Use these simple tricks and hacks to boost your eye health each day.
Beyond having to wear glasses or contacts, vision problems can seriously affect your life over time. In fact, vision loss can lower your quality of life and raise your risk of depression, diabetes and other health issues, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Practicing simple, daily habits can help you improve your eye health and reduce your risk of problems in the future.
Wear sunglasses
Exposing your eyes to ultraviolet rays may cause damage over time. Wearing sunglasses can block harmful UV light, lowering your risk of eye diseases like cataracts, sunburn, eye cancer and growths around the eye, per the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Polarized glasses with smoke or gray lenses may offer the best protection against the sun's rays and reduce glare.
Take screen breaks
Prolonged screen time can cause dry eyes, pain in the neck and shoulders, blurred vision, headaches and digital eye strain, or computer vision syndrome. The American Optometric Association recommends using the 20-20-20 rule to prevent computer vision syndrome. Every 20 minutes, look at something at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
Take book breaks, too
Screen time isn't the only way to strain your eyes. When you read a book, you probably hold it up close for long periods, too. Both activities can lead to nearsightedness, or myopia, which means far-away objects are blurry while up-close things are clear. Just like you should use the 20-20-20 rule to take screen breaks, you should also use this rule for book breaks. If you find yourself engrossed in what you're reading or doing on the computer, set an alarm so you don't miss your 20-minute break.
Move your body
Regular exercise can provide eye health benefits, such as promoting healthy blood vessels and lowering your risk of developing glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, the AAO reports. The CDC recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity every week, plus two days of strength training for your muscles. You can also practice eye exercises to reduce tension and eye strain while sitting at your desk.
Get outside
Children and adults need to get outside often, even if you get your recommended exercise indoors. Research shows that children who spend time outdoors have a lower risk of developing nearsightedness in adolescence and as adults. Playing with your kids at the local playground, walking through the woods or even playing in the backyard can help the whole family stay healthy and active. Don't forget your sunglasses!
Don't smoke
It's well known that smoking is bad for your health. It can also increase your risk of developing eye diseases like cataracts or age-related macular degeneration, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Smokers have a two or three times higher chance of developing cataracts and up to four times higher risk for AMD. Future research may determine if smoking cigarettes can also cause glaucoma, Graves' eye disease, thyroid eye disease and encourage diabetic retinopathy onset or progression. To improve your health, build a quit plan.
Eat balanced meals
The foods you eat every day can improve your eye health. Eating foods rich in vitamins A, C and E, beta-carotene, omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, zeaxanthin and zinc can help cellular growth, lower eye tissue inflammation and limit free radicals that can damage your eyes.
To get the right nutrients for your eyes, eat balanced meals by including some of these foods in your regular diet, recommended by the AAO:
- Vitamin A and beta-carotene: Apricots, carrots, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, red pepper, ricotta cheese, mango
- Vitamin C: Grapefruit, oranges, lemons, tangerines, peaches, strawberries, tomatoes, red bell pepper
- Vitamin E: Avocados, almonds, peanut butter, wheat germ, sunflower seeds
- Omega-3: Halibut, sardines, salmon, tuna, trout
- Lutein and Zeaxanthin: Collards, broccoli, eggs, peas, kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, turnip greens
- Zinc: Lima beans, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, lean red meats, oysters, fortified cereals, poultry
Avoid rubbing your eyes
If you habitually rub your eyes, it could cause eye damage or infections. Dry eyes and eye strain can make you want to rub your eyes, and some may rub them too much or too hard. This can lead to issues such as reduced or blurry vision, headaches, inflammation, eye and light sensitivity. Another reason to avoid eye rubbing is that bacteria or viruses on your fingers or hands could lead to conjunctivitis, commonly called pink eye. Instead of rubbing your eyes, use eye drops or saline to clean your eyes and keep them moist. Resist the urge and find something else to keep your hands busy until you undo the habit.
Wash your hands
You should always wash your hands before touching your face or eyes and handling contact lenses. Almost 45 million Americans wear contact lenses, and around 1 in 3 wearers develop complications, with 1 in 5 infections from contact lenses causing corneal damage.
Plus, there's no telling what kind of germs are on objects you touch after someone unknowingly contaminated them. Washing your hands regularly can lower your risk of respiratory illness by up to 21% and diarrheal illness by up to 40%, the CDC reports.
Take off your makeup
After a long day, the last thing you might think about is removing your eye makeup before you get into bed. But doing so benefits your eye health and can lower your risk of blepharitis or eyelid inflammation, according to the Optometrists Network.
You should also adopt good makeup practices that can save your skin and eyes, such as only using products made for eyes, replacing your makeup often (especially after an eye infection), not applying eye makeup in the inner lids and never sharing eye makeup with someone else. If you use brushes or sponges to apply eye makeup, wash them regularly.The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
The 12 Best Foods for Healthy Eyes
Leafy greens, fish and eggs are just some of the most nutritious food staples for your eyes. Here are more foods to eat for optimal eye health.
