There are three vitamins that are essential to the maintenance of eye health, including vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin A. All three of these vitamins are readily found in the foods you eat. But certain diets may limit the amount of one or more of these nutrients, making it important to either change your eating habits or invest in a dietary supplement.
Vitamin C
The American Optometric Association states that vitamin C is important for the health of your eyes. Not only does this vitamin support ocular blood vessels, but it also decreases the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration. The Mayo Clinic characterizes macular degeneration as a chronic eye disease where the tissue responsible for central vision begins to deteriorate, which may eventually lead to blind spots and blurred vision. The FDA has established the recommended dietary intake of vitamin C at 90 mg per day for men and 75 mg per day for women. Though you can easily take a dietary supplement of this vitamin, the best sources come from food, including oranges, lemons, grapefruit, limes, spinach, tomatoes and bananas.
Vitamin E
The American Optometric Association also claims that vitamin E is important to the health of your eyes. Much like vitamin C, vitamin E is known to reduce the risk of both cataracts and macular degeneration. It's also beneficial in the repair of DNA and the immune system, which can contribute to the maintenance of eye health as well. The FDA has established the recommended dietary intake of vitamin E at 22 international units (IU) for both genders. If you maintain a low-fat diet, you may need to turn to a dietary supplement to increase your intake of this essential vitamin. However, by supplementing your diet with almonds, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, peanuts and peanut butter, you can increase your dietary intake. An ounce of almonds or sunflower seeds contains 11 IU of vitamin E.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is also important to the health of your eyes, according to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. The complexity in which this vitamin is used is hard to describe, but it basically helps your eyes to see in the dark as well as distinguish colors by helping to generate electrical signals to the optic nerve. The recommended daily intake of vitamin A is 900 mcg, or 3,000 IU, in men and 700 mcg, or 2,310 IU, in women. Just like all vitamins, the best sources come from food, including liver, milk, carrot juice, carrots, spinach, kale, cantaloupes, apricots, papayas, peas and oatmeal.
