I’m a neurologist—to keep my brain safe and healthy, I never eat these 4 foods

Doctors will often tell you to avoid processed foods or foods that contain high amounts of sugar or saturated fat.

Their advice is sound, since consuming these foods frequently can increase your risk of developing chronic diseases, including neurological conditions like stroke and dementia.

However, as a neurologist, I can tell you that there are some other surprising and lesser-known foods you should avoid in order to prevent serious neurological issues.

I never eat these four foods:

1. Canned foods that appear damaged

If a can is bulging, cracked, or severely dented, it should raise an alarm. It might be a sign of botulinum contamination, which can cause botulism.

The botulinum toxin is one of the most potent neurotoxins known to science. It blocks the release of a neurotransmitter that helps your brain tell your muscles to move. The result can be limb paralysis, blurred vision, and, in severe cases, respiratory failure. Without an antidote, botulism can be fatal.

What makes this toxin particularly dangerous is that you can’t detect it by smell, taste, or sight. Unfortunately, heating the food in a contaminated can may not be enough to neutralize the toxin.

Remember this motto: “When in doubt, throw it out.”

2. Certain reef fish, especially in tropical areas

I love eating fish and I encourage my patients to consume varieties like salmon, sardines, and trout, which are high in omega-3 fatty acids and low in mercury.

However, I advise caution when it comes to larger tropical fish such as barracuda, grouper, sturgeon, moray eel, and amberjack. They may contain a neurotoxin called ciguatoxin, especially if they were caught in places with coral reefs like the Caribbean and the South Pacific.

I’ve personally seen a few cases of ciguatera poisoning, and symptoms can include a sensation of coldness, burning, tingling, dizziness, or even vivid nightmares. Because some of these symptoms are non-specific, it can be easily misdiagnosed, especially without a detailed patient history.

The kicker is that ciguatoxin is heat-stable, meaning that no matter how long you cook the fish, the toxin remains intact. And like the botulinum toxin, it doesn’t have a taste or smell.

Try to limit your intake of large predatory fish, avoid certain parts like liver, roe, and heads, and be particularly cautious in endemic areas.

3. Uncooked or undercooked pork

The risk here is neurocysticercosis, a condition caused by ingesting the eggs of the pork tapeworm. The tapeworm’s larvae can travel to the brain and cause a variety of symptoms, including seizures, increased intracranial pressure, and even dementia-like symptoms. Brain imaging typically shows multiple cysts in the person’s brain.

Neurocysticercosis is one of the leading causes of acquired epilepsy worldwide. And while it isn’t very common in developed countries, I have seen cases in the U.S.

So if you travel frequently to or spend significant time in developing countries — or anywhere with poor sanitation — cook pork thoroughly and practice good hand hygiene.

4. Unpasteurized milk

When milk is pasteurized, it’s treated with heat to eliminate microorganisms that can cause disease. The process does reduce the concentrations of certain vitamins, but the impact is minimal.

Raw milk, on the other hand, is a well-recognized source of pathogens such as listeria, E. coli, and salmonella. Drinking it causes approximately 840 times more illnesses and 45 times more hospitalizations than pasteurized milk, despite being consumed by a small minority of the population.

Current data shows that children, pregnant women, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals are at highest risk for severe outcomes, including hemolytic uremic syndrome, miscarriage, and death.

I’ve personally seen cases of irreversible damage to the brain leading to seizures, meningitis, and coma that were caused by pathogens from unpasteurized products.

And claims that drinking unpasteurized milk lowers rates of asthma, cancer, or lactose intolerance? Those are unsubstantiated.

Of course, you should always consult with a health care professional before making any drastic changes to your diet. The key is to be more mindful and aware of what we put into our bodies, especially if it can be damaging to our brain health.

Baibing Chen is a double-boarded certified neurologist and epileptologist practicing at the University of Michigan. Find him on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

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The 10 most in-demand ZIP codes for homebuyers in 2025

The most in-demand real estate markets of 2025 are clustered in suburbs and smaller cities near major metros in the Northeast and Midwest.

That’s according to Realtor.com’s annual “Hottest ZIP Codes” list, which ranks the most in-demand areas based on listing views and how quickly homes have sold so far in 2025.

Beverly, Massachusetts, a coastal suburb 20 miles northeast of Boston, claims the No. 1 spot, with listings averaging 4.6 times more views per property than the national average and homes selling in a median of 16 days in June — more than a month faster than the national average.

By comparison, homes nationwide spent a median of 53 days on the market in June, according to Realtor.com. The company doesn’t disclose national averages for listing views.

Here are the 10 most in-demand ZIP codes in 2025, according to Realtor.com. For the rankings, listing prices and days on the market are based on the average of monthly medians from January to June 2025.

