Archive for category Eye Health
Vitamins for Eye Health
Posted by admin in Eye Health on June 19, 2011
Healthy diet and exercises play an important role in eye health. With the help of our eyes, we are able to see everything. Aging, infections, poor diet, wrong reading habits, excessive stress on eyes, lack of rest, lack of exercise can affect your vision. Blurred vision, double vision, short sightedness, etc. are common vision problems. Moreover, diseases like diabetes lead to impaired vision. Regular eye exercises, developing good reading habits, maintaining eye hygiene, offering sufficient rest to eyes and following a healthy diet can help prevent eye problems. To maintain the eye health, you need to provide all essential nutrients to the body. A nutrient rich diet helps keep diseases at bay and ensures a healthy life. Here is an overview of necessary vitamins for eye health.
Nutrients for Healthy Eyesight
Certain vitamins for eye health and minerals promote absorption of some other vitamins and minerals. For example, vitamin D promotes absorption of calcium while vitamin C helps boost absorption of iron and calcium. Iron is essential for formation of hemoglobin which supplies oxygen to all cells and tissues. Lack of oxygen can damage your vision seriously. Thus all these nutrients promote the functions of the body organs in several ways.
Type of Vitamin Eye Benefits Food Sources Daily Recommended Intake
Vitamin A
* Protects against night blindness
* Helps prevent dry eyes
* Anti oxidant and anti carcinogenic vitamin
* Increases resistance against infections
* Improves vision significantly
* Eases glaucoma
Carotenoids are present in fruits and vegetables which are yellow, red, green and orange. Examples: Carrot, Broccoli, Sweet potato, Butter, Kale, Spinach, Pumpkin, Collard greens, Cheddar cheese, Cantaloupe melon, Eggs, Apricot, Papaya, Mango, Pea, Milk, Beef or Chicken liver, Cod liver oil, Butter
* Men and boys over 10 years: 1000 mcg
* Women and girls over 10 years: 800 mcg Read the rest of this entry »
Foods for Healthy Eyes
Posted by admin in Eye Health on June 19, 2011
“Eyes are the windows to this world.” And the only way to keep these windows up and running is to ensure that you are getting the right type and amount of nutrition that cater to the specific needs of the eyes. It is unfortunate to know that about 50% of the American population who are over the age of 80 suffer from cataracts, and over 13 million people in the country have the eye disease known as macular degeneration. Foods that we include in our diet can do their bit in preventing all such eye diseases, or might even contribute in their development. For instance, if we consider a diet that is rich in vegetables, herbs, spices and fish thus, antioxidants, beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, lutein and zeaxanthin, zinc and omega-3 fats, then it is known to be the ideal diet to keep your eyes in a mint condition. On the other hand, if your diet is loaded with food stuffs rich in saturated fats and sugar, then it may be doing nothing but contributing to the build up of free radicals in the body, which in one way or the other may put your eyes at risk, and in some cases, to a point of blindness. So cutting the long story short, here is my quick treatise on some of the best foods for healthy eyes you must keep your ‘eyes’ on so that they may form an important part of your diet.
List of Foods for Healthy Eyesight
Carrots
carrots “What’s up doc?” I am sure you must be familiar with this popular phrase of the animated cartoon character ‘Bugs Bunny’. He could be seen munching on this favorite snack of his every now and then. Guess, he knew the benefits of these bright orange wonders. Carrots are a powerhouse of the antioxidant beta-carotene. And this is the very substance that gets converted by the body into vitamin A, a potent nutrient for maintaining good eyesight, and for preventing diseases such as nigh blindness, macular degeneration and cataracts.
Avocados
avocados The next in the list of the best foods for healthy eyes is avocado. This tropical fruit is loaded with an antioxidant called lutein (more than any other fruit), which is believed to protect eye health. Also, the fruit’s richness in vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and vitamin E, makes it all the more a potent weapon to keep various eye conditions at bay.
Broccoli
brocolli Whenever I speak of this vegetable, I see faces of little children getting twisted, and nauseous. I know, these vegetables are not a favorite among kids. But I always stick to a believe that most stuffs that are not pleasant to the taste buds, turn out to be the healthiest. And the same goes with broccoli. This vegetable is loaded with antioxidants such as lutein and zeaxanthin, and to make these more potent, vitamin C is also present. Although not much, the vegetable has a satisfactory amount of beta-carotene in it, as well. Read the rest of this entry »