Everyone knows a balanced diet is essential to sustaining overall health, but did you know that there are specific foods and ingredients that you can incorporate into your diet to strengthen specific parts of your body, like your eyes?
Fish
Certain cold-water fish, like mackerel, tuna, sardines, and salmon, contain high concentrations of healthy omega-3 fatty acids that you body needs for optimal health. Making sure you eat fish at least several times a month can help protect you from dry eyes, cataracts, and macular degeneration.
Green/Leafy Vegetables
Collard greens, spinach, kale, broccoli, peas, and avocados are all filled with the powerful antioxidants zeaxanthin and lutein. Making sure you incorporate these plant pigments into your diet daily can significantly reduce your likelihood of suffering from serious ocular threats, like macular degeneration and cataracts, in the future.
Eggs
Like greens, eggs are also a common source of lutein; however, eggs also contain a lot of vitamin A. Together, these components can effectively protect you from dry eyes and even blindness. Making sure you eat eggs regularly can greatly improve your overall ocular health – as well as keep you full of necessary protein!
Whole Grains
Carbohydrates are likely part of your diet already, but whether you are choosing the right kind is another story. If you consume a lot of refined carbs, like pasta or white bread/rice, you are basically consuming empty calories. However, if you switch out for brown rice, quinoa, whole oats, and whole-wheat breads, you will be taking advantage of vitamin E, zinc, and niacin that can help promote healthy vision!
Citrus Fruit & Berries
You probably already know that citrus fruits, like grapefruits, oranges, and lemons, contain a lot of vitamin C, but what you may not know is that most berries do as well. In addition to improving your immune system, these nutrients can also effectively protect you against cataracts and macular degeneration. In fact, studies have shown that people who consume at least 150 grams of fruit every day are 15% less likely to develop macular degeneration.
Nuts
Like fish, certain nuts including walnuts, almonds, and pistachios are very rich in omega-3 fatty acids, but they are also very high in vitamin E – both of which are great for sustaining clear vision.
Colorful Fruits & Veggies
Though green is a vital color to incorporate into your diet, other fruits and vegetables come in all kinds of colors, offering all kinds of other benefits for your ocular health. Tomatoes, carrots, peppers, pumpkins, strawberries, cantaloupe, and even corn, for instance, are all wonderful sources of vitamins A and C, meaning maintaining a colorful diet is the best way to promote comprehensive health. In fact, carotenoids – the compounds that give these ingredients their colorful pigments – are even known to help prevent against many common eye diseases!
Legumes
Black-eyed peas, kidney beans, and lentils are all incredible sources of zinc and bioflavonoids. Adding them to your diet can help keep your retinas healthy and even lower your risk of suffering from cataracts or macular degeneration later in life.
Seeds
Sunflower seeds are a powerful snack if you’re looking to boost your zinc and vitamin E intake to help keep your eyes disease-free.
Oils & Supplements
If you don’t like fish, or you’re merely trying to vary the way you intake your omega-3 fatty acids, there are several oils and/or supplements that you can add to your diet to help protect your eyes. Fish oil, black currant seed oil, and flaxseed oil are all especially popular suggestions.
Overall, maintaining a well-balanced diet is immensely important – for your ocular and overall health. To make sure you are as healthy as you can be for as long as possible, you have to make sure you’re choosing the right foods to support your comprehensive well-being! To be sure your eyes are in optimal shape, schedule your next eye exam with one of our remarkable eye doctors at Alpine Eye Care as soon as possible by calling us directly at 1.877.733.2020 today.