What does that even mean, ocular nutrition?
Just as we would care for our skin, bones and digestive needs, the eyes need specific elements that will ensure your sight remains intact throughout your older years. This would include an adequate diet daily, as American's become dependent on Medicare, eating healthy will be an increasing issue. The cost of healthcare to the elderly may compromise buying the right foods to keep eye health strong. The documented information in this article is from The Ocular Nutrition Society, dedicated to your eye health; http://www.ocularnutritionsociety.org/consumer-info/item/a-diet-for-healthy-eyes-2?category_id=20 , will explain in detail what each person can do to prevent blindness and health related issues as we age.
You may ask, 'what should I be doing to keep my eyes healthy?'
The list is pretty long, lets start with the obvious things that have been mentioned in other articles written by this author on eye health in general:
Don't smoke cigarettes! This is the simplest thing a patient can do for themselves, if you smoke, stop, if you can't stop get on a smoking cessation program through your primary care physician.
Control your diet! This sounds easy, but many American's do not eat the correct number of saturated and unsaturated fats for cell membranes and nerve function, complex carbohydrates, these fibers can keep the blood-glucose and insulin levels in the correct range. As well, the patient should consume high quality plant and animal proteins which produce enzymes, that keep muscles in the eyes and other body tissue healthy. Another way is to eat foods rich in essential vitamins that are phytochemical in nature, ( for a list of these elements check out this website; http://www.phytochemicals.info/phytochemicals.php ), these and other minerals are antioxidants and enzyme system catalysts, that will protect the eye long term. With obesity comes eye related health problems, for the most part can be avoided. Enlist a nutritionist to help derive a good menu of foods to keep your body weight in healthy limits.
The food choices must be limited to youth, we can not let the Western diet of processed food, fast food and those food items that contain NO nutritional value to be a daily diet! Children need vitamins to produce healthy eyes from birth to adulthood. Vitamin A helps convert light into nerve signals in the retina, according to Live Strong, and more information can be accessed via this link; http://www.livestrong.com/article/389287-eye-vitamins-for-children/.
If your child complains they are having trouble seeing in the dark get the child examined ASAP to avoid long-term problems. Vitamin A is in carrots which are the main item that we can get kids to eat, but liver, oranges, and dark green vegetables are all going to contribute to child's healthy eyes. As well, food high in vitamin C & E reduces eye pressure, helps prevent cataracts, and other degeneration in all people, but especially important as children grow. Foods like red sweet peppers and cauliflower, broccoli, strawberries will add to the overall health of you child's eyes development.
Irritants for you eyes! We all know smog is not good for breathing, it is not good for our eyes either, smokes from fires, and chemicals can damage the lining of the eye and cause discharges and many other health related issues beyond eye health. What you should be doing to protect the eyes from the sun is wearing UV protective eye wear. Never use your finger to retrieve an item from the eye...always engage removals with eye wash products readily available at local drug stores, or visit your optometrist, as they will likely not charge you for a removal of wood, metals, and give advice how to avoid certain work related elements from entering the eye through absorption.
An optometrist that specializes in Contact Lens and eye health should be ask by the contact wearer what they should be doing as the standard extras to maintain eye health. This link lets you investigate on your own what special ocular maintenance is necessary with or without contacts, to ensure no damage to the eye occurs either from improper wearing or insertion or lack of good diets, and vast information on other issues that can help patients avoid long-term damage to the eyes.
Please listen to the radio blog by Dr. Val Jones at this link http://www.blogtalkradio.com/healthyvision/2012/12/21/new-1-8-13-ocular-nutrition. These eye care professional will answer a long list of conditions and ways to prevent ocular nutrition deficiencies.
As stated before the eyes have it, and good ocular nutrition will keep them seeing into old age!
Related articles
Comments