Why the hottest ZIP codes are mostly in the Northeast and the Midwest

As with previous years, the 2025 rankings for the hottest ZIP codes in the U.S. are dominated by the Northeast and Midwest, with Leominster, Massachusetts, and Ballwin, Missouri, both returning from last year’s list.

The geographic trend is largely driven by “buyers from high-cost metros” like Boston or New York City, who are “looking for relief without sacrificing access to jobs and amenities,” says Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com.

“Many of these neighborhoods also offer newer homes than the surrounding areas, highlighting the critical role of new and infill construction in meeting today’s buyer demand — even in a tough market,” she says.

While several ZIP codes had June median listing prices above the national median of $441,000 six of the 10 were more affordable than their surrounding metro areas, the report says. In Beverly, for example, the $719,000 median list price is significantly lower than the metro Boston median of $855,000, according to Realtor.com data, which uses June figures for ZIP-to-metro comparisons.

In some cases, listing prices exceed those in nearby major cities. For example, in Marlton, New Jersey, the median listing price in June was $530,000 — well above the $387,000 median in the adjacent Philadelphia metro area.

That’s likely driven by demand from higher-income buyers seeking more space and relative value in suburban areas, while staying within commuting distance of major job centers, the analysis suggests.

While the 10 hottest ZIP codes offer relative value, they also tend to attract wealthier buyers. Among the top 10 markets, median household income is nearly double the national figure, down payments are significantly larger and buyers skew older, with a median age of 56.

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The 10 worst U.S. cities for jobs and earning potential, according to new report

While fast-growing cities like Raleigh and Nashville boast thriving job markets and high earnings, other major U.S. cities are struggling with low employment and declining wages.

Checkr ranked the 100 largest U.S. cities based on employment opportunity and earning potential, using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US Census Bureau, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Each city’s employment opportunity score is based on its unemployment rate, labor force growth, labor force size and percentage of jobs open. The earning potential score is sourced from the city’s real per capita personal income, 10-year income growth and the percentage of households earning more than $200,000.

According to Sam Radbil, research and content strategist at Checkr, the lowest-ranked cities on the list face a variety of economic challenges, including slow job growth, overreliance on declining industries, low median wages and high unemployment and poverty rates.

Though some of these cities may offer a more affordable cost of living, they often suffer from “stagnant” employment and draw in few new businesses, he says.

These 10 U.S. cities scored the lowest for job opportunities and earning potential, according to Checkr.

Bakersfield, CA
Scranton, PA
McAllen, TX
Fresno, CA
Memphis, TN
Jackson, MS
Rochester, NY
Toledo, OH
Augusta, GA
Spokane, WA

Bakersfield, Scranton and McAllen had particularly low scores on Checkr’s employment opportunity metric, Radbil says.

One major factor is a lack of high-growth industries. Bakersfield and Fresno are largely reliant on the agriculture and energy sectors, Radbil says, while Rust Belt cities like Scranton and Rochester are still suffering from the effects of industrial and manufacturing declines.

According to Radbil, the above industries also tend to require on-site work, which limits opportunities for remote workers.

Even in cities with more employment opportunities, a better job market doesn’t guarantee higher earnings.

“While jobs are difficult to find, it’s even more difficult to get paid the national average,” he says.

Unemployment is another important concern: of the 10 cities listed by Checkr, only Rochester had an unemployment rate below the national average of 4.2%.

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bakersfield and Fresno metro areas have two of the highest unemployment rates in the country, at 9.6% and 8.5%, respectively.

McAllen and Jackson fare little better, with unemployment rates of 6.4% and 6.2% each.

Overall, these cities struggle to attract and retain talent, Radbil says.

“There’s not a ton of new jobs being generated, and that can always limit the opportunity for a city to grow,” he says.

Walmart exec shares the ultimate red flag she sees in employees: ‘Nobody’ will want to hire you

If you ask Donna Morris, there’s one behavior that’s the ultimate red flag an employee won’t get far in the workplace: when someone is a “Debbie Downer.”

Morris, 57, has been executive vice president and chief people officer at Walmart since 2020, helping shape the employee experience of 2.1 million workers since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Prior to her current role, she spent 17 years at Adobe in a variety of leadership positions — and throughout her career, she’s learned a thing or two about red flags in the office.

“Nobody wants [to hire] a Debbie Downer,” Morris tells CNBC Make It, adding that this kind of person is “constantly negative. You know they’re going to show up [and] they’re going to bring the problem, never the solution. I like people who bring the problem and a suggestion for how they might resolve [it.]”

A “Debbie Downer” can also be someone who’s a naysayer, sharing negative opinions about others’ ideas and goals, or regularly being a hindrance to new projects and perspectives. This could make it difficult for them to make the connections needed to climb the corporate ladder, or for their bosses and managers to trust them with new projects.

