Your eyes are one of the most important (and complex) organs in your body. Life without your eyesight does not bear thinking about, right? They are simply your most valuable asset because they play a central part in every single aspect of your life: experiencing love at sight, to driving a car, from enjoying breathtaking scenery to building memories, and from being able to see colours to watching your kids grow up…the list is literally endless.

And here’s an interesting fact that helps to quantity just how incredible the eye is: it is made up of a staggering 2m working parts, which makes it the second most complex organ in the body, behind only the brain.

So, bearing all of the above in mind, it stands to reason that we should take great care of our eyes , ensuring that they remain healthy as we get older. Here are 6 simple tips to help you ensure that you keep your eyes in tip top working order:

1. Eat a healthy diet:

Because our eyes are for seeing, it can be difficult to explain that diet is very important in maintaining healthy eyes. However, when you consider that type 2 diabetes is caused by diet (blood sugar imbalance), you can clearly see that diet does directly affect eye health – just as it does every other part of the body.

So eating the following foods, all of which are rich in natural nutrients and vitamins, will help to keep your eyes (and your body) healthy:

• Green vegetables such as kale and spinach (now you know why your Mum always told you to eat your greens!)
• Salmon, tuna, sardines and other oily fish
• Eggs, nuts, beans and other such non meat protein sources
• Citrus fruits and juices (oranges, lemon, lime, grapefruit)

2. Get your eyes checked regularly

Much like putting off going to the dentist until we suddenly experience some form of tooth ache, most of us tend to avoid booking in for an eye check up unless we feel there is something actually wrong with our eyes!

It’s funny when you think about it isn’t it? While most people will wait for trouble to strike before taking action, the sensible approach is clearly to prevent trouble from occurring in the first place!

So you know what to do don’t you? Get on the phone right now (no time like the present!) and make an appointment for an eye check up. Not only will it cost you very little, it will also put your mind at ease that nothing untoward is going on without you even knowing.

3. Wear sunglasses

Most us wear sunglasses on a bright, sun kissed summer day when it is nigh on impossible to see without them!

However, sunglasses are not designed to be used only on very hot sunny days because UV rays can pass through clouds. This means that even on overcast days, your eyes are extremely vulnerable to high levels of UV exposure.

Finally, the surface of the eye is much more vulnerable to the sun than the skin’s, placing them at much higher risk of sun damage.

4. Look away from your computer screen regularly

We all tend to go a bit goggle eyed from looking at a computer screen for hours on end, yet many of us are still reluctant to take breaks or to look away.

But the fact is that looking at a screen for too long can cause real physical side effects, such as headaches, dry eyes, neck / back / shoulder pain, blurry vision, or eye strain.

So, here’s what you should do that will really help: rest your eyes every 20 minutes (look 20 feet ahead for 20 seconds), and physically get up every 2 hours and take a 15 minute break.

(And if you think your boss won’t thank you, he’ll probably thanks you a lot less if you end up having to take time out as a result of suffering from one of the above symptoms, right?)

5. Always use safety eye wear when required

This seems like an obvious one I know but according to www.preventblindness.org, 2,000 people injure their eyes every day at work. And the frustrating thing is that experts believe that simply wearing the right eye protection could have lessened the severity, or even prevented 90% of these eye injuries.

The fact is your eyes are far too important for you to ever take unnecessary risks. So, if your work involves even the slightest risk to your eyes, make sure you wear the appropriate eye protection. It’s a lot better than wishing you had when it’s too late.