This is a continuation of our series on Natural Vision Correction. Get to Part 1 Here.
Legumes
Legumes are powerful sources of nutrition, and they provide your body with an excellent dose of zinc and bioflavonoids, which help protect the eye’s retina. It also reduces the risk of developing any age-related eye condition in the future such as macular degeneration and cataracts. Countries in the Middle East and the Mediterranean, where diets are high in lentils, haricot beans, kidney beans, and black-eyed peas, have lower rates of cataracts than countries that diets don’t include such high amounts of legumes.
Grass Fed Beef
Dismiss any information that tells you beef is unhealthy. When eaten in moderation, beef can boost your health ten-fold, especially your eye health. Always opt for the leaner, grass fed versions, but beef in general has high amounts of zinc. Zinc works together with vitamin A, a vitamin essential for eye health. Zinc helps assist the absorption of vitamin A, so essentially vitamin A is useless without zinc. With the combination of vitamin A and zinc, you’ll help reduce the risk of any age-related eye conditions, such as macular degeneration.
Coconut Milk
Coconut milk is full of amazingly helpful medium chain triglycerides that has a laundry list of beneficial effects including:
- An additional energy source for brain function which includes the visual center.
- Antimicrobial effects fighting of these viruses:
- HIV
- measles
- herpes simplex (HSV-1)
- vesicular stomatitis virus
- visna virus
- cytomegalovirus (CMV)
- All natural SunScreen
These are just a few of the amazing characteristics of coconut, coconut oil and coconut milk.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes may just be that simple red fruit you find in your salad, but these fruits are packed with carotenoids, which are responsible for the tomato’s bright red color. Lycopene, which is one of the important carotenoids in tomatoes, helps promote the eyes’ ocular tissues and helps reduce any light-induced damage to the eye’s retina.
Olive Oil
Olive oil is not just a dressing for your salad or a healthy way of frying it’s also a great way to help protect your eyes’ health. When you consciously follow a diet that has a low amount of trans and saturated fats, you’ll reduce the risk of contracting retina diseases. Research also shows it helps reduce the risk of ARMD by a whopping 48%. If you’re buying olive oil, make sure you go for the extra virgin version as this contains more antioxidants.
Non-GMO Corn
If you’re a corn lover, you’re in luck. Corn has high amounts of lutein and zeaxanthin, and only ½ a cup of boiled corn contains 1.8g of healthy pigments per serving. The pigments that are found in corn are also naturally occurring in the eye, but when ARMD sets in, these pigments are lost. When you eat more foods that contain such rich pigments, you significantly reduce the risk of losing your eyes’ natural pigments.
Pistachios
Although pistachios fall into the category of nuts, they’re worthy of their own mention as they contain high amounts of zeaxanthin and lutein, which help restore the retina and ward off ARMD. Not only are they high in these antioxidants, they also contain high amounts of vitamin E and eating pistachios can reduce the risk of developing cataracts and other age-related eye diseases. If this isn’t enough, pistachios also contain mono and polyunsaturated fats that help accelerate the absorption of carotenoids, thus making the pistachio one of the healthiest snacks for your eyes.
Strawberries
Who doesn’t love this tasty summer fruit? Not only are strawberries the perfect partner for cream and ice cream they also contain a number of beneficial nutrients to help you reach optimal eye health and sight. Strawberries have high amounts of vitamin C, which will help you fight and reduce inflammation of the eyes. It doesn’t matter whether the inflammation is naturally occurring or self-inflicted from wearing makeup or your contacts too long, strawberries help reduce it. These red succulent berries also contain a variety of powerful antioxidants that will help your body defend your eyes when it comes to eye infections, dryness, and macular degeneration. All it takes is a cup of strawberries a day to help eliminate or prevent eye problems.
Avocado
Toss it in a salad, spread it on toast or eat whole, when eaten raw, avocado provides your body with vitamins B6, C and E, all of which are essential for healthy eyesight. Avocado also helps reduce your stress levels, and while it’s not directly related to your eyesight, stress has been proven to be one of the causes of vision loss.
Peppers
No matter what form or color your peppers come in, they’re all beneficial to your eyes. Make eating all kinds of peppers of all colors a routine as they’re one of the best sources of vitamins A and C. Peppers cooked or raw contain beta-carotene, vitamin B6, lutein, lycopene, and zeaxanthin, all of which help improve your eyesight.
Dark Chocolate
Rich in antioxidants, dark chocolate does wonders for your eyes. It is made up of powerful antioxidants like flavonols, which are known to enhance the blood flow to the eye’s retina, thus helping your eyes to see evenly when the light is low.
Tea and Coffee
Tea and coffee may be surprising addition to the list to promote eye health, but research shows that drinking tea and coffee can assist in preventing macular degeneration, cataracts and dry eyes. Coffee and tea also stops the growth of new blood vessels towards the back of the eyes, which can cause vision loss if there’s a buildup over time.
Your eyes are a gift, but more often than not we take them and our sight for granted. Our eyes are busy working tirelessly throughout the day, and you’ve just got to think about what they get exposed to on a daily basis. TV, cell phones, computers, newspapers, books, and signs to name but a few are some of things we expose our eyes to. Because we use our eyes so much without even realizing it, we’re more vulnerable to common eye problems such as distorted vision, poor eyesight, and cataracts. As soon as you begin to develop problems with your eyes, your world can change depending on how severe the problem is. But with the right diet and taking precautions, you can do your part and help preserve your eyes and sight for years to come.
Part 9 is going to cover how chiropractic care can effect vision and the specific technique needed to take advantage of this little known benefit.
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