All of your senses gather information from the outside world so that your brain can process it and decide what it wants to do with that information. The sense that makes us most human is our eyesight. Roughly 80 percent of what our brains process comes from what we see. We may not always be feeling, smelling, or listening. But unless we`re sleeping, meditating, or praying we`re constantly processing information visually. The most active muscles in your body are the ones in your eyes. Your eyes have over 2 million working parts and the ability to process thirty-six thousand bits of information every hour. The biggest difference between your sensory organs and other organs is that their malfunctioning doesn`t have life-threatening implications ` more like life altering ones. If your heart or brain stops working, so do you. But that`s not the case with your sensory organs. Most of your organs are related to function ` they work so you can live. Your sensory organs do play functionary roles to protect you. And they`re largely responsible for quality of life, so you can enjoy such things as movies, books, good food etc. Eyes Your eyeballs contain a lot of fluid. Without fluid, your eyeballs would collapse. The fluid constantly circulates in and out of your eye and is filtered through a mesh like covering, like a window screen. Behind your eyeball, there`s a lot of fat; that`s what pushes your eyes forward. To see, your eye essentially takes information from outside sources and passes it along to your brain. Lots of things can make your eyes ineffective ` they can break, they can fog up. They can be painted shut; they can come out on the losing end of a collision. Ears You`re most familiar with the outer structures of your ears, and you know the many purposes they serve. They hold up glasses and provide a nice backdrop for gold earrings. They also let you hear the sweet sounds of music. The outer fleshy part of the ear, in essence, serves as a funnel for sound. It directs and localizes sound. Once sound enters your ear canal, your brain can make decisions based on the sounds you`ve heard. The biggest threat to your hearing is loud noise. Much research has shown that being exposed to loud noises over a period of time can lead to significant and permanent hearing loss. As opposed to not hearing enough, some people experience chronic ringing in their ears a condition called tinnitus. One of the worst things you can do to your ears is use cotton bud, fingernail. Anything you put in your ear acts as a ramrod and pushes the wax in your ears deeper which can hinder sound waves from making it to your main auditory processing center. Skin Just like the paint on your house, skin comes in many colors and is exposed to all the elements of the world. Its primary purpose is to protect your insides your insides. Though skin is literally only skin deep, it does offer many insights into the way your inner system works. Covering seventeen thousand square centimeters in the average person, your skin is your body`s largest organ and, in fact is more than just a physical body or armor. Skin also: ` Protects against infections ` Sends important signals to our brain ` Helps us develop ` Helps us heal The greatest enemy of the skin, when exposed to it in large amounts, is the sun. most people associate aging skin with wrinkles ` and wrinkles arise from prolonged exposure to the sun. Your Senses: The Live Younger Action Plan Part of living younger is also about feeling younger. Few things make you feel older than the decline of your senses ` especially your hearing and sight. This action plan is about maintaining all of the wonderful sensations of the world. Practice Preservation Skin As you get older, your epidermis makes new cells more slowly, and sun damage thins living epidermis from twenty to two cells deep over time. One of the ways you can help make your skin younger is to trick your skin ` to make it think it needs to produce new cells. Use alpha hydroxyl acid (AHA). A substance found in many skin creams. It works by increasing skin turnover ` that is, it irritates your epidermis, removing dead cells, causing your skin to think it needs to rejuvenate and produce new cells, which has the effect of making your skin look younger. But you don`t need to spend a lot of money on expensive face creams to do it; any product that contains AHA will work. Eyes Long or intense exposure to sunlight is potentially harmful because certain wavelengths of light can damage the lens and retina. Glasses that filter out the `bad` light spectrum (ultraviolet A and B ) are essential for those who frequently work or play outside. UVB rays are usually filtered through your cornea and windshield, but UVA rays are not ` and exposure to those rays correlate with development of cataracts and macular degeneration. Check labeling to make sure your sunglasses block UVA rays ( inexpensive glasses cam block them), or invest in a visit to your optometrist or optician to have the UV protection in your glasses measured to make sure the coating is adequate to block harmful rays. Ears Nothing damages your eyes more than loud noises. Luckily, your ears are able to reset themselves, so the loudness has to be sustained all at one time in order for you to feel the effects of any damage. The scary thought is that anything over 85 decibels can lead to permanent hearing loss. And the louder a noise gets, the less time it takes to inflict damage. Use Protection Getting sun is very important. Getting ten to twenty minutes of sun exposure every day helps you convert some forms of inactive vitamin D into a precursor that becomes active vitamin D ` which has a huge beneficial effect on your cardiovascular and immune systems. And that has a RealAge effect of making you more than a year younger. But you have to limit the time you`re exposed to protect yourself from skin cancer as well as wrinkling. Doing both ` getting the right amount of sunshine and not too much ` can make you up to 1.7 years younger. If you`re in a position where you`re going to be exposed to a lot of sun, like working in an outdoor job or going on a vacation, it`s imperative to use sun block to keep damaging UV rays from reaching your skin ` especially between ten A.M. and four P.M., when the UV rays are most powerful and dangerous. Always use SPF 30 or more (the 30 means that you get thirty times the amount of protection you would get if you wore no sunscreen at all.) and you should use SPF 45 routinely (that means everyday) on every exposed surface of your body ` hands, face, neck ` no matter what. Use Taste to Help Your Other Senses Food isn`t just to be enjoyed by your taste buds. Eating the right nutrients will benefit all of your sensory organs. These are the top nutrients for your sensory system. Lutein ` it`s a substance that`s found in corn, spinach, and other leafy green vegetables, and it`s been found to be one of the substances most beneficial for maintaining sight and improving the health of your eyes. While good for your eyes, carrots aren`t as powerful as spinach. Vitamin C and Bioflavnoids - They`ve shown to be helpful for your immune system, but they`re also helpful for protecting against cataracts. Many fruits and vegetables contain C and Bioflavnoids, and there`s evidence that eating a diverse diet that includes just four servings of fruit a day can make your RealAge as much as four years younger. Fish Oil ` As we age, our fat cells in that third layer of skin thin out and get a little bumpier. That`s part of what causes the raisin-like appearance of older skin. Somehow, the fatty acids in fish oil and salmon help make that layer a little thicker and smooth, so that wrinkles go away and the skin becomes fuller. Another reason fish is so good: it helps your eyes. Stopping smoking will help not only your lungs but also your skin.. Pamper your Eyes It`s time to thank your eyes for all the good things they`ve done. So we recommend you reward your eyes with this optical spa package. Drink Water - Dry eyes ` a very common problem result from an inadequate amount of fluid coming out of fluid coming out of those ducts. The best treatment is to keep drinking enough water throughout the day. Snooze ` As you know, sleep recharges your whole system ` including your eyes. And it`s the best answer for tired eyes. Sleep helps retinal membranes by allowing them to recharge from a hard day of seeing. You need atleast five hours of sleep to help your eyes. Walk Away ` if you sit in front of a computer all day, it`s important to take a ten-minute break from it about every two hours. The light energy that comes from your computer can make your eyes ache.