As much as this saying rings true for our bodies, our eyes are no exception. They need as many vitamins and nutrients as our bodies in order to stay strong and healthy. In the end, What you eat – or what you don’t eat – can either help or harm your eyes and it’s important to watch out for these things in order to maintain your sight; and that of your families, for many years to come. As Edward Stanley stated in The Conduct of Life, “Those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness.”
According to the medical journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Lutein are more important for preventing cataracts; while zinc and Vitamin C can help to decrease the development of macular degeneration. For example, when comparing non-users to users, the risk for cataracts is 60% lower among persons who use multivitamins or any supplement containing vitamin C or E for more than 10 years. All in all, there are a number of vitamins, minerals (green leafy vegetable ingredients) and herbs that people use to prevent the development of cataract, glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.
Let’s explore some of these vitamins in full:
Lutein is a critical vitamin for long term eye health as it filters out dangerous UV rays which cause loss of vision. Interestingly, the body is unable to produce the 6mg considered enough to maintain the optimum well-being of your eyes, and it’s very difficult to eat enough lutein-rich foods. Therefore, everyone should be taking a lutein supplement; checking that it contains the necessary amount.
Zinc needs to be absorbed through foods as it is unhealthy and dangerous in supplement form as large doses can interfere with your body’s absorption of copper – which your body needs to sustain itself. Therefore, one should be sure to enrich their diet with foods like: oysters, red meat, and liver for a real zinc-boost; or, brewer’s yeast, milk, beans, and wheat germ, if you want smaller amounts of this nutrient.
Vitamin A can be found in several foods, for example: liver, sweet potatoes, carrots, mangoes, spinach, cantaloupe, dried apricots, milk, egg yolks and mozzarella cheese – just to name a few.
Vitamin C rich foods are: sweet potatoes, red ripe tomatoes, kale, broccoli and oranges.
There are even vitamins for chronic dry eye such as, flaxseed oil, fish oil, and beta carotene, primrose oil, HydroEye, TheraTears, and BioTears.
While wine drunk in moderation has been shown to positively affect the development of macular degeneration, smoking has the counter effect and will have you changing eyeglasses prescription at a rapid rate until even the strongest of glasses -even multifocal glasses will help you to see and you’ll be forced to seek other measures.
Note: Supplements should only be used only when your diet does not give you the recommended amount of nutrients and daily multivitamins usually lack the nutrients which are important to good eye health, so you should always buy one specifically for eye health. BUT, all of this should not be done before first speaking to your doctor as overdosing can have contradictory effects on your health and some supplements or vitamins may have opposite effects owing to their relationship with other illnesses in your body, or other medications that you may be taking. For example, Smokers and ex-smokers should not take beta-carotene, as there has been a link between beta-carotene use and lung cancer among smokers. Another example is for those taking the blood thinner Warfarin (Coumadin), which reduces the ability of the body to clot because of blocking Vitamin K – a nutrient found in green leafy vegetables. Therefore, eating large amounts of green leafy vegetables will put the health of such people at risk. The moral of the story – always consult your doctor first.
In addition, most of these vitamins are not a cure unless taken over a very long period of time. They cannot and will not restore vision already lost, they can merely slow down the development of the diseases and ensure that a good pair of eyeglasses will be enough to see clearly. For those young enough, start your vitamin intake early and build a protective shield around your visual health!
Hillary Glaser is the Director of Marketing and Special Projects for eyeglassespro.com – the easiest way to buy glasses online. She over sees day-to-day operations for all marketing and promotions of eyeglasses for the company.