If you want to keep your eyes healthy and to prevent the risk of developing different eye conditions then the most vital step to consider is to maintain a healthy diet. Yes, a healthy diet that contains such foods rich in nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, is essential for keeping your eyes healthy and protecting them from various eye conditions. These nutrients are called as antioxidants, responsible for fighting against the oxidants that badly affect your eyes. The eye diseases or conditions that can be prevented with a healthy diet include Cataracts, Glaucoma, Dry Eyes, Age-Related Macular Degeneration and night blindness (poor night vision). The various types of antioxidants that you must need to keep the eye healthy includes vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, beta-carotene, omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, and zeaxanthin.

A balanced diet that you can adopt must comprise of fruits, vegetables, proteins and dairy products. You must limit the consumption of unhealthy foods that are mostly processed and contains saturated fats or high level of sugar.

Best foods to keep eyes healthy and to prevent the risk of serious eye conditions:

Here, we give you some of the best foods that you can include in your diet for healthy eyes:

Fish

Fish especially salmon is considered to be a great food for healthy eyes. Salmon and other types of fish contain omega-3 fatty acids that are healthy fats. Omega-3 fatty acids play a significant role in the visual development and they also help in improving the health of the retina, a tissue lining the back of the eye. They also help in preventing the condition of dry eyes.

Make sure to buy a wild-caught salmon instead of farm-raised salmon. It is so because farm-raised salmon has more saturated fats and less omega-3 fatty acids than wild-caught version. You can add salmon or other fish in your meal few days in one week. Try to eat grilled or broiled salmon or other fish and you can also make this recipe tasty by seasoning it with lemon, herbs, salt, and pepper.             

Carrots:

Carrots are the most popular food recommended for maintaining a good health of the eyes. Carrots contain vitamin A and beta-carotene that protects the front surface of the eyes and reduce the risk of developing eye infections and serious eye diseases or problems.

There are many ways for adding carrots in your diet. You can take small size carrots with you in a bag as a snack or add them to salads or while making soups to get added a nutritional benefit or add its shredded form in muffin or pancake.

Oranges:

Oranges and other various citrus fruits such as strawberries, grapefruit or papaya contain vitamin C that is the key to keep your eyes healthy. Vitamin C helps to improve the health of blood vessels in the eyes and by combining with other nutrients; it can prevent cataracts and other serious eye conditions. 

You can enjoy oranges by drinking orange juice or eating it as a snack or adding to fruit salad.

Eggs

Eggs are also good for the health of the eyes because the egg yolk contains some vital nutrients for eye health such as vitamin A, zeaxanthin, lutein and zinc. Vitamin A protects the cornea, which is the front surface of the eye. Zeaxanthin and lutein lower the risk of developing serious eye diseases such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). While zinc helps to protect the retina, an important tissue at the back of the eye and zinc also helps to improve night vision.    

Eggs are so much versatile that you can eat them for breakfast or lunch or dinner. Hard-boiling is the best way to eat them. You can include them in your sandwiches or salads.   

Dairy Products:

Dairy products such as milk and yogurt are good for the eye health. The dairy products contain vitamin A and zinc. Vitamin A protects the cornea while zinc plays a vital role in bringing the vitamin from liver back to the eyes. Zinc is present all over the eye especially in the retina and choroid (a vascular tissue lies under the retina). Zinc also helps in safeguarding the vision at night and preventing cataracts.

Those dairy products made from grass-fed cows give many benefits. You can take dairy products at any time whole day. Take a glass of milk with a meal or in tea and coffee or breakfast cereals while taking yogurt as a snack or for breakfast.

Almonds:

Like other nuts and seeds, almonds are best for maintaining a good eye health. Almonds contain vitamin E, responsible for protecting the tissues of the eye from unstable molecules targeting healthy eye tissues. A regular consumption of vitamin E helps to lower the risk of developing cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. There are some other nuts and seeds that also contain vitamin E, such as peanuts, hazelnuts and sunflower seeds.

You can add almonds in your breakfast cereal or salads or yogurt. They can be taken as a snack at any time. As almonds are rich in calories so make sure to limit your intake to 1-2 servings per day.   

Kale:

Kale is a green leafy vegetable that is highly recommended by the nutritional experts as it contains high levels of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Due to these nutrients, Kale is considered important for keeping a good health of the eyes. Kale contains lutein and zeaxanthin that helps in preventing some serious eye conditions such as cataract and age-related macular degeneration. As these, both nutrients are not made in our body so it’s necessary to include them into your diet from other sources. Some other vegetables rich in lutein are spinach and red peppers.

You can add kale as a snack by making its chips. For this, wash the leaves, tear them into small pieces, add olive oil to them and then bake them for 20 minutes. You can also add seasoning of salt. Kale can also be served with a salad or it can be sautéed to serve as a side dish.

Conclusion:

Maintaining a healthy diet by incorporating all these foods greatly helps in keeping the health of your eyes and preventing the development of some serious eye diseases or problems. If you experience any problem with your eyes, immediately see the eye doctor because early detection prevents the condition from becoming worse and affecting the vision. The board-certified ophthalmologists and optometrists at Menger Eye Centers are highly accomplished in offering the best treatment for various eye diseases in Glendale, NYC. The eye doctors provide a customized treatment plan according to your particular eye condition.