Some of the most common vision problems that people face are refractive errors. Refractive errors may cause a blurry vision either for far off objects or for nearby objects. These two conditions are known as farsightedness and nearsightedness respectively.
Refractive errors are very common in Pakistani population. According to a local survey, 35.7% of people in the country suffer from nearsightedness while 27.1% have long-sightedness. Fortunately, some foods can help you avoid eyesight problems. These foods also improve overall eye-health.
Here are five foods that can improve eye-sight;
- Nuts
Nuts have a lot of omega 3 fatty acids. According to the research, these fatty acids can slow down age-related macular degeneration. They can also help avoid dry eyes as they are also known to preserve the moisture of the eyes.
Almonds are especially rich in vitamin E and are excellent to slow down age-related eye damages. A handful of almonds every day are enough to keep both your vision and over-all health sharp.
- Carrots
Carrots do not have a direct effect on eye-sight but they improve over-all eye health. Carrots have a compound in them which is known as beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is the primary source of vitamin A in the body.
According to WHO, Vitamin A deficiency is one of the leading causes of blindness in the world. Thus, carrots can substantially decrease the risk of blindness, especially for people living in developing countries.
- Spinach
Spinach is rich in a compound called lutein. Lutein is one of the pigments present in the macula. Macular pigments are crucial for vision and they are vulnerable to degeneration. Consuming the green leafy spinach can help you replenish this pigment.
In other words, spinach is ideal if you want to avoid macular degeneration and even age-related cataracts. It is also important that you eat raw spinach because cooked spinach is likely to lose all of its nutritional benefits.
- Blueberries
Blueberries are one of the healthiest food available naturally. They are rich in anti-oxidants known as anthocyanin. Anthocyanin’s not only give blueberries their purple colour, but they also act as anti-viral and anti-inflammatory agents for the human body.
So, eating blueberries enhances immunity and as a byproduct gives resilience to eyes against infections. Blueberries can thus protect the retina against damaging UV rays in the sunlight. They can also protect the eyes from oxygen damage.
- Egg Yolks
Egg yolks can also slow down the process of macular degeneration. They are rich in both zeaxanthin and lutein pigments which are crucial in keeping the vision sharp. Lutein and zeaxanthin accumulate in the middle of the macula and cancels out all the free-radicals, filtering the blue light out. We need around 6mg of these anti-oxidants every day. One egg yolk has around 0.25 mg of the antioxidant pigments and can thus be an ideal source.
Macular degeneration is one of the leading causes of poor eye-sight. The foods mentioned in this article do not prevent macular degeneration but they can certainly slow the process down. If your macula has already degenerated, you should visit an eye-specialist along with including these foods in your diet.
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This article was produced in partnership with oladoc.com, a digital health company in Pakistan. Using oladoc, you can find the best eye specialist in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad and book an appointment online.