If you can work more of the best foods for eye health onto your plate, you give your peepers what they need. In other words, if you want to increase your odds of seeing clearly for life, you should choose foods that are good for eye health. So what are they? Let's find out.
Best foods for healthy eyes
Broccoli
A study promoted by the American Optometric Association found that indole-3-carbinol, a compound found in broccoli, can help to remove toxins from your retina. This reduces your risk for age-related macular degeneration, one of the leading causes of vision loss in older adults. Broccoli also contains lutein and zeaxanthin which are also protective for your eyes. Although, note that this study claims that you would have to eat an unreasonable amount of broccoli to really protect against AMD.
Salmon
Keeping your eyes healthy means keeping them sufficiently hydrated. Some of the best foods for healthy eyes can go a long way. Salmon, for example, contains omega-3 fatty acids. This helps to reduce your risk for dry eye, an uncomfortable condition that gets more common as you age.
If you're a woman, it's more important to eat salmon and other omega-3-containing foods that are good for eye health. People assigned female at birth are twice as likely to develop dry eyes.
Carrots
You've probably heard it before: Carrots are one of the best foods for eye health. For starters, they contain tons of beta-carotene, an antioxidant that your body uses to make vitamin A. Vitamin A helps you see at night and defends against myopia (i.e., nearsightedness). If you've been looking for a way to avoid the need for vision correction -- or to keep your current prescription for your contacts or eyeglasses as long as possible -- grab Bugs Bunny's go-to snack.
Plus, carrots also contain lutein, another antioxidant. This one can help you lower your risk for AMD.
Sunflower seeds
Yes, you should protect your eyes from the sun. But don't let the name fool you; there's no protection needed here. Sunflower seeds are one of the best foods for vision. They have lots of vitamin E, an antioxidant protects our eyes from oxidative stress. Vitamin E also helps fight against the sun's damaging UV rays, reducing your risk of cataracts.
An important thing to note here: While your body can synthesize some vitamins, you need to get vitamin E from food sources or supplements.
Kiwi
Looking for another way to fight against potential sun damage? Turn to kiwi. This fuzzy fruit makes our list of the best foods for healthy eyes because it contains lutein, the AMD-fighting antioxidant I mentioned before, plus zeaxanthin, which helps your eyes filter light.
Oysters
While a lot of the other foods that are good for eye health might have come as no surprise, this one could feel like a bit of a curveball. Still, it's worth getting shucking. Not only do oysters contain omega-3 fatty acids, but they're also high in zinc. This gives you another potent nutrient if you're trying to fight AMD.
Spinach
Take a page from Popeye's book and eat your spinach. As a great source of all-around nutrients, this leafy green is also one of the best foods for healthy eyes. It's got loads of lutein, which I've already noted is a key component of ocular health. And spinach has zeaxanthin, too.
To help your body best absorb these antioxidants, you need to eat them with fat. A little spinach salad drizzled with olive oil -- which also has omega-9s and a small amount of omega-3s -- gives you an easy way to work the top foods for vision into any meal.
Eggs
Eggs serve up just about everything your eyes need, from lutein and zeaxanthin to zinc and vitamin A. In fact, a study from 2019 concluded that eating a moderate amount of eggs (about two to four eggs per week) on a regular basis significantly reduces your risk of developing AMD. If you want to reach for foods that are good for eye health, eggs can make it over(ly) easy.
Almonds
Almonds and other nuts contain high levels of vitamin E, the antioxidant that fights AMD and cataracts. Again, your body can't make this vitamin on its own.
Plus, this is one of the top foods to boost eye health if you're trying to avoid kitchen prep. If you don't want to fire up the stovetop or grab a cutting board, you can snag a handful of almonds and go.
Yogurt
Dairy has both vitamin A and zinc, two nutrients I've already pointed out as key for ocular health. But if you really want to choose the best foods for vision, go for the cultured variety when making your dairy choices. Why? Because yogurt contains probiotics. And studies increasingly show that these good bacteria might help with everything from allergic conjunctivitis to dry eye.
Oranges
I've already talked about beta-carotene, its role in vitamin A and why vitamin A matters for your eyes. But what I didn't tell you is that getting foods with beta-carotene is generally pretty easy for one big reason: that antioxidant makes them orange. So you better believe that oranges have a good amount of this nutrient, earning them their spot on this list of the best foods to boost vision.
Plus, as you probably already know, oranges have lots of vitamin C. And that can help your body fight AMD, cataracts and vision loss in general.
Strawberries
Oranges get a lot of hype for their vitamin C content, but strawberries actually contain more. And since vitamin C delivers the one-two-three punch of preventing overall vision loss, cataracts and AMD, these berries deserve to round out our roundup of the best foods for eye health.
https://www.cnet.com/health/personal-care/the-12-best-foods-for-healthy-eyes/
