Food to Improve Eyesight

Carrots and greens are rich in vision-strengthening nutrients.

Vision is important to everyone, but there's a high risk of it degenerating naturally over time. Sometimes this is due to an inadequate amount of nutrients in the diet, and other times it's due to disease. While it's not always possible to improve eyesight simply based on the diet one eats, maintaining a healthy diet is the best way to prevent damage to vision.

Carrots and Vitamin A

Carrots have a reputation for improving eyesight, and it's true they have the proper nutrients to do so. The most important of these is vitamin A, which carrots have a great deal of. Vitamin A is essential for maintaining good vision. When someone has a deficit of this vitamin, the photoreceptors in the eye become damaged around their outer segments, which can lead to poor vision since it disenables the proper chemical processes that allow for good vision. Other foods high in vitamin A are sweet potatoes and pumpkins.

Leafy Greens and Lutein

Age-related macular degeneration is the number one cause of vision loss in adults over the age of 65. It is a common disease, but the risk for it can be lessened by introducing more lutein into your diet. Lutein is a nutrient found in leafy green vegetables, like spinach and kale. Adding more of these to your diet increases stores of lutein, which are maintained in the macula of the human eye, where it fights off free radical infection as an antioxidant.

Antioxidant-Rich Food

Antioxidants are nutrients that fight off free radicals, which are formed by oxidation and can directly harm many cells in the body. Introducing more foods rich in antioxidants protected your eyesight. Antioxidants include vitamins C and E, and the minerals zinc and copper. Many foods already mentioned are high in these antioxidants. Others include collard greens and turnip greens. Vitamin E is found in nuts and seeds as well as in vegetable oil.

Fish and Omega-6 Fatty Acids

Fish are an excellent source of omega-6 fatty acids, which help maintain heart and brain health, in addition to improving eyesight and fending off age-related macular degeneration. One fish that is particularly high in omega-6 is salmon. Fish only needs to be added to a diet about twice a week for omega-6 to have a noticeable effect. This can also be found in fish oil supplements.

References

• Duke Health: Myth or Fact: Eating Carrots Improves Eyesight
• Iowa State University Extension News: Can Dark Leafy Vegetables Save Your Eyesight?
• Rodale: Eat Green for Better Eyesight
• Office of Dietary Supplements: Vitamin E
• MSNBC: Eating Fish can Help Protect Eyesight in Elderly