Considering we use our eyes for pretty much every activity, keeping tabs on eye health is never very high on our priority list. Here’s why it should it be…
If you’re lucky enough to have perfect 20:20, you may not see the need for an eye health check, but it isn’t just eye vision that your optician is there to assess. Even before any symptoms begin to show, conditions such as glaucoma, macular degeneration (the UK’s leading cause of blindness) and eye injury or damage can all be spotted. Aside from all things obviously ocular, a thorough eye test can flag up signs of diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. So suddenly shelling out around £20 every two years for an eye health check isn’t looking too bad.
Improve your diet to boost your eye health
Give yourself the best chance at maintaining healthy eyes by giving your fridge a quick health check too. Foods rich in the antioxidant vitamins A, C and E help maintain healthy cells and tissues in the eye. Get your fix by including some of these in your diet…
- Tomatoes, peppers, carrots (even though they may not help you see in the dark), dark green leafy veg like kale or spinach, peas and green beans, oranges, papaya, kiwis, grapefruit and oranges. Nuts, seeds, eggs and dairy are also helpful everyday sources.
Many of these foods contain specific antioxants called carotenoids, in particular lutein and zeaxanthin (which is also a very high-scoring word for Scrabble), which have been linked to lowering the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration. A quick rule of thumb is to opt for fruit and veg that have a bright orange or yellow colour, or fall into the dark green leafy category. A papaya a day, keeps the optician away? Could be…
