A healthy diet is as important for eye care as it is for the rest of your body. According to Eye Smart, an informational site developed by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the time to think about your diet and the vitamins required for healthy eyes is before the effects of a poor diet take hold. As Eye Smart notes, while certain vitamins play an important role in maintaining eye health, they cannot reverse damage already incurred.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is important to eye health for a number of reasons. According to All About Vision, vitamin A helps protect the cornea from bacteria and viruses that can cause eye infections. In drop form, vitamin A is an effective remedy for dry eye syndrome and eye inflammation. In addition, the National Eye Institute includes 15 mg daily of vitamin A from plant sources as one component in a group of antioxidant vitamins and minerals thought to decrease the risk of developing an age-related eye condition called macular degeneration by 25 percent. You can get vitamin A directly from animal sources, such as liver or eggs, and in the form of beta-carotene that your body converts to vitamin A from plant sources, such as carrots and spinach.
According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, antioxidant vitamins work by preventing cell damage that occurs because of unstable, free radical molecules and contributes to the development of many diseases. These molecules can be present as the result of metabolism or from environmental sources, such as cigarette smoke or radiation.
Vitamin C
A daily dose of 500 mg of vitamin C is the second antioxidant vitamin the National Eye Institute recommends for preventing macular degeneration. Vitamin C is also important in preventing the formation of cataracts. According to the American Optometric Association, a daily dose of at least 300 mg of vitamin C can reduce your risk of developing cataracts by 57 to 64 percent.
Food sources for vitamin C include mainly fruits, especially citrus fruits, and vegetables. As the American Optometric Association notes, foods containing the highest amounts of vitamin C include orange juice, grapefruit juice, oranges, cooked spinach, tomatoes, bananas, apples and peaches. If you cannot get sufficient vitamin C in your diet, the American Optometric Association recommends taking a daily supplement.
Vitamin E
Because your body cannot synthesize vitamin E, you must get this important eye care vitamin from your diet. As the third vitamin that plays a role in preventing macular degeneration, the National Eye Institute recommends consuming 400 IU, or international units, per day. Like vitamin C, vitamin E is also important in significantly reducing your risk of developing cataracts. In addition, vitamin E plays a role in the coordination of eye movement, evidenced by the fact that a deficiency can result in involuntary eye movements, or twitching.
Food sources for vitamin E include nuts, oils such as vegetable and salad oil, peanut butter, vitamin E-fortified cereal and sweet potatoes. The American Optometric Association does not make a recommendation regarding the suitability of a vitamin E supplement as an alternate way of getting this vitamin.
