Your Amazing Brain
The brain is the most amazing, complex, energy hungry organ in the universe!
- It’s 2% body weight (about 3 lbs)
- It uses 25% of your calories and oxygen
- There are 100 billion neurons (cells) in the brain
- It’s 60% fat
- It contains 150,000 miles of blood vessels
- It produces at least 70,000 thoughts a day
- It’s the texture of custard
Your Brain is Your Most Valuable Commodity!!!
DID YOU KNOW? “We only use 10% of our brain” is a myth. We use all of our brain all of the time (admittedly, some more efficiently than others).
Consider these statistics that are ALL Brain & Mind Related:
- In the last 40 years, people are dying earlier from despondency (also coincides with antidepressant use and SAD diet)
- IQ scores have been steadily falling for the past few decades
- ADHD, autism, intellectual disabilities, mental illness, and debilitating anxiety/depression increase each year
- Deaths from alcohol, drugs, and suicide is highest in recorded history
- 51% of Americans will deal with a mental health diagnosis in their lives,
- 23% of women on antidepressants.
- Alzheimer’s affects over 6m Americans and will more than double by 2050.
So, what are the causes of these dismal statistics? Here are a few things that harm your brain, making you vulnerable to brain-related problems.
1. Toxins harm your brain
- Smoking, Drugs, Alcohol, Pollution, Fumes, Mold, Carbon monoxide, Heavy metals, Chemo, Radiation, Meds
2. Age harms your brain
3. Poor diet harms your brain
(FYI: there is a direct correlation between eating fruits/vegetables and your level of happiness)
- Obesity – as weight goes up, the size of your brain goes down!
- Dehydration – Less than 64 oz of water daily can cause brain fog, moodiness, and memory problems.
- Sugar – Speeds up the aging process of the brain (it’s both addictive and toxic).
DID YOU KNOW? If you eat a healthy meal while in a toxic mindset, you can lose more than 80% of the nutrition!
4. Sleep deprivation harms your brain
- We need 7-9 hours
- Field Study on soldiers:
- 7hr sleep = 98% shooting accuracy, 6hr – 50%, 5hr – 28%, 4hr -15%
- Cerebrospinal fluid washes debris away while we sleep
- Learning/memory consolidates during sleep
- Check out this video What would happen if you didn’t sleep?
5. Disease harms your brain
Brain building increases brain matter and helps your brain to adapt to age, injury, or disease.
- Injuries harm your brain
- Brain injuries are serious, they can mimic or exacerbate learning disabilities,
- Concussions are a big deal – they cause Traumatic Brain Injuries
- 53% of homeless have a TBI
THE GOOD NEWS is that you’re not stuck with the brain you have, even if you’ve not been kind to it! With some intentionality, you can make small changes in these areas that will repair and improve your brain!!