Protect Your Vision With Superfoods
By Sandy Schroeder
If you are in your 40s or older, you may want to add these powerful superfoods to your menus to protect your vision. According to the American Optometric Association, individuals frequently run into changes in their eyes in their 40s. These changes may be brought on by specific issues.
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
- Family history of macular degeneration or glaucoma
- Some medications such as antihistamines
Have your eyes checked regularly and use these superfoods to help keep your eyes healthy and fight eye diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration.
Serve Salmon and tuna - Fish that are full of omega-3 fatty acids can lower the risk of serious eye disease. Make tuna salad for lunch and grilled salmon for dinner.
Enjoy dark chocolate -The flavonoids in dark chocolate can protect your vision. Researchers found individuals had better vision two hours after eating a bar of dark chocolate. Buy dark chocolate cocoa and stir it into your Greek yogurt.
Pick blueberries - This superfruit contains an antioxidant, anthocyanin that crosses the blood-retina barrier to protect the vision of individuals who have a form of glaucoma that impacts the optic nerve. Top your morning oats with blueberries and stir them into a muffin mix or bake a blueberry tart.
Mix spinach in - These leafy greens provide the antioxidants, lutein and zeaxanthin, that the eye stores and uses to fight blue light that comes from cell phone and computer screens. Stir spinach into your soups, casseroles or morning omelet.
Add an egg yolk - The antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin are also found in egg yolks. They provide Vitamin A to fight eye disease and they are fat soluble. Include an egg yolk in your egg white omelet.
Fry some oysters - These shellfish are loaded with the mineral zinc, which keeps eyes healthy. When a diet is deficient in zinc it can cause poor night vision. Use olive oil and fry oysters dipped in breadcrumbs and egg batter.
Serve hot tea - Scientists in Britain discovered individuals who drink hot tea every day are 70 percent less likely to have glaucoma.
Choose oranges - Enjoy oranges as snacks and get the Vitamin C needed to lower the risk of cataracts. Researchers studied adults who were 49 and older and found they had a 50 percent lower rate of macular degeneration when they ate oranges daily. Pack them along as snacks for your family and slice them into salads for lunch or dinner.
Add carrots - Put carrots in soups, stews and coleslaw to get beta-carotene, the antioxidant that helps the body process Vitamin A to keep eyes healthy.
Try sunflower seeds - Two ounces of sunflower seeds daily will provide enough Vitamin E to reduce the risks of cataracts, according to Spanish research.
Enjoy all of these superfoods while your protect your vision.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Mt. Juliet, Tenn.