Alt
text: Reading glasses resting on a napkin beside a bowl of spinach and pepper
salad
There is no shortage of advice about foods
that support eye health, from carrots and blueberries to lutein capsules and omega-3s. But far less is
said about how much those foods protect your eyes.
When your eyes deteriorate because of a
condition such as glaucoma or cataract, diet alone is no longer enough. At this
stage, treatment such as glaucoma drops or cataract
removal is usually needed to protect or restore your sight. Until
then, though, a good diet can slow the changes that come with age.
In this article, we will cover the limits of
what food can do for your eyes, which foods support eye health, how to get the
most from them, whether eye supplements work, and which foods are worst for
your eyes.
What Food Can and Cannot Do for Your Eyes
Food can slow age-related damage to the
retina, the light-sensing layer at the back of your eye, and to the lens that
focuses light onto it. But it cannot correct nearsightedness, farsightedness or
astigmatism, which depend on the shape of your eye, not on what you eat.
Diet mainly changes how quickly that
age-related damage happens. Because the retina is exposed to light all day and
your body cannot make the pigments that protect it, those pigments have to come
from food. So the protection food gives is real but gradual, appearing over
decades, not weeks.
Foods That Support Eye Health
Alt
text: Kale, spinach, salmon, bell peppers, an egg and almonds laid out on a
marble counter
The foods that support eye health are dark
leafy greens, oily fish, eggs, brightly colored fruits and vegetables, nuts and
seeds, and shellfish. Each supplies a different nutrient, and each nutrient
does a different job.
Dark Leafy Greens
Dark leafy greens such as kale, spinach and
collard greens supply lutein and zeaxanthin, two pigments that collect in the
macula, the small central patch of retina you use for reading and recognizing
faces. There they filter blue light, and a diet rich in them may lower the risk
of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a disease that slowly damages
central vision.
Oily Fish
Oily fish such as salmon, sardines and
mackerel supply omega-3 fats, which may help keep the surface
of the eye moist and ease dry eye symptoms.
Eggs
Eggs supply lutein and zeaxanthin in the yolk,
in a form the body absorbs easily, along with smaller amounts of zinc and
vitamin A.
Brightly Colored
Fruits and Vegetables
Brightly colored fruits and vegetables such as
bell peppers, oranges and strawberries supply vitamin C, which helps protect
the eye's lens from the damage linked to cataract, a gradual clouding that
blurs vision. Orange vegetables such as sweet potato and
carrots supply vitamin A, which the eye needs to see in dim light, and a severe
shortage can cause night blindness.
Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds such as almonds, hazelnuts and
sunflower seeds supply vitamin E, which helps protect retinal cells from
age-related damage.
Shellfish
Shellfish such as oysters and crab are rich in
zinc, which the body needs to carry vitamin A to the retina for seeing in low
light. Beef and chickpeas are other good sources.
How to Get the Most From Eye-Healthy Foods
Alt
text: Olive oil being poured over spinach cooking in a cast iron skillet
Eye-healthy foods work better when you eat
them the right way: cook the greens, add a little fat, keep the egg yolks, and
vary the colors. In practice, two servings of oily fish a week and a daily serving of dark greens can provide most
of the nutrients above.
● Cook the greens – lightly cooking spinach or kale makes the lutein easier to absorb
than eating it raw.
●
Add some fat – lutein, zeaxanthin and vitamins A and E dissolve in fat, so a little
olive oil or avocado alongside them helps your body absorb them.
●
Keep the yolk – the yolk holds the egg's lutein, so eating only the whites loses it.
●
Vary the color – different pigments collect in different parts of the eye, so a mix
of orange, red and dark green may do more than any one of them alone.
Do Eye Supplements Work?
Eye supplements may help people who already
have AMD. In that group, a specific formula known as AREDS2 may slow the disease.
But it has not been shown to prevent AMD in people with healthy eyes or to help
with cataract, so if your eyes are healthy, food is likely already giving you
most of what a supplement would.
Smokers should also avoid high-dose
beta-carotene supplements, because studies found that they increased lung cancer risk in smokers.
Beta-carotene from food is not the concern.
The Worst Foods for Eye Health
The worst foods for eye health are sugary
drinks, ultra-processed meals and heavy alcohol.
●
Sugary drinks – diets high in sugar and refined carbohydrates raise the risk of type
2 diabetes, and persistently high blood sugar damages the small blood vessels
in the retina. That damage, called diabetic retinopathy, is a leading cause of
blindness in working-age adults.
●
Ultra-processed foods – diets high in packaged, high-calorie food have been linked to faster
progression of AMD. They also tend to replace the leafy vegetables that supply
the pigments your retina needs.
●
Heavy alcohol – regular heavy drinking is associated with a higher risk of cataract,
and it can worsen dry eye by disrupting the tear film, the thin layer of fluid
that keeps the surface of the eye comfortable.
In Closing: Eat Well, and Keep an Eye on the Rest
Diet does not replace an eye exam, which can
find problems that food cannot prevent or treat. If your vision has changed,
colors look duller or night driving has become harder, have your eyes checked
rather than waiting for a better diet to fix it.
Food can slow the wear that comes with age,
but it cannot fix how your eye is shaped or repair a condition once you have
one. Fill your plate with greens, fish, eggs and colorful vegetables, and get
your lutein from meals rather than capsules. Along with regular eye checks,
that gives your eyes a good chance of staying healthy for years to come.
Post a Comment