4 Eye-Friendly Nutrients To Include in Your Diet| Downtown Eyes| Richfield, MN

In addition to undergoing a yearly eye exam, adding eye-friendly nutrients to your diet can help improve your vision health and protect your eyes from cellular damage.

Here’s an overview of eye-friendly nutrients that can contribute to your eye health:

1. Vitamin A and Beta Carotene 

Vitamin A is the best known eye-friendly nutrient. This nutrient helps your retina—the layer of cells at the back of your eye—convert light into images. It also protects the cornea, the surface of your eye.

Symptoms of Vitamin A Deficiency 

What happens if you’re not getting enough Vitamin A? You might experience some of the following symptoms:

• Dry eye (Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that is essential to the production of tears that lubricate your eyes. Without sufficient levels of this nutrient, patients might not be able to produce enough tears, resulting in dry eyes.)
• Vision loss (Night blindness to be exact. Patients who aren’t getting enough vitamin A from their diet might have trouble seeing in the dark or at night.)

If you experience any of these symptoms, see your optician for an eye examination as soon as possible.

Where to Get Your Daily Dose of Beta Carotene and Vitamin A

Most of us get our daily dose of Vitamin A from beta carotene, a plant pigment that the body converts into vitamin A. Beta carotene is present in many colorful fruits and vegetables.

Good sources of beta carotene and Vitamin A include:

• Orange vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins (Here’s a fun fact: A sweet potato contains more than 200% of the daily dose of vitamin A health professionals recommend.)
• Eggs
• Cantaloupes
• Leafy green vegetables

Debunking Health Myths: Eating Carrots Will Help Improve Your Vision 

There’s this common misconception that eating lots of carrots will improve your vision. As mentioned earlier, carrots are rich in an essential eye-friendly nutrient. However, we don’t recommend building your diet around a single vegetable or nutrient. What we would recommend is incorporating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables into your diet.

Remember: Too much Vitamin A, or any nutrient for that matter, is harmful to your health. Taking more than the daily recommended daily limit (900 micrograms mcg for adult men and 700 mcg for adult women) can result in symptoms such as dizziness, nausea and headaches.

2. Zinc 

Zinc helps protect your eyes from ultraviolet (UV) damage. It allows Vitamin A to travel from the liver to the retina to produce melanin, a pigment that protects your eyes from UV light.

What’s the Recommended Daily Dose of Zinc? 

The recommended daily amount of zinc is 11 mg for men and 8 mg for women.

Which Foods Are Rich in Zinc? 

Legumes (black-eyed peas, kidney beans, and lima beans), oysters, lean red meat, poultry and fortified cereals) are rich in zinc.

How many beans or oysters do you need to eat to get your recommended daily dose? Here’s a detailed breakdown of their zinc content:

• Six oysters – 74 milligrams of zinc
• Three ounces of beef – 7 milligrams of zinc
• Three ounces of pork – 2.9 milligrams of zinc
• ¾ cup of fortified cereal –  3.8 milligrams of zinc
• ½ cup of baked or canned beans – 2.9 milligrams of zinc

Protecting Your Eyes From UV Damage 

In addition to eating an eye-friendly diet, it’s also vital that you wear protective eyewear that can filter out UV rays. Keep in mind that not all sunglasses can provide the same level of UV protection. According to the American Optometric Association, sunglasses should be able to:

• Block 99 to 100% of UV-A and UV-B rays (UV-A rays can make it past your eye’s cornea and reach its lens and retina)
• Screen out 75 to 90% of visible light

Here’s a tip: If you don’t want to alternate between eyeglasses and sunglasses all the time, there’s the option of wearing glasses with photochromic lenses. Photochromic lenses darken when exposed to UV light and return to a lighter shade in the absence of sunlight. To determine the thickness of photochromic lenses, you’ll need to undergo an eye exam.

3. Lutein and Zeaxanthin 

Like beta carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin are carotenoids, pigments found in vegetables. (Fun fact: The carotenoids are what give vegetables their color, so if you’re looking for eye-friendly fruits and vegetables, start with brightly colored ones.) These two carotenoids form the pigment in the macula (the center of the retina) that protects the eyes’ photoreceptor cells.

How Lutein and Zeaxanthin Protect Vision Health 

The macula has the highest concentration of photoreceptors and is the most sensitive part of the retina. The macula is responsible for interpreting colors and important vision tasks like reading. Aside from aging, prolonged exposure to high-energy blue light (particularly blue light from electronic devices) can cause oxidative stress. Lutein and zeaxanthin—which are antioxidants—can help reduce oxidative stress and prevent macular degeneration.

Diet Tips: Incorporating Leafy Green Vegetables Into Your Diet 

Leafy green vegetables are rich in lutein and zeaxanthin. Here are fun and flavorful ways of incorporating them into your diet:

• Add spinach to smoothies
• Make kale chips (Bake kale sprinkled with salt and drizzled with olive oil in the oven until the edges are brown for 10 to 15 minutes)
• Ran out of basil for pesto? Watercress is a healthy substitute.
• Arugula leaves make a great—and healthy—pizza topping.

Other great sources of lutein and zeaxanthin include romaine lettuce, collards, turnip greens, broccoli, peas, and (nutritional powerhouse) eggs. For more tips on incorporating eye-friendly fruits and vegetables into your diet, consult your optician.

4. Vitamin E 

Alpha tocopherol—a specific type of Vitamin E—has antioxidant properties that can help combat free radicals (unstable molecules that damage healthy tissue) and prevent them from damaging proteins in the eye (which could result in cataracts or cloudy areas on the lens of your eyes).

Symptoms of Vitamin E Deficiency 

What symptoms might you experience if you’re not getting enough Vitamin E?

• Difficulty walking
• Muscle pain or weakness
• Issues with your vision (If you experience any issues with your vision, see your optician for an eye examination as soon as possible)
• A general feeling of unwellness

If you experience any of these symptoms, see a health professional as soon as possible.

Getting Your Daily Dose of Vitamin E 

To prevent Vitamin E deficiencies, try incorporating more nuts (particularly almonds), fruits (like avocados) and vegetables (like sweet potatoes) into your diet.

More Than Just Toast: Delicious Ways to Enjoy Avocados 

Avocado is a versatile fruit that can help you get your daily dose of Vitamin E. Here are some ways to enjoy avocados:

• Season avocados – A pinch of salt and pepper will do, but you can also experiment with other seasonings like paprika, cayenne pepper, or balsamic vinegar. You can also
• Add avocados to scrambled eggs – Try adding avocados to scrambled eggs (which are rich in Vitamin A, lutein, and zeaxanthin) to make a dish chock-full of eye-friendly nutrients
• Substitute avocados for mayo – Creamy avocado puree is a fantastic substitute for mayo.
• Use avocados in smoothies – Try incorporating some kale and avocados to your morning smoothie to add a bit of color and a nutrition boost.

Can Taking Supplements Help Maintain Vision Health?

Supplements can help prevent vitamin deficiencies, but a healthy and balanced diet should be your primary source of nutrients. If you’re considering taking supplements, it’s best to consult an optician. Taking more than the daily recommended limit may result in vitamin toxicity, which can cause serious health issues.

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