Your eyesight plays an important role in your life, as you may know, if you’ve ever gone through the process of getting new glasses or contacts.
It’s important to do what you can to preserve your eyesight and keep it healthy and functioning well, but sometimes that means more than just getting regular checkups with your eye doctor.
You also need to pay attention to the foods you eat, since there are some that have been proven to aid in eye health.
Make sure you’re eating these 8 foods that will improve your eyesight so that you can be confident in your vision as long as possible!
Eye Health
Our eyes are composed of many different parts and processes. For healthy vision, we need all parts to be functioning well.
At any given time, we may suffer a condition or injury that affects one or more parts of our eyes.
From dry eye syndrome to glaucoma, from lazy eye to macular degeneration, there is plenty of good information online about common eye health conditions and how you can treat them.
But what about foods that support eye health?
How do you know which ones are good for your eyes?
This post will introduce you to eight natural food sources that have beneficial effects on eye health.
1) Spinach
Spinach is loaded with lutein and zeaxanthin, two carotenoids that help protect against macular degeneration and cataracts.
This antioxidant combo can also reduce your risk of age-related vision loss.
The leafy green is a great food to add to your shopping list if you’re struggling with eye strain or are looking for a way to slow down vision aging.
For example, one study found that eating spinach helped speed up the recovery time from visual fatigue brought on by staring at a computer screen all day especially when eaten in conjunction with fatty fish like salmon and tuna.
2) Blueberries
Blueberries are packed with antioxidants and help protect your eyes from age-related macular degeneration, which can lead to blurred vision and decreased central vision.
They also contain anthocyanins, which helps prevent damage to cells in your eyes that can cause irreversible damage.
Eating 12 ounces of blueberries daily for four weeks can improve symptoms of eye fatigue and dryness.
Fresh or frozen berries can be used, just make sure they’re unsweetened and not in heavy syrup.
3) Eggs
Many eye-care experts tout eggs as one of nature’s best sources of lutein and zeaxanthin, two antioxidants that prevent free radical damage and inhibit some of the most common causes of vision loss, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts.
The American Optometric Association recommends eating at least one egg a day for better sight.
Eggs also contain vitamins B2, B6 and D, all three are crucial to keeping your eyes working properly.
6) Broccoli
A cruciferous vegetable, broccoli contains vitamin A (in its beta-carotene form), which has long been touted for its positive effect on vision.
To make sure you’re absorbing all of broccoli’s benefits, steam it or combine it with olive oil, according to The Mayo Clinic .
Additionally, broccoli is rich in vitamin C and lutein, both of which are thought to help protect against macular degeneration and cataracts.
As an added bonus, cooking broccoli releases sulforaphane, a natural compound that helps fight inflammation and may prevent cancer.
4) Pumpkin seeds
They contain a lot of vitamin A, lutein and zeaxanthin.
These nutrients protect against macular degeneration and cataracts, which are two major causes of blindness.
Pumpkin seeds also contain zinc, which can improve your vision by boosting immunity to infection.
In addition to all that goodness, pumpkin seeds provide good amounts of magnesium and iron.
Magnesium is another essential nutrient that has been shown to help prevent macular degeneration while iron helps maintain healthy cells and prevent anemia—another leading cause of visual impairment.
5) Green tea
Green tea is packed with antioxidants that can help improve your eyesight.
Green tea also helps stimulate capillaries, which may increase blood flow to your eyes and reduce pressure on your retinas.
Brew a cup of green tea at least once a day, but be sure to limit yourself to one cup per day.
Too much green tea could be harmful. For example, it’s known to cause stomach upset in some people.
If you do choose to drink more than one cup per day, be sure not to drink it late in the evening.
Also, stop by an eye doctor regularly; many eye diseases develop without obvious symptoms until they reach advanced stages so checkups are important!
7) Walnuts
These little powerhouses are packed with Vitamin E and Omega-3 fatty acids, which can help stave off degenerative diseases like glaucoma and cataracts, which can lead to vision loss.
Omega-3s also keep your blood vessels healthy, improving circulation and helping to decrease inflammation.
Plus, they just taste delicious! Consider snacking on a handful of walnuts each day.
Better yet, try incorporating them into salads or stir-fry dishes for some variety.
Note: Walnuts have about 160 calories per cup, so don’t overdo it!
8) Yogurt
Studies have shown that yogurt can help improve your vision, as well as reduce risks of age-related macular degeneration.
Research has found that drinking at least 8 ounces of plain yogurt daily helps maintain healthy levels of vitamin A in your body and may even protect you from early-stage AMD (the leading cause of vision loss in people older than 50).
Most other dairy products are also a great source of vitamin A, but yogurt contains good bacteria known as probiotics.
It’s thought that these good bacteria could prevent inflammation linked to AMD.
Some evidence shows women who regularly eat probiotic-rich foods like yogurt during menopause may be less likely to develop cataracts later on.
In Conclusion
Make sure you get enough carotenoids in your diet, dark green vegetables like spinach, kale, and broccoli contain high levels of lutein and zeaxanthin.
Include blueberries, cherries, plums, and peaches in your daily diet, these fruits are rich in antioxidant anthocyanins that help maintain good vision.
Eat plenty of fish, particularly fatty varieties like salmon and mackerel. Eggs from hens fed a high-omega-3 diet will also have greater amounts of omega-3s in their yolks.
Take a multivitamin with vitamin C; it helps protect against cataracts and eye disorders such as glaucoma.
