Nuts About Your Eyes
may be bad for your eyes. With this exception: nuts!
Yep, eating nuts at least once a week may help protect your peepers from vision-stealing conditions like macular degeneration.
Feed Your Vision
Scientists discovered that people with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) could slow down the disease by eating one or more servings of nuts a week. Makes sense. The supernutrients in nuts — vitamin E, copper, magnesium, fiber, and resveratrol — all help protect against blood vessel problems that might contribute to AMD.
More Sight Savers
Not so nuts about nuts? Here are some other ways to keep your eyes sharp.
Go fish! Turns out eating fish, like eating nuts, may have a protective effect against AMD progression. It’s also good for warding off this eye syndrome:
Set your sights on healthy fats that can help protect your eyes.
Getting adequate amounts of omega-3 fatty acids in your diet may help ward off irritating dry eye syndrome, a condition that causes decreased tear production and can damage eyes. Look to salmon, chunk light tuna, flaxseeds, and walnuts to boost your omega-3 intake and help keep your peepers in top form.
People produce fewer tears as they age, so increased age is a risk factor for dry eye syndrome. In addition to eye irritation, people with the condition also may be sensitive to bright lights. In a recent study of women aged 45 to 84 years old, researchers discovered that women whose intake of omega-6 fatty acids was much greater than their intake of omega-3 fatty acids were at an increased risk of suffering from dry eye syndrome. Omega-6s are polyunsaturated fatty acids found in meat, refined grains, and eggs. Reducing your intake of omega-6s while increasing consumption of omega-3-rich oily fish, flaxseeds, and walnuts could help you achieve a healthy fatty acid balance and may help reduce your risk of dry eye syndrome, depression, and other conditions.
Be cool. Wear your shades.
Hit the road. Simple exercises like walking may be good for your eyes.
Bulk up. Your diet, that is, with fiber.
For more health tips, browse Encouraging Health.
May 6th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
I have found that rounding out my diet with more nuts, fish and raw veggies have improved my body and my senses. I have found great sources for fiber and the value of the different nuts at the Dietary Supplement Information Bureau. Go nuts! (seemed funny in my head)