While eating carrots to improve your vision won’t do much in this respect other than improve your digestion, one thing is sure – the British wartime propaganda was quite efficient.
For those not acquainted with the story, the British famously put out a story that their airmen were such good shots because they were eating a lot of carrots.
Anyway, while carrots might not be it, there are some foods out there that can improve your vision for real.
(An important note before we continue: Some medical eye conditions such as myopia and astigmatism cannot be improved through dietary changes. For these conditions, glasses, contact lenses, or undergoing surgery have the best effects.)
That said, some other conditions, such as macular degeneration, can be improved by eating certain foods.
What’s more, you can improve your diet in this respect and perhaps add some eye exercises. Whether they’re physical or, let’s say, you do it via a mobile app for binocular vision – you can dramatically reduce your visits to your local eye doctor.
In this article, we’re going to list some of the common foods you perhaps didn’t know had beneficial effects on your vision.
Read on to learn more.
10 Foods That Improve Eyesight
1) Beef
In the introductory paragraph of this article, we mentioned macular degeneration as one of the conditions that can be tackled with some dietary changes.
Well, if this condition has been hampering you, one of the dietary solutions you won’t find that difficult to stick to would be beef.
This tasty meat does not give your body energy to tackle everyday tasks, but it’s also rich in Zinc – which has been proven to slow down the progression of macular degeneration.
By the way, you’ll discover that many entries on this list are Zinc-rich foods.
2) Citrus Fruits
… such as lemons and limes, grapefruits, oranges, and other similar fruits.
What makes these so eye-friendly would be Vitamin C, a key antioxidant which is essential for the well-being of many processes in your body.
Eyes here are not an exception, so setting up a diet rich in citrus fruits is always a good idea if you have an eye condition or are keen to prevent one.
3) Fish
In terms of keeping your eyesight sharp and tackling macular degeneration, in particular, fish can be one of your biggest dietary allies, so to speak.
A fatty fish meal that comes complete with some commonly-added citrus drops can represent a great way to improve the state of your eyes over time gradually.
As for fish, in particular, the way it helps your eyes is pretty much the same as the way it helps any other cell in your body – Omega-3 acid.
Omega-3 acid plays an important role in regenerating all human cells, including eye cells.
To be more specific, experts have found that this acid has the capacity to help you with dry eye and meibomian gland dysfunction.
4) Nuts
If you can digest them, nuts are one of the best sources of fatty acids and fiber, and protein.
This is why everyone consumes them regularly – from bodybuilders looking to gain muscle to the elderly looking to maintain their weight and health.
As far as the effect of various nuts on your eyesight, almonds, and hazelnuts, in particular, are quite important as they are rich in Vitamin E – well-known for their antioxidant properties.
5) Seeds
Another antioxidant-rich food on this list comes in the form of seeds.
These would include a wide variety of seeds, such as pumpkin and sunflower seeds, and virtually all of them are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids.
For this reason, eating seeds is especially recommended for folks who don’t like fish, as they can represent a great substitute for the Omega-3 acid. (Meaning the seeds, not the folks who eat fish, of course.)
To be even more precise, sunflower seeds seem to be the most beneficial for the eye, as they are rich in Vitamin E, a vitamin essential for eye health.
6) Sweet Potatoes
An interesting dietary hack that some ocular experts propose would be to substitute the regular potato in your diet, with sweet potato.
This switch substitutes one tasty food with another, but it also gives you the benefits that you wouldn’t otherwise have with regular potatoes.
The thing is, sweet potatoes are rich in a couple of pretty important nutrients for the eye – Vitamins A and C, as well as lutein, which is crucial for preventing or slowing down macular degeneration.
7) Leafy Greens
Turns out, the spinach that Popeye was consuming in vast quantities is not only good for his muscles – it’s also beneficial for the eyes.
Leafy greens, in general, whether it’s spinach, cauliflower, or broccoli are rich in Vitamin C, and also in the aforementioned lutein.
The great news is, of course, that leafy greens can be consumed on a daily basis as a part of a salad. So, you can combine them with a fish meal or some beef steak, which will boost your intake of foods that are good for your eyes by a lot.
8) Eggs
A great source of lutein, as well as Vitamins C and E, eggs are a staple of many countries’ cuisine, so introducing them in your diet won’t be too difficult.
In general, eggs are justifiably considered a proper powerhouse in the world of food, as they are rich in protein and the aforementioned vitamins.
For this reason, they are also often used as the go-to ‘bulking’ food, to use body-building parlance, as they help build and support cell structure.
9) Legumes
Another great source of protein that is often used to substitute meat in efforts related to gaining muscle, legumes are also quite useful for eye health as they are rich in Zinc.
If you’re considering introducing legumes to your diet and you want to place a special emphasis on eye health improvement, lentils represent possibly the healthiest option.
This is because they are as rich in Zinc as the other legumes while also containing no saturated fats and having a high-fiber content.
10) Berries
Last but not least, certain types of berries are also known for their beneficial effects on vision improvement.
Blueberries and blackberries, for example, are rich in Anthocyanin, which plays an important factor in eye health.
Conclusion
Maybe you’ve been having trouble with your vision recently, or you just want to make sure your eyes will be in excellent working order ten years from now.
Or, you may have a job where eye strain is common, and you want to reduce the harmful effects of staring at a computer screen or a welding torch the entire day.
Whatever the reason, enriching your diet with some of the aforementioned foods can certainly be an easy and tasty way to improve your eye health.
Author bio
Travis Dillard is a business consultant and an organizational psychologist based in Arlington, Texas. Passionate about marketing, social networks, and business in general. In his spare time, he writes a lot about new business strategies and digital marketing for DigitalStrategyOne.