Staying young by caring for your Senses

When did you last get a health check-up?  How is your hearing? Are there times you miss out on hearing something? Are some of the words on the vitamins label fuzzy? Does your food not taste the same? Is your sense of smell weak? In short, how are your five senses? Are they as sharp as they used to be or has age seemed to take its toll a little? Maybe it’s time to pep up your sensations!

Smell and taste

Smell and taste are linked and both are important in digestion. Even before we eat these senses let the body anticipate the food and make absorption easier. When these senses don’t work you are less likely to have a good appetite and could suffer from malnutrition which really means ‘bad’ nutrition. To pep up your taste buds savour the smell of your food. Take a deep breath of warm food as heat opens the odour molecules to wake up the taste buds.

To clean out the sinuses and dissolve molecules that stop sense of smell have a warm shower. Boost your immune system with supplements if you get a lot of allergies or colds as these impair taste and smell sometimes due to nasal polyps blocking the receptors inside the top of the nose. Whilst a zinc deficiency is a good cold remedy it is not a cure all as it temporarily distorts smell and taste if you take too much of it. There are natural supplements you can take to help with sinus and allergies and give you almost permanent relief.

Sight

Presbyopia is weak vision which comes about with age when the lens of the eye loses its flexibility making it harder to focus clearly on close objects. One of the best ways to avoid macular degeneration is to take a daily dose of 500 mg of Vitamin C, 400 IU of Vitamin E, 15 mg of Beta Carotene (Vitamin A) and 80 mg of Zinc Oxide. You really need to take these in supplement form because there is no way you could get these amounts from food alone. Polycarbonate lenses help block harmful ultraviolet light, which causes cataracts so keep your glasses on outdoors or if you don’t need glasses yet make sure you wear decent sunglasses that protect from both UVA and UVB rays.

Also loosen the tie as a study in the British Journal of Ophthalmology found that tight neckties can increase risk of glaucoma as it constricts neck veins and boosts fluid pressure in the eyes. Eat lots of peas, peppers, green leafy vegetables and spinach as they are rich in lutein and watch out for the smog and toxins in the air.

Hearing

Illness, injury, certain drugs and genetics can affect your hearing but the main problem today is noise. Every noise that is loud or long enough damages some of the 16,000 odd tiny hairs inside each ear that allow sound waves to be heard. This causes gradual hearing loss that becomes more noticeable in middle age so wear ear plugs to protect them. Some smaller plugs actually keep more noise out than the larger ones.

Regular exercise keeps hearing sharp as it keeps a good blood flow to the inner ear but when more blood is feeding the muscles as you exercise less it can affect the nerves sometimes making them more vulnerable to noise damage. This means loud music while you exercise is not a good idea though studies on this are not conclusive. Also be careful not to blow your nose too hard as it can cause hearing loss by rupturing inside the eardrum. Always blow one nostril at a time.

Diabetes can also often lead to faster hearing loss, as it slows blood flow to nerves that control hearing. So get tested on a regular basis for eyes, hearing, kidney function, and other diabetes complications. Also people with high blood pressure or high cholesterol need to check hearing more often.

Watch your aspirin intake and other medications as some can lead to hearing loss by once again damaging those hair cells and nerves that carry sounds to the brain. If you have ringing in the ears studies show you should perhaps not take aspirin however if your doctor has put you on aspirin for a reason make sure you check with him first before you do anything.

If you look after your senses when you are younger they will not age as quickly. For those of you where some damage is done preserve what you have by using the tips above and a daily multivitamin to ensure you don’t have problems due to deficiencies. It also becomes important to watch the absorption levels as many people don’t drink enough water, are constipated, overweight and this leads to bad absorption. Often supplements are blamed for not working when it is the person who has the absorption problems and their system is not absorbing what they are taking. This is why it becomes important to take a digestive enzyme. Often the lack of absorption of supplements is the reason people still feel tired. If this is the case consult your natural practitioner for advice to see how you can better combine your supplements, your food and balance your lifestyle.