Nutrition for Healthy Eyesight

 In this era of fast working life, we require equally supplementary food intake to fulfill the needs of the body, to keep it running and healthy. It is more than understood now that food we take affects our health immensely. Not that our food choices were not significant before, but nowadays the boom in food research has proven the need of necessary nutrients in the diet to ensure a healthy living. Main objective of these minerals is to help resistance against the major causes of vision loss which are Cataracts which is clouding of eye lens and age-related macular degeneration which is deterioration of macular with age. These diseases have been identified as the major causes of blindness with the people mostly above age of 55. Talking about relation of food with eyesight, the presence of necessary vitamins and minerals in the diet will ensure the long effective operations of vision. What is the first food item which comes to the mind when we think about improving eyesight? Carrots. Though it will not magically improve the eyesight and help you see better than you already do, but will definitely help retain the vision with the rising age. Vitamin A which is present in carrots, along with Vitamin C and Vitamin E (rightly abbreviated as ACE) will help in decreasing risk of cataracts and vision loss coming with age. This means consuming lots of carrots and green leafy vegetables will facilitate the nutrient intake as they contain stock of these vitamins as well as lutein, a vision protecting matter. Other than these vitamins, there should be sufficient supply of minerals like zinc and selenium, which assist in protecting retinal area. It is also necessary to maintain the moisture in the eyes and it can be achieved by taking some fatty acids obtained from fishes. It is never late to start developing healthy eating habits for optimum vision for the long healthy life. Eat plenty of leafy vegetables as part of every meal in the day and variety of nuts and colorful fruits and vegetables for snacks throughout the day. Following small steps can ensure you have the nutrients you need for healthy vision for a healthy long time. *The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of Centre for Sight.