Healthy Eyes: Getting the Nutrition You Need for Optimum Eye Health

We've heard that there are certain foods you can eat to get healthier looking hair, stronger bones and to prevent diseases. But there are also foods and nutrients that many doctors recommend to help keep our eyes healthy for many, many years.

The eye is a highly complex organ made up of lipids, or fatty tissue. As light enters our eyes and breaks down into free radicals, these free radicals cause major damage to our eye's lipids. These free radicals cause the degenerative effects of aging and eventually the loss of vision over time.

Two of the major effects that these free radicals cause are macular degeneration and cataracts.

Luckily, free radicals can be neutralized by antioxidants because they help to slow down the damage done and wash the free radicals out of the body completely.

To get your share of antioxidants, doctors suggest eating your vegetables. Fresh fruits and green, leafy vegetables are chock full of antioxidants.

To keep your eyes healthy you need a regular dose of the antioxidants found in vitamins A, C and E. These antioxidants help to ward off the need for glasses or contacts and fight the negative effects of eye aging. Vitamin A can be found in carrots, Vitamin E can be found in nuts and sunflower seeds, and Vitamin C is found in green, leafy vegetables, citrus fruits, broccoli and sweet peppers.

By adding fish to your regular diet, you can also help to get the nutrition you need for healthy eyes. Experts suggest that with two servings a week of fish, you can add essential fatty acids to your diet, thereby improving your eye's health.

Keeping an eye on your sugar intake is also important in maintaining healthy eyes, as refined carbohydrates can spike your glucose levels, increasing your chances of acquiring macular degeneration.

Just by keeping these tips in mind and being cautious about what you eat, your eyes will be healthy well into your older years and your vision will only improve over time.