Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet can help to prevent or manage obesity, heart disease, diabetes and some forms of cancer. A healthy diet also helps to protect your vision. If you are having trouble with your eyesight, the first step is to have a full eye exam to make sure there are no underlying medical conditions that require treatment. Then your eye doctor can make recommendations on foods to help improve eyesight.
Considerations
With age, there are natural changes to the eyes that can affect the ability to see clearly. However, poor nutritional choices can also contribute to the development of two common eye problems: cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, says the American Optometric Association. Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet before eye problems occur is preferred, as the above-mentioned eye disorders are difficult to treat. The same dietary guidelines that are used to prevent many chronic illnesses such as getting plenty of fruits vegetables, low-fat dairy and whole grains will also keep the eyes healthy.
Citrus Fruits and Juices
Getting adequate levels of vitamin C can help to protect the eyes against cataracts, and the American Optometric Association recommends that adult males consume 90 mg of vitamin C daily and women should get 75 mg. Those who smoke need an additional 35 mg each day. Getting more than 250 mg each day appears to help the eyes even more. Eating five servings of fruits and vegetables each day should help to meet the above requirements. Good sources include 1 cup of boiled broccoli or Brussels sprouts, which each have about 100 mg of vitamin C; boiled cauliflower, which has around 50 mg per cup; and one 8 oz. glass of cranberry, grape, grapefruit or orange juice provides 90 to 100 mg. Other juices, cereals and canned goods have vitamin C added as well.
Wheat Germ Oil, Spinach and Broccoli
Green leafy vegetables such as spinach and broccoli are good sources of vitamin E, which can also help to improve vision. The nutrients and antioxidants in foods high in vitamin E protect the eyes by absorbing damaging blue light rays and keeping the tissue of the eyes safe from free radicals, reports the Maine.gov website. Eating a diet rich in green leafy vegetables may reduce the risk of cataracts by approximately 20 percent and the risk of AMD up to 40 percent. All adults should aim to get 15 mg of vitamin E every day. One-half cup of boiled spinach has about 1.9 mg of vitamin E, and 1/2 cup of boiled broccoli has about 1.2 mg. Other sources of vitamin E include wheat germ oil, which provides 20 mg per tablespoon, and safflower oil, which has almost 6 mg per tablespoon.
Carrots, Pumpkin and Sweet Potatoes
Vitamin A serves many purposes in the body, including producing the pigments in the retina of the eye. In addition, foods rich in beta carotene are also helpful, because beta carotene can easily be converted to vitamin A as needed. To protect your eyes, MedlinePlus recommends including carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, winter squash, cantaloupe, pink grapefruit, apricots, broccoli, spinach and most dark green leafy vegetables into the daily diet. In general, the darker the color of the food, the more nutrient dense it is. Adult males should get 900 mcg per day and females need 700 mcg per day. One cup of raw or cooked carrots, 1 cup cooked spinach or one cup cooked pumpkin each provides more than the daily recommended amount.
