Even before lifting your head from
the pillow, your ever-vigilant eyes are opened to glance at
the clock and give you a yay or nay whether you can sleep 5
more minutes. They hang out with you through an entire day,
enabling you to experience many of the joys that contribute
to your rich and meaningful life. In fact, it is estimated
that 90% of what we learn during our lifetime is learned through
use of the eyes. Wouldn’t it be a terrible mistake to
take the health of your hard-working eyes for granted? Instead
learn how you can help protect them into age ninety and beyond.
Seven Suggestions for Sight
- Eat spinach or other greens like collards and kale several
times a week since they contain lutein, an antioxidant that
greatly benefits the health of the eye’s macula. Be
sure to eat these foods with a bit of olive oil to help better
absorb them. One cup of raw spinach or ½ cup of cooked
spinach provides 6 mg of lutein.
- Massage temples and pinch the skin between your brows to
relax eyes and improve circulation.
- Cook with red onions instead of yellow since they have
significantly more quercetin. Quercetin is a bioflavonoid
that may benefit age-related eye concerns.
- Always wear sunglasses in bright sunlight. If you experience
even a hint of a squint, get out the shades, and make sure
they filter out the maximum amount of ultraviolet light.
- Blink regularly to cleanse, lubricate and de-stress the
eyes.
- Some ophthalmologists recommend periodically covering your
eyes with the palms of your hands to rest them. Practice
this eye-break three times each day for 10 seconds each time.
A Twinkle in Your Eyes
Eyes that appear slightly moist look
bright and healthy. Yet everyday activities and even the
foods we eat can dry up that sparkle. Dry eyes respond well
to supplements of evening primrose oil or borage oil thanks
to their content of gamma linolenic acid (GLA). GLA is the
precursor to prostaglandin E-1, a substance that is necessary
for the secretion of tears, and supplementing with GLA has
been found to support tear production. Also drink plenty of
plain bottled water to keep your eyes hydrated, and stay far
from beverages or other foods sweetened with aspartame, which
has a drying effect on eyes.
The Triple Crown of Vision Health
- Lutein—You
can read this web page thanks to your macula, which
is part of the retina. The #1 supplement for supporting the
health of this central part of the eye is lutein, and
the optimal dose is 20 mg.
- Bilberry—Bilberry
is the vision herb for all types of eye concerns. It
aids in the regeneration of visual purple in the retina,
which helps the eye adapt to low-density light (night vision),
plus it improves delivery of oxygen and blood to the
eyes, which is critical to vision health. It also strengthens
collagen in the tiny capillaries that feed the eyes, and
it offers strong antioxidant support for the entire eye.
Aim for 320 mg of a formula standardized for 25% anthocyanidins
each day.
- Zeaxanthin—Zeaxanthin
is a carotenoid and antioxidant that is concentrated in the
macula of the eye along with lutein. Most people do not consume
enough of the foods that contain it (spinach and
kale), so supplementation is helpful. Try to get 880 to 1000
mcg (1 mg) per day.
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"Science
indicates that lutein’s function
in the eye’s macula (a small spot
in the retina responsible for central
vision) is the same as in plants: to
filter out harmful, high-energy, blue
wavelengths of visible light that can
damage cells and tissues. Supplements
using purified, crystalline lutein under
the FloraGLO® name
contain lutein identical to the lutein
found in dark green leafy vegetables...
Lutein also acts as an antioxidant, protecting
cells by quenching free radicals." |
| Dr.
Robert Abel, Jr., of Delaware Ophthalmology
Consultants, is the author of The Eye
Care Revolution and is an advisor
to the Lutein Information Bureau. |
Supplement Program of the National Eye
Institute
The National Eye Institute sponsored a major
study that ended in 2001, and the researchers concluded
that five key nutrients were beneficial to eye health.
The participants in the study took the following
amounts of each nutrient for an average of 6.3 years. To read
more about the study, visit National Eye Institute
- Beta-Carotene—15 mg, which is equivalent to 25,000
IU. Beta-carotene is different from vitamin A, however.
Although the body makes vitamin A from beta-carotene, supplements
of vitamin A (retinol palmitate or acetate) should not
exceed 10,000 IU per day.
- Vitamin E (Natural)—400 IU
- Vitamin C—500 mg
- Zinc—80 mg
- Copper—2 mg
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