We all look for ways to stay healthier and live healthier lives each and everyone, scientist are also always looking new ways to improve life and better ways to live our lives to the fullest, as it stands now lots of researchers out there seem to point to the fact that nutrition plays a very important role in regulating how healthy we live and the eye is not exception to a healthy living.
Most often that not when i get the chance to see patient you get few of them asking about the very best food for the eye that would keep their eyes healthy such that they may not even have to visit the eye clinic. And whiles it is important we know some of these foods and ensure we have a balanced diet, it is important to also understand that it should not be a replaced to regular health checks. It is also whiles some foods may be more healthier towards the eye a balanced diet is key to a general good health and wellbeing.
Moving on, the first thing i tell such patients is that there is absolutely no one food that has all the essential nutrients necessary for a healthy vision and a healthy eye development, however having regular green leafy vegetables and fruits can provides lots of these essential nutrients for the eye if not all of them. Some of the well known nutrients known to be very good for the eye include, Vitamin A which improves our visual acuity and our night vision, our light and dark adaption and contribute a lot to the phototransduction process of converting light photons into electrical impulses for visual perception to be achieve.
Anti-oxidants such as Vitamin E and C are also very good for the eye, looking at the fact that the retina especially is an extremely active tissue, it produce lots of free radicals and so having a good concentration of anti-oxidants in the eyes can go a long way to improve and protect your vision. Then also there is zinc and the carotenoids. Lutein and Zeaxanthin are known to be extremely helpful to our macular health (the part of the retina responsible for direct vision) as it absorbs the blue wavelength of the white light which could be damaging to our retina. Spinach is known to have a very concentration of these with some good concentration in other fruits and green leafy vegetable.
Researches such as that of the National Eye Institute on Age-Related Eye Disease Study looks at these nutrients have the propensity to actually reduce the risk of acquiring ocular conditions such as Age-Related Macula Degeneration and Cataract. Thus a regular intake of these food in our diets or a supplement of these minerals over the years could do us a lot of good. In concluding, let me hasten to add that whiles lots of our vitamins and minerals may have a high tolerable intake levels, higher concentration or high daily dose does not necessarily mean good or healthy, remember balance is key and that too much of everything may not end well due to the presence of toxicity.
Thanks for reading and have a nice time,
for further reading;
Age-Related Eye Disease Study Research Group (1999). The Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS): design implications. AREDS report no. 1. Controlled clinical trials, 20(6), 573–600. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0197-2456(99)00031-8