Remember when you were a kid and you were told to eat your carrots? People said they were good for your eyes.
Remember the old joke? (You never saw a rabbit wearing glasses, right?)
As it turns out, the joke’s on you if you didn’t believe your mom. Eating carrots really will help keep your eyes healthy.
Our eyes depend on Vitamin A.
It helps them change light into a mes
sage to be sent to the brain. Our bodies use beta-carotene to make vitamin A, and carrots have lots of beta-carotene.
Carrots aren’t the only food that contains this valuable nutrient.
And beta-carotene isn’t the only nutrient that helps us see.
In fact, there are other foods that may be even better at helping us to see. That’s because they protect against damage.
Two of the major causes of blindness as we get older are cataracts and macular degeneration. Both are caused by exposure to the sun’s rays.
Here are some of the top nutrients and foods for protecting our eyes from these rays.
As a bonus, there’s one other surprising bit of news about what you can do to help boost your ability to see.
Top 4 Nutrients to Boost Eye Health (and the foods that have them)
1. Lutein and Zeaxanthin
These two nutrients are both carotenoids found in plants. They’re also found in our eye. They absorb excess light rays.
They protect plant’s leaves from being burned by the sun. In our eyes, they absorb harmful blue light.
Foods that are high in these nutrients include:
- Spinach
- Kale
- Broccoli
- Red and yellow peppers
- Sweet corn
- Tomatoes
2. Vitamin C
Vitamin C is known as a powerful antioxidant.
Eating foods high in Vitamin C lowers the risk of developing cataracts.
TweetThey can also slow the loss of visual clarity and the development of macular degeneration. Foods that are high in vitamin C include:
Yellow bell peppers- Guavas
- Kale
- Kiwi
- Broccoli
- Strawberries
- Oranges
- Tomatoes
3. Vitamin E
Vitamin E is another antioxidant. It protects the eye’s cells from damage caused by free radicals.
Foods rich in vitamin E include:
- Seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, squash)
- Nuts (almonds, hazelnuts)
- Spinach
- Avocado
- Squash and pumpkin
- Kiwi
- Broccoli
4. Zinc
Zinc plays an important role in our ability to see. It brings vitamin A to the eye from the liver to make melanin, which helps protect our eyes.
Foods high in zinc include:
- Cooked oysters
- Beef and lamb
- Spinach
- Pumpkin and squash seeds
One last vision booster that might surprise you – Studies have shown that people who work out on a regular basis have a lower risk of cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration.
This is because many of those illnesses are linked to other health problems like diabetes and high blood pressure, which exercise can help to guard against.
So, eat your veggies and make sure you’re getting your exercise to make sure you can see well in your golden years.
Yours in health and happiness,
Danette
P.S. I encourage you to share this info. with your loved ones and I invite you to leave your comments below. Do you see any of your favorites on this list?
