Just like there are foods that will improve your memory there are things you can put in your body that will hurt your memory.

1. Avoiding medications that cause drowsy can also have a great impact. These medications can linger in your system and cause a cloudy head and hurt the ability to focus.

2. Minimizing the intake of alcohol is important and best to consume in moderation or not at all. Personally, I chose to minimize instead of eliminate

3. Sucralose which is found in many artificial sweeteners and used as sweeteners in many beverages (check the label) can cause headaches and result in a weak memory

4. If it is considered ‘junk food’ it isn’t going to have a positive effect on your memory

5. Any meal that is heavy just as meats and starches will send more blood to your stomach to digest and thus less blood flow in your brain. A temporary yet real result.

Scientists at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden gave mice junk food for nine months and then examined their brains. The results were neural tangles associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease. The mice brains showed toxic tau protein build-up and diminished activity of Arc protein (associated with memory). The bottom line is mice that ate fast food experienced adverse changes in their neurochemistry.

Rule of thumb – If it is bad for your body it is going to be bad for your brain.