A balanced diet is key to keeping your eyes super healthy, and may even actually help reduce your risk for developing serious eye conditions – some you may be able to prevent with a healthy diet include cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma, dry eyes, and poor night vision.
Your eyes need a healthy dose of a range of antioxidants to stay healthy, including nutrients like lutein, beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, vitamins A, C, and E, omega-3 fatty acids, and zinc.
Here are a few foods that include these essential nutrients:
Fish such as salmon, are a great food to consume for eye health as they have omega-3 fatty acids which can contribute to visual development and the health of your retina in the back of the eye. Omega 3 fatty acids can also help prevent dry eyes.
Eggs are also a great food to eat for eye health, as the yolks contain vitamin A, lutein, zeaxanthin, and zinc, all of which are vital to eye health. Vitamin A protects your cornea, which is the surface of your eye. Lutein and zeaxanthin help by lowering the chance of getting serious eye conditions such as age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.
Almonds, like every other nut and seed, are generally good for your eye health. Almonds contain vitamin E that guards against unstable molecules targeting healthy tissue. Consuming vitamin E regularly can help prevent age-related macular degeneration as well as cataract.
Dairy products like milk and yogurt are good for the eyes, as they contain vitamin A as well as zinc. Vitamin A helps protect the cornea while zinc brings that vitamin to the eyes from the liver. Zinc also helps with night vision as well as preventing cataracts. Note that dairy from grass-fed cows is known to provide the most benefits.
Carrots are very well-known to be good for eye health, having vitamin A and beta carotene which help the surface of the eye and help prevent eye infections and other serious eye conditions.
Kale is a known superfood since it contains so many important vitamins, nutrients, and minerals and is also extremely good for eye health with lutein and zeaxanthin. These antioxidants help to prevent serious eye conditions like age-related macular degeneration and cataracts. Other vegetables high in these nutrients are red peppers and spinach.
