Our heart beats more than 100,000 times a day, and in one minute pumps about five litres of blood around our body. But that’s not all, every part of us has to work hard to keep us alive:

BRAIN: The brain is a complex mechanism that is needed for us to carry out every single task including reading, speaking, seeing and writing. On average women have smaller brains but research proves that this does not affect intelligence. From our mid 20’s our brain cells start to die (these are never replaced), we can keep the ones we do have in tip-top condition by using our minds as much as possible.

HAIR: We all have about 100,000 hair follicles and it’s normal to lose between 40-100 hairs a day. The scalp is full of blood vessels which supply our hair with nutrients. New skin cells on the scalp are replaced as quickly as they are lost and sebaceous glands produce natural oils which lubricates the hair and scalp.

EYES: 5ml of water (tears) are produced daily and if you cry you’ll produce more. Tears help the eye to function normally, remove small foreign bodies and help us to blink (which we do about 20 times a minute).

EAR: The inner ear contains small hairs which via the auditory nerve are connected to the brain which recognises the small vibrations as sounds. We keep balanced by hair cells in the inner ear bathed in fluid, they are sensitive to gravity, so this prevents us from falling over all the time.

MOUTH: At mealtimes we know what we are eating thanks to our tongue. It’s surface is lined with tiny bumps called papillae (these contain taste buds). Our tongue doesn’t have time to relax as it is also vital for chewing and speech.

LUNGS: We breathe in about 16 times a minute at rest and more during exercise. We take in 10 litres of air each minute, from which our lungs extract 1/4 litre of oxygen.

STOMACH: Our metabolism slows down over night. If you find it hard to eat breakfast move around before you eat. Calories we consume are used as energy, the stomach about 2-4 hours in our stomach, but takes about 24 hours to pass through our entire digestive system.

KIDNEYS: Our kidneys remove waste products and regulate the fluid content in our body. We should all drink 2 litres of water a day to keep hydrated.

LIVER: The liver absorbs nutrients and oxygen, breaks down foods and fluids and helps to regulate the bloods glucose and amino acid levels. The liver also produces bile which removes waste products.

BLOOD: We have about 5 litres of blood circulating around our body at any one time Our body makes 10 million white blood cells a minute to ward off infection . During the night the body goes into fasting mode, so blood sugar levels drop. Eating breakfast is important because it gives us a glucose boost and helps us perform better.

BONES, JOINTS & MUSCLES: Regular exercise during the day helps us to maintain healthy bones, joints and muscles. Exercise also helps to stabilise and support joints and slows bone loss, reducing the risk of fracture as we get older. Worn out bone is broken down by cells and replaced by bone building cells.

SKIN: The skin contains 10 pints of water in it’s cells. Every day we lose half a litre of water and some salt as we perspire. We shed 30,000 skin cells every day.

HANDS & NAILS: To avoid spreading germs it is important to wash our hands regularly.