Many people experience problems with dry eye, a condition that may cause your eyes to feel irritated and gritty, as if you have sand or another foreign body in your eye. You may also notice that your eyes appear red and you may have episodes of blurry vision. Artificial tears will often help prevent or resolve these symptoms, but you may find that including foods rich in omega-3 essential fatty acids helps your condition.
Cause
The tears that coat the surface of your eye provide comfort and nourishment. Dry eye symptoms can appear as a result of the glands not producing enough tears or producing tears of poor quality. The tears consist of an oily layer, a watery layer and a mucous layer, each providing a specific function, explains the American Optometric Association. If your tears have an imbalance in any of these layers, the tears cannot coat or provide proper nourishment. A healthful diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids may help maintain a high quality tear film and prevent dry eye symptoms. Your health care provider or eye doctor can help you determine the amount of omega-3 you should have in your diet each day.
Nuts and Plants
Walnuts and flax seeds contain a significant amount of omega-3 fatty acids, according to Tufts University. Simply sprinkling walnuts or flax seed over your salad or adding some to your cereal each morning may offer beneficial amounts of omega-3. Soybeans, spinach and seeds, such as sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds, provide small amounts of omega-3.
Fish and Seafood
Certain types of fish and sea food also contain omega-3 fatty acids. Salmon, mackerel, sardines and bluefish contain high amounts of these essential acids. Cod, crab, scallops and tuna also contain some omega-3.
Additional Sources
Cooking with certain types of oils or adding these oils to salads will add omega-3 to your diet. Flax seed oil provides the most omega-3 per serving, though walnut oil, canola oil and soybean oil also provide omega-3, explains Tufts University. You may also choose to take omega-3 supplements, and your doctor may recommend fish oil capsules.
Considerations
Diet and specific foods alone may not provide adequate relief for dry eye. You may need to work with your eye doctor to find a treatment regimen that will help your condition. A combination of diet and artificial tears or medicated eye drops may help ease your symptoms.
Discuss any diet or supplement changes with your doctor. Omega-3 may interfere with medications or health conditions, warns the University of Maryland Medical Center. Talking about omega-3 with your health care provider may help you avoid potential complications.
