Things That Are Making You Dumber

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Most of the time we discuss things such as different foods, supplements or techniques that can be used to boost brain function and essentially make you smarter. While focusing on ways to enhance cognitive abilities is a great habit to keep, it’s equally as important to be aware of everyday practices that are unfortunately paving the way to Dumb Ville. If you want to maintain your smarts and keep exercising your brain for the better, be aware of the following list of things that are surprisingly doing you just the opposite.

  1. Stop Stressing & Chill Out.

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” ­– William James

Wise words, Mr. James. Stress may just be the worst trigger to lowered cognitive function. Although stress may be beneficial occasionally (i.e. in times of danger when you need to think fast!), prolonged periods of stress lead to lowered emotional intelligence, productivity, motivation, and decreased memory capacity. We recommend finding a way to unwind during times of high anxiety and stress. Perhaps give yoga a try? Or some deep breathing should do the trick.

  1. Salads Over Burgers.

If a night with Netflix and pizza sounds like the perfect way to end a Friday to you, the following information may be the biggest ball buster. Junk food is packed with unnecessary sugars, fats and carbohydrates that if consumed in bulk, lead to lowered mental alertness and even memory loss.

  1. Getting Into A (Very Serious & Committed) Relationship with Google

With technology on the rise our addiction to the Internet and social media has soared more than ever before. Pretty much everyone has a laptop and a smartphone, providing us with access to information at the touch of a finger. While using search engine such as Google has been shown to increase brain activity, too much reliance on the Internet to get information can actually disrupt our memory capacity and overall thinking. Simply put, searching for dates of historical events, ideas for a new website, and ways to make your living room more cozy is making you lazier and less creative.

Makes sense when you think about – we didn’t use to have such easy access to literally anything you could possibly think of – meaning we had no choice but to train our brain. Our memories were sharper because Google wasn’t there to support us and our creative juices flowed better because we weren’t so dependent on the Internet. For this reason, next time you are struggling to think of a new idea or remember a piece of information, don’t use Google as your first go-to. Instead, push your brain to think.

  1. Jetlag

Undoubtedly, travelling is one of the most exciting opportunities in life. But arriving to a country that’s 14 hours behind your home can have some major side effects on your brain. Tons of studies, such as the one conducted in Cal Berkeley, have shown that a disruption in sleeping patterns leads to a lowered production of neurons, which essentially means decreased memory capacity and learning abilities.

So how is this avoidable, particularly if you’re someone who has travelling under your work description? The use of healthy, brain-enhancing sleep aids is the best way to go. Don’t push yourself to fall asleep when you can’t, because that will just lead to endless boredom and tossing and turning in that comfy hotel room. Instead, invest in a high-quality sleep aid, such as Lumonol Luna, which can help relax your body and provide you with brain enhancing benefits during your sleep.