5 Eye-Healthy Vitamins and Minerals For Everyone
Consider your eyes for a moment. Even though they are only the size of ping pong balls, eyeballs assist you in taking in everything that happens around you. When you're awake, your eyes interpret a continual stream of information that's sent to your brain for processing in significantly less time than it takes to blink.
Dietary nutrients contribute significantly to eye health. Five essential vitamins and minerals for healthy eyes are vitamin A, lutein and zeaxanthin, Omega-3 fats, and vitamins C and E.
Because our diets can be deficient in some vitamins and minerals, a multivitamin can provide the necessary daily nutrition to improve your vision.
Some multivitamins, regardless of age, contain nutritional levels that support eye health.
What to Eat to Improve Eye Health
1. Vitamin A
Carotenoids, which are plant pigments, give carrots and sweet potatoes their deep orange hue. Beta-carotene, the most common kind of carotenoid, is used in the body to produce vitamin A. Beta-carotene can also be found in squash and other orange and yellow fruits and vegetables.
Retinol, a kind of vitamin A obtained from animal foods and dietary supplements and produced mostly by the body from beta-carotene, accumulates in the retina of the eye to make rhodopsin. Rhodopsin is a pigment that is also involved in the production of rod cells, which are photoreceptors that allow you to see in low light, popularly known as "night vision."
2. Omega-3 fatty acids
Omega-3 fatty acids are polyunsaturated fats.
Omega-3s provide structural support in eye cells and throughout the body because they are found in cell membranes, which are the barriers that separate and safeguard the inner workings of cells. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 lipid, is especially vital for eye health. DHA is abundant in the retina, assisting the eyes in registering images and transmitting them to the brain.
Seafood contains the most naturally occurring omega-3 lipids. If you don’t eat at least 8 ounces of fish per week, as recommended by the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, you may want to consider taking omega-3 supplements.
3. Vitamin C
Vitamin C is one of numerous antioxidants in the body that protect against free radical damage. Free radicals are oxygen-based metabolic byproducts that are also generated in the body in reaction to pollutants such as cigarette smoking (including secondhand smoke) and air pollution.
4. Zeaxanthin and lutein
Lutein and zeaxanthin, like beta-carotene, are carotenoids. The only carotenoids found in the retina are lutein and zeaxanthin, which absorb harmful high-energy blue wavelengths of light. 2
Lutein and zeaxanthin-rich foods include spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, broccoli, corn, and orange juice. Include at least five servings of bright orange, yellow, and green veggies in your daily diet to ensure you obtain enough lutein and zeaxanthin.
Citrus fruits and vegetables, kiwi, strawberries, and spinach are high in vitamin C.
5. Vitamin E
Vitamin E is also an antioxidant that protects cells from harm, including eye cells. Vitamin E is commonly present in high-fat foods such as almonds, sunflower seeds, peanuts and peanut butter, avocado, and multivitamins.
