Food That Benefits The Eye

To ensure healthy eyes throughout life, what you eat matters. Nutrition and eye health are linked through all stages of life, from infancy to old age. Specific nutrients, and the foods that contain them, have been linked to eye development, protection against dry eyes and the prevention of serious eye disorders that can lead to blindness if left unchecked.

Vitamins

Vitamin A, also known as retinol, can be found pre-formed in beef and chicken liver, cheese and milk and helps protect the surface of the eye, called the cornea. In fact, a deficiency of vitamin A can lead to night blindness, or in severe cases to complete blindness. Foods high in vitamin C, such as citrus fruits, may aid in the prevention of glaucoma.

Carotenoids

To aid eye health, eat foods containing carotenoids, a group of antioxidant phytochemicals produced by plants. Beta-carotene, which can be converted into vitamin A after consumption, is one of the most well-known of the carotenoids and is found in carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and cantaloupe. The carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin can also boost eye health and help prevent age-related eye problems such as macular degeneration, cataract and retinitis pigmentosa, according to a January 2010 review in the "Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture." Lutein and zeaxanthin are found in green leafy vegetables and egg yolk.

Macular Degeneration

In a study called the Age-Related Eye Disease Study, or AREDS, which was sponsored by the National Eye Institute, researchers discovered that a supplement containing a combination of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc and copper reduced the risk of macular degeneration in high-risk individuals by 25 percent. Foods containing these vitamins may also exert a protective effect against this disease. Omega-3 fatty acids, found in fatty fish, flax and walnuts, and bioflavonoids, found in berries, legumes, soy, tea and red wine, have also been linked to a lowered risk of macular degeneration.

Development

Nutrition for eye health is especially important during infancy. Pregnant and breastfeeding women should make sure to get enough of the vitamins and carotenoids to promote healthy eye development in their babies. The omega-3 fatty acid DHA is particularly important for the developing eyes and babies who get sufficient DHA have better vision than infants who get less, according to a 2010 study in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition." Breastfed babies whose mothers get sufficient DHA, typically through the consumption of fatty fish at least twice a week, generally get enough of this essential fatty acid, but formula-fed babies may need a formula fortified with this ingredient.

Considerations

Eating a variety of whole foods, especially fruits and vegetables, may be the best thing you can do to protect eye health. Compounds in whole foods work together in synergy and can confer more benefits than taking individual vitamins or supplements alone. Dark and bright colored produce are especially important, since these foods contain many of the nutrients and phytochemicals that have been shown to specifically protect the eyes.