If your co-worker has this character trait, they’re “only going to support you to a restricted limit,” Juliette Han, a Harvard-trained neuroscientist, told CNBC Make It in June 2023. “They need you to stay within a short leash, and might discourage you from meeting new people in the company or going after new projects if it doesn’t benefit them directly.”

That doesn’t mean you should practice toxic optimism, pretending everything is fine when your team is facing difficult circumstances, for example. It’s unnatural and unrealistic for someone to be happy all the time, Morris says. Similarly, a continuous negative spiral could be a signal that you’re in the wrong job or company, she adds.

How to actually get ahead

There are a couple attributes that separate the most highly successful employees to those who fall short, says Morris.

She thinks highly of workers who “deliver what you are expecting at the time that you’re expecting,” she says. “You’re better to deliver early than to deliver late, and you’re better to deliver more than less.”

“Another green flag is they’re open to opportunities, and they put their hand up to take on more,” she adds. “Or they bring a problem with the remedy or request help in a timely manner, as opposed to the house is on fire.”

You can show you have this kind of team player, self-starter attitude by offering help even when you’re not asked for it, like volunteering to mentor the new intern or pitching an idea that solves a problem your boss has been dealing with.

Demonstrating radical intellectual curiosity, like researching a new AI tool or a new software your competitors are using, then sharing your findings with your boss or manager, also goes a long way, according to Michael Ramlett, CEO of global data intelligence firm Morning Consult.

And if you’re willing to help your colleagues along the way, acting as a mentor and sharing the things you’ve learned, that’s the icing on the cake, Morris says.

“People who you see are actually helping others [are a] total green flag.”

27-year-old first-grade teacher lived paycheck to paycheck due to her impulsive spending

Maddie Baker, 27, will be the first to admit she was an impulsive spender when she started teaching kindergarteners six years ago.

She bought coffee at least once a day, frequently shopped for new clothes and spent lavishly on vacations she says she “probably had no business going on.”

“Any day that I had a hard day at teaching, I would immediately go from my job to a store,” the now first-grade teacher tells CNBC Make It. “The way I was coping with hard days was by spending money.”

Baker isn’t alone. Almost half of American consumers say they make purchases to boost their mood, according to LendingTree survey data released in July. Emotional spending isn’t always bad, either. It can provide temporary comfort or a needed mood boost. However, it can also lead to financial strain.

Baker says her impulsive spending got so out of hand, she found herself in “horrible cycles” of living paycheck to paycheck to avoid going into credit card debt. Nationally, almost three-quarters of emotional shoppers admit they’ve spent more than they intended, and 44% say it’s negatively impacted their financial well-being, LendingTree found.

It took Baker three years to get her spending under control, she says. Today, she’s very intentional with how she spends her money and has even developed new hobbies from habits she’s built to save money.

‘It became so stressful’

“I remember just waking up every single day, and the stress of finances was just really getting me down,” says Baker, who was making around $50,000 a year at the time. “It became so stressful.”

Nearly Baker’s entire paycheck would go directly toward paying off her credit card. Because she was paid once a month, that often left her with little to live on — forcing her to rely on the card for new expenses and trapping her in a constant cycle of borrowing from herself.

She tried everything to earn extra cash. She tutored kids during her summer breaks, tried selling her clothes and donating her plasma, but none of it seemed to sustain her lifestyle, she says.

Baker got her spending under control three years into teaching through a tax refund that allowed her to pay off her credit card bill without using her paycheck. Now, she keeps enough in her checking account to pay her credit card bill every month without having to rely on an incoming paycheck.

“It took a total restart and being tired of the cycle I was in, in order to do something about it,” she says.

How to curb wasteful spending

Young adults are particularly susceptible to overspending when they’re online or bombarded with bad news, Ylva Baeckström, a senior lecturer in finance at King’s Business School, said in 2024. Overwhelming feelings can lead to unhealthy spending habits as a way to cope or find relief, Baeckström said.

To avoid overspending, “one of the biggest things you can do is take a beat,” Keith Barron, a personal finance expert and former head of marketing at Jenius Bank, said in 2024.

Rather than heading straight to checkout when shopping online, try adding the item to a wish list and waiting a day or two. This brief delay can help you decide whether you genuinely want or need the item, Barron said.

From saving money to finding new hobbies

Today, Baker is working toward building an emergency fund and saving for a house, and says she’s way more intentional about what she decides to spend money on.

On top of learning how to spend less impulsively, she says she’s found alternatives to save money and a side hustle creating videos on TikTok to bring in more income. Her silver lining: Many of the activities that started as a way to save have become hobbies as well.

She enjoys painting her own nails, making lattes at home and meal prepping to avoid eating out. On TikTok, she earns up to $2,000 a month from sharing videos about her life as a teacher.

“All of these things happened because I had the mindset of, ‘I need to save more money, and I need to spend less money,’” she says.