Your eyesight is an area of great importance to your well-being. You want to do all you possibly can to maintain good eyesight. I will be discussing about what foods improve eyesight naturally in this post. The awareness will be helpful to you in slowing eyesight degeneration and subsequently maintaining healthy eyesight.
Aside from ensuring a regular eye checkup and preventing injuries to your eyes, the following are the natural ways to improve your eyesight.
Foods rich in Carotenoids improve eyesight naturally
Carotenoids are a class of phytonutrients, and they are responsible for the bright yellow, red, and orange colors in fruits and vegetables. Carotenoids of health benefits are beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin. Dietary carotenoids provide health benefits by decreasing the risk of diseases including eye disease. (10.1046/j.1523-5408.2002.00004.x ). Lutein and zeaxanthin are particularly protective against eye disease because they help to absorb the blue light that has a damaging effect on the eyes. Interestingly lutein and zeaxanthin usually occur together in foods such as spinach, chard, kale, parsley, pistachios, green peas, egg yolk, sweet corn, and red grapes. Ensuring you have these foods in your diet regularly will give you access to the beneficial effect of the carotenoids. You can also have these carotenoids in supplement form; however, it is best to access them from foods.
Eat foods rich in vitamins A, C, and E to improve eyesight naturally
Vitamins A, C, and E contain antioxidants that help prevent macular degeneration; a disorder of the eye that results in vision loss. A combination of these vitamins and minerals in food may reduce disease progression. Foods that are rich in vitamin A include eggs, fortified breakfast cereals, cod liver oil, orange- and yellow-coloured vegetables, and fruits such as mango, butternut, carrot, etc. Also, other sources of beta-carotene such as broccoli, spinach, and most dark green, leafy vegetables. Foods rich in vitamin C include citrus fruits, kiwi, strawberries, broccoli, dark leafy greens, such as kale, mustard greens, and chard. Foods rich in vitamin E include vegetable oils such as wheat germ, sunflower oil, and soybean oils, nuts such as almonds, peanuts, and walnuts, seeds such as sunflower seeds, flax seed etc.
Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids
Omega 3 fatty acids play several functions in the retina and subsequently preserving good vision. Scientific evidence has shown that people that consume an adequate amount of omega-3 fatty acids were less likely to develop macular degeneration (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11888/). Omega-3 fatty acids also help to reduce the risk of high eye pressure, help in the prevention and treatment of dry eye syndrome which is associated with eye itching, burning, and redness. Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids are oily fish, including salmon, tuna, sardine, and mackerel.
Practice the 20-20-20 exercise to improve eyesight naturally
Experts advise that if your work involves gazing at screens all day, you should at every 20 minutes endeavour to look at something 20 feet away for about 20 seconds. This exercise is to give relief to your eyes thereby preventing strain to your eyes. Alternately, you can practice this by closing your eyes for 20 seconds every 20 minutes. Strain to the eyes can result in eye-watering, blurred vision, dry eyes, headache, and eye redness. Furthermore, blinking your eyes occasionally helps to stimulate tear production thereby preventing your eye from getting dry.
Minimise the intake of highly processed foods
Excessive consumption of highly processed foods can expose you to inflammatory substances contained in many processed foods in form of additives. Refined grains, processed meats, candies, and confections may contain pro-inflammatory compounds. Pro-inflammatory compounds can cause swelling of the optic nerve, resulting in eye pain, vision impairment, and even complete vision loss. It is advisable to keep to healthy eating, let your foods be from fresh produce as much as possible and minimize the intake of highly processed foods.
Get enough sleep
Ensure you get enough sleep every day. Experts recommend 5 to 8 hours of sleep. A night of restful sleep allows your overworked eye muscles to relax completely. Your eyes will heal themselves from tiredness and strain when you sleep. Your body will have sufficient time to renew your eyes, produce better eye lubrication, furnish healthy eye nerves/tissues all of which will lead to healthy eyesight. With adequate sleep, you are less likely to experience eye-related headaches, Inadequate sleep can lead to having dry, itchy, bloodshot eyes or redness of the eyes.
Drink enough water
The fluid surrounding the eyes helps to protect the eye by washing away dirt every time you wink. You must be well hydrated to maintain a healthy balance of fluid in your eyes. If your body is dehydrated, the tear film of your eyes may become deficient. This could result in dryness, irritation of the eyes, and invariably blurred vision. Experts recommend the intake of 1.5 to 2 liters of clean water every day.
Conclusion
Improving your eyesight naturally is not far-fetched. Ensure you eat healthy by including fresh produce as well as varied foods which will enable you to have an adequate intake of vitamins and phytochemical substances that promote eye health. Also having adequate sleep and enough water is vital to maintaining the health of your eyes.
