Food rich in antioxidants and vitamins will help protect your eyes

On more than one occasion you will have heard that an inadequate diet, deficient in certain nutrients, can be very harmful for your health and make you more prone to certain diseases. On the other hand, following a complete and varied diet helps prevent certain health problems.

Today we would like to highlight food items that help care for your vision, which suffers so much in your daily living.

8 products to protect your eyes:

1. Green leafy vegetables: Green vegetables like spinach, Swiss chards, curly cabbage, broccoli or turnip greens are rich in vitamin A, which helps protect the cornea. They also contain lutein which works as a natural solar filter, zeaxanthin, which prevents macular degeneration, and folic acid, necessary for embryonic development and for preventing cataracts.

2. Carrots: this vegetable has always been associated with good sight, and it is contains beta-carotene or provitamin A, which prevents night blindness and keeps the cornea transparent, as well as carotenoid, which increases macular pigment (the yellow part of the retina) and protects it from ultraviolet rays.

3. Peppers: just like other intense red-, orange- or yellow-coloured vegetables, peppers contain vitamin A and C and help reduce the risk of suffering from cataracts. In addition, their vitamin B6 or pyridoxine content helps soothe dry eyes.

4. Oily fish: salmon, like mackerel, trout, sardines, sword fish or mussels, contain high quantities of omega 3 fatty acids, a great way to protect the nerve cells of the retina.

5. Eggs: they contain lutein and zeaxanthin, as well as sulphur which helps prevent cataracts.

6. Soya: it helps keep the retina healthy as well as the arteries that vascularise the eyes, because it contains essential fatty acids, phytoestrogens and vitamin E.

7. Blueberries and grapes: they are effective antioxidants rich in anthocyanidins, which protect night vision.

8. Cereal and nuts: wheat germ, beer yeast or almonds contain riboflavin or vitamin B2, which prevents dry eyes and the onset of glaucoma.

Apart from a varied diet, which, as you can see, can be found in familiar and easy to find foods, remember it is important to work in good light, not to spend over two hours looking continuously at a screen, and to rest your eyes now and again by closing them and applying cold wet packs to your eyelids.

This post is also available in: Italian