Visiting your Phoenix eye doctor at least one time per year is important to maintaining vision and eye health. Other factors, including eye safety, overall health, and diet, can also contribute to keeping your eyes healthy. Most people have heard that carrots help to improve your eyesight. Is there any truth to the claim that food, including carrots, can improve eye health? Fish, vegetables and whole grains all play a part in providing nutrient rich vitamins that can help reduce the risk of eye disease.
Cold water fish like salmon, tuna, sardines, and mackerel have a lot of omega-3 fatty acids which can help protect against dry eyes and even cataracts. If you don’t eat fish, you can turn to fish oil supplements that contain omega-3s. There are also vegetarian supplements that have black currant seed oil or flaxseed oil which offer similar benefit.
Colorful fruits and vegetables like carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, strawberries, pumpkin, corn, and cantaloupe all provide good sources of vitamins A and C to the body. The bright color from fruits and veggies, in addition to making them more appealing, also make them good for you and can help reduce the risk of different eye diseases.
Whole grains can also play a big role in helping you maintain healthy eyes. When you have a diet that consists of foods with a low glycemic index (a system that ranks foods on a scale from 1 to 100 based on their effect on blood-sugar levels), you can reduce your risk for age-related macular degeneration. The Macula is a small area of the retina that controls visual acuity.
Having a healthy diet is one part of maintaining a healthy body which means your eye health will benefit the same way as your body does. If you have any questions about what else you can do to improve your eye health, book an appointment with your Valley Eyecare Center eye doctor. Give us a call or schedule online today.
