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People obsess over looking younger — but what about staying sharp?
For many, the brain isn’t a priority until something goes wrong. But by then, you may have missed the chance to get ahead of the problem.
“Basically every single thing that we’re doing now is shaping our brain health down the road,” Dr. Randy D’Amico, director of the Brain and Spine Metastasis Program of Neurosurgery at Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital, told The Post.
After all, genetics play a role — but they aren’t the whole story. Unlike your DNA, many of the factors that shape your cognitive health are within your control.
“The habits you build now are an investment in who you’re going to be in the future,” D’Amico said.
These are the seven everyday habits that are quietly damaging your brain and what you can do about them.
1. Sitting too much
Your brain doesn’t love being a couch potato.
In fact, physical inactivity can take a toll on your vascular health — the condition of your blood vessels — which can have an impact upstairs, too.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be a big athlete, but you just have to move,” D’Amico said.
The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week for adults to maintain good health.
“That’s the number you want to try to get to,” D’Amico said. “Your brain expects your body to move.”
2. Treating sleep like it doesn’t matter
Skimping on shut-eye isn’t just a recipe for a groggy morning.
“If you treat sleep like it’s not important, you’re doing your brain a disservice,” D’Amico said.
Regularly getting too little or poor-quality sleep can hurt attention, memory and mood. It can also take a toll on metabolic and vascular health.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults get at least seven hours of sleep a night, although the ideal amount varies from person to person.
“Everyone is a little bit different; you have to get the amount of sleep that works for you,” D’Amico said. “But it’s important to be regular about it.”
That’s because your brain doesn’t simply power down when you hit the hay. Instead, it’s busy doing important maintenance.
“This is when you consolidate education, learning and memories,” D’Amico said. “It’s actually critical for just maintaining brain health to incorporate sleep.”
3. Living on ultra-processed foods
“It’s not just one type of food that’s a bad thing; it’s dietary patterns,” D’Amico said.
A diet heavy in refined and ultra-processed foods — and light on vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, healthy fats and quality protein — can affect your weight, cholesterol, glucose levels and blood pressure.
And all of those factors matter to the brain.
“Cerebrovascular health and cognitive health are critical together, so if you’re not paying attention to nutrition, you’re ignoring one of the major determinants of long-term brain health,” D’Amico said.
“I think the best way to think about it is that what’s good for your arteries is good for your brain, so cardiovascular health is brain health. You want to limit ultra-processed food.”
4. Ignoring your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels
“If you want to preserve your brain, you have to pay attention to these numbers,” D’Amico said.
High blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes can damage blood vessels, including those that supply the brain with oxygen and essential nutrients.
The trouble, D’Amico explained, is that these warning signs are often overlooked.
“You feel fine, so people ignore it, but these processes can be developing silently for years before you ever notice symptoms — and doing that can have significant long-term consequences,” he said. “We see this every single day.”
5. Living in a constant state of distraction
“This is a big one and should resonate with kids and adults alike,” D’Amico said.
Between smartphones, nonstop notifications, social media and an endless stream of content, modern life can easily fracture our attention.
The fallout goes beyond simply feeling distracted. Constant stimulation can interfere with sleep while crowding out activities that challenge and strengthen the mind. Over time, that can take a toll on our ability to focus and think clearly.
It’s a problem D’Amico worries about in his own children — and admits he struggles with himself.
“We’re all guilty of doom scrolling, and there are moments in our life where we can’t stop,” he said. “But if you never challenge yourself to sustain attention for a period of time, you can’t really be surprised if you can’t maintain attention.”
D’Amico’s solution? Build some boredom back into your life.
“I read every night now. I go home, turn off everything, lay on my couch and I just read, quietly,” he said.
“It’s hard for me — and I’m a neurosurgeon. I read for so many years to learn everything. And I still find it really difficult to just focus on that because my brain always wants to go to something else.”
That’s a lesson he’s also trying to teach his kids.
“You have to teach yourself to tolerate boredom again,” D’Amico said. “You don’t need to fill every empty moment with stimulation.”
6. Letting your social world shrink
Humans are social creatures, but as people spend more time behind screens and less time interacting face-to-face, meaningful social connection can fall by the wayside.
“Social isolation has been identified as a modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline for dementia,” D’Amico said.
Scientists don’t fully understand all the mechanisms behind the connection, but meaningful social interaction forces the brain to work — engaging attention, language, memory, emotional processing and the ability to respond to another person.
“It’s not the same as having 20,000 social media followers. That’s not social engagement,” D’Amico said. “Your brain has evolved to interact with actual human beings, with other brains, to kind of have this back and forth.”
7. Using substances to regulate how you feel
“If you think you need nicotine to concentrate or alcohol to relax or fall asleep, that’s worth examining,” D’Amico said.
Tobacco exposure is harmful to vascular and brain health, while heavier alcohol consumption has been linked to neurological and cognitive harm.
But there’s another issue, D’Amico noted.
“When a substance becomes your automatic response to stress, fatigue, boredom or sleep, you’re building dependence into your daily routine,” he explained.
“The goal should be to develop ways of regulating those states that don’t require a substance.”
