Eye health is important for the obvious reason of maintaining your sense of sight!
While many people are born blind or go blind at some point in their lives, making it a common occurrence, most people with sight hope to keep it throughout their entire lifetime.
Sight is a very important part of life for those of us who have it! It’s how we orient ourselves in our environment, read for knowledge or pleasure, enjoy things throughout the day, and understand nonverbal communication. Without sight, you cannot drive, see your family smile, or keep yourself as safe as a sighted person.
While blindness and vision impairment can be caused by many things, one of the primary causes is malnutrition. So, ensuring that you are getting enough of the right vitamins, minerals, and nutrients can help you protect your eyesight for years to come.
Vitamin A: The Vitamin Required for Maintaining Good Eyesight
Of all the different vitamins we need for eyesight, one is more important than all the others.
Vitamin A deficiency is the most common cause of nutrition-related blindness and vision impairment in the world. 250,000 to 500,000 children become blind every year due to vitamin A deficiency.
While less likely to occur in adults, vitamin A deficiency can happen to anyone if they aren’t getting the right nutrients or if they have a disorder that prevents them from absorbing the right nutrients.
How Does Vitamin A Keep Eyesight Healthy?
Vitamin A’s role in eye health is to keep the cornea (the protective outer layer of the eye) healthy and hydrated. It’s also required for the formation of macular pigment (MP) in the center of the retina.
These MPs come from a specific form of vitamin A called carotenoids (which is why carrots are said to help keep your vision strong!). The MPs in the eye protect other photosensitive parts of the eye by absorbing harmful blue and ultraviolet light.
MPs are also antioxidants, which is crucial because the retina retains a lot of oxygen due to the intensity of use it gets all the time. Too much oxygen for too long can cause damage, and the MPs help prevent that damage.
Vitamin A is also one of the crucial ingredients the body needs in order to make keratin, which is what hair and nails are made of. You might not think your eyes have keratin, but actually, the outermost layer if the eye is covered by a thin sheet of keratin; it’s like skin for your eye!
Signs of Vitamin A Deficiency
Unfortunately, children who grow up with a vitamin A deficiency will experience irreversible damage. It can be helped with an intake of vitamin A later on, but their eyes will never be as healthy as they would be if they had not experienced the deficiency in the first place. Prevention is the best medicine.
Symptoms of the deficiency in the eye include myopia, also known as nearsightedness (which can be caused by other things as well), night blindness, Conjunctival xerosis (wrinkling in the white part of the eye), Corneal xerosis (dry, hazy-looking cornea), keratomalacia (cloudy cornea), corneal ulcers, and corneal scarring.
In severe cases (such as in places where nutritious food is not readily available), children who have Vitamin A deficiency are at a higher risk of death. By the time the deficiency shows up in their eyesight, doctors know that means their body is already damaged from the deficiency.
While Vitamin A is the most important vitamin for eyesight, it is not the only important one.
You can help ensure that you know you or your children are getting the proper amount of vitamin A with consultation from a nutritionist on Superprof.
Essential Vitamins For Eyes
Your eyes are sophisticated organs that need a variety of vitamins and minerals to function properly. Diabetes, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and maculopathy are just a few of the many diseases that can damage them. Many of these diseases and their effects can be reduced with proper nutrition.
Although various factors trigger these diseases, you can adopt a disease-preventing healthy lifestyle to keep yourself as healthy and eye-disease-free as possible.
Vitamin C
This vitamin is necessary for the proper function of the retina and other parts of the eye. It protects against UV damage and prevents cataracts.
Vitamin D
This vitamin supports the retina to absorb light. It reduces the risk of age-related macular degeneration and cataracts, which are two significant causes of blindness.
Vitamin E
Meals that contain this vitamin prevent dry eye, which can lead to corneal ulcers and vision loss over time. Vitamin E also helps prevent cataracts from forming.
B Vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, B12)
You might know these vitamins by different names: thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine, folic acid, and cobalamin, respectively.
They are all antioxidants and help protect the health of different structures in the eye, including the optic nerve.
Studies show that having enough of each of the B vitamins helps prevent glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and cataracts.
Zinc
This mineral is essential for perfect sight. It maintains the health of the retina, cell membranes, and protein structure of the eye. It’s also required for making essential melanin to protect the eye against UV light. Zinc can help prevent AMD and may even slow down the progression of AMD once it begins.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
These fatty acids are beneficial for eye health. They help protect the retina from damage and age-related degeneration. They might also help to stop dry eye syndrome, but more research needs to be done to know for sure.
Lutein and Zeaxanthin
These carotenoids are vitamin A-adjacent, but they aren’t actually vitamin A. They are found in foods alongside vitamin A, but they aren’t exactly the same thing.
Nevertheless, these antioxidants are necessary for keeping your eyes healthy by canceling out free radicals that would otherwise hurt your eyes.
They collect in the retina and make up the MPs that we talked about earlier. These carotenoids block out harmful light, protect against AMD, decrease likeness of retinal detachment, reduce harm to the eyes caused by diabetes, and may help reduce inflammation in the case of Uveitis.
Looking for a dietitian in Mumbai? You can find one here on Superprof.
Best Foods for Perfect Eyesight
Luckily, you can get all of the nutrients you need for healthy eyes from a healthy diet!
These foods contain the vitamins and nutrients listed above so they are perfect for eye health.
- Dark leafy greens, like kale, spinach, collard greens, and brussels sprouts
- Asparagus
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Sweet potatoes
- Pumpkin and squash
- Capsicum
- Corn
- Mushrooms
- Nuts and seeds (especially walnuts)
- Flax seed, chia seed
- Oats
- Soya
- Rice
- Citrus fruits
- Tomatoes
- Watermelon
- Berries
- Beans
- Lentils
- Legumes
- Tea
- Curd
Note that Vitamin B12 must be consumed from animal products, foods fortified with it, or supplements. It comes from a bacteria that is found in soil, and in some cases, animals will ingest the soil and the bacteria will make the vitamin in the animals’ gut. Animals that don’t have access to vitamin B12-rich soil must receive supplementation.
You can learn more about how health plays an important role in the whole body from a dietitian or nutritionist.
Healthy Habits for a Lifetime of Happy Eyes
Combine your good nutrition with good practices for eyesight to keep your eyes at peak performance!
Some habits you can adapt to help keep your eyes healthy include:
- Visit an eye doctor regularly
- Use glasses if you need them
- Wear sunglasses outdoors
- Use the 20/20/20 rule (every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet (6 meters) away for 20 seconds)
- Limit screen time as much as possible
- Always use screens in a well-lit room
- Wear protective eyewear when necessary (e.g.: cutting wood, riding a bike or scooter, performing medical procedures)
- Avoid smoking
- Keep your blood pressure in a healthy range
- Don’t touch your eyes with unclean hands
By combining an eye-healthy diet with ways to protect your eyes from physical harm, you can ensure that your eyes have the best chance at remaining sharp into your old age.
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