Women's Health Quotes Dr. Williams: 6 Things Neurologists Would Never Do If They Wanted To Protect Their Brain Health

All of your organs are crucial to your wellbeing, with the exception of a select few (looking at you, appendix). But if you were forced to rank which ones you really, really want to protect, your brain should definitely be one of the top contenders.

After all, your brain is your body’s command center, overseeing basic life functions like your breathing and heart rate, along with your memory, learning, and complex thinking. Neurologists know this, and are well aware of what can happen to your health when your brain isn’t in peak condition.

With that in mind, we tapped neurologists across the country for their hot take on the things they would never do in the name of preserving their brain health.

Smoking and excess drinking are a hard pass.

There are a lot of things out there that are potentially bad for your body, but some toxins are considered worse for your brain than others. Juliann Paolicchi, MD, a neurologist at Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital, says she will never smoke because of its impact on the brain.

“The effects of nicotine on the brain are cumulative, which means there is never a bad time to stop,” she says. Research also suggests that smoking raises your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by as much as 40 percent.

But Paolicchi also lists hard drugs and “excess alcohol intake” as things she avoids, noting that they’re “known to be neurotoxins," which means they're specifically bad for your brain.