of your memory.
Idleness
When you are idle, it simply means you have nothing to do with your physical body, and if your physical body has no work to do, your brain will also go to sleep. This is because the mind is responsible for coordinating everything the body does, and idleness doesn’t really present the brain with any work to do. There are so many things you can do to avoid being idle, and at least make your brain experience some sense of activity. For example, if you don’t want to venture outdoors, you can play board games such as Scrabble, and depending on your level, you can use scrabble dictionary to get you going along with the game. Besides, you should never forget that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.
Stressful events
When you encounter certain stressful or shocking events, your brain is likely to cling onto the memory tied to the event, and this may lead to a phenomenon known as memory repression. When memory repression occurs, the brain’s ability to encode memory and recall other things that might have happened in the past will be affected. Besides, stress usually has an effective mental health and it is something that should never be encouraged or tolerated at all. There are a number of ways you can use to distress, including talking to professionals, playing games such as scrabble dictionary, working out, or getting a well-deserved rest.
Eating too much sugar
There are very many reasons why sugars are not encouraged in modern diets. Sugar has been blamed for many of the current health challenges and lifestyle conditions, and one would be better off if they forget about taking too much sugar. As far as brain health and memory is concerned, sugars can create a disturbance in the manner which neurotransmitters are secreted in the body. When this happens for a long time as one continues to consume sugar, a range of neurological problems can ensue, and memory-related problems are always part of the package. Therefore, giving up on a lot of sugar intake will not just help you avoid problems with your waistline and predispose you to conditions like diabetes, but also it will help improve the memory faculties of your brain.
