Keeping Your Eyes Healthy

There are many things that can affect the health of your eyes. UV light from the sun, random dust, and looking at digital screens for extended periods of time. Many people spend hours using their phones and computers for work and leisure, and over time, permanent damage can occur. 

 Vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and omega-3 fatty acids all play a role in protecting eye health. However, typical North American diets are low in nutrients, high in simple carbohydrates, and over processed, meaning that the body can never get the nutrients it needs. Age is also a crucial factor in eye damage. As the body ages, we are more easily exposed to damaging factors, as well as lacking the ability to repair ourselves as quickly as we could in our youth.

 To protect our eyes, we should eat a wide variety of colorful fruits and vegetables, and avoid sugar and processed food. Regular eye examinations are a must, as many problems can be avoided if detected early. Supplementing your diet with anti-oxidants and nutrients specific to eye care is also helpful. Vitamin C and E keeps tissue healthy, and Zinc helps protect your retinas. Anti-oxidants protect the eye from damage, and omega-3 fights inflammation. 

 The AREDS research group state that taking Lutein, Zeaxanthin, Zinc, and Vitamin C and E slows the progression of age related macular degeneration by 25%.

 Lutein and Zeaxanthin are macular carotenoids and anti-oxidants. They work to protect the eye from free radicals by absorbing and filtering blue light. Humans do not produce these naturally and must instead absorb them from foods such as eggs and green vegetables such as broccoli and peppers. There are also supplements that you can take with a balanced diet.

Popular posts from this blog

The Reason You Should Supplement Your Meal with Multivitamins

Image
Many people take a multi-vitamin every day to help them achieve optimal health, however should everyone take a multi-vitamin? What does the science say about the benefits of taking a multi-vitamin? This article should help you answer those questions for yourself. While the availability of food has increased dramatically, the modern western diet and lifestyle still leaves many people with inadequate intake of vitamins and minerals for health maintenance. Processed foods are a large part of the typical western diet and it is well established that these foods while often higher in calories, are lower in nutritional quality. If processed foods are a big part of your diet, then it is likely that you are deficient in more than one vital nutrient. Those people that do their best to eat a well-rounded, whole foods diet, high in a variety of fruits and vegetables and low in processed foods should be able to achieve nutrient adequacy.  However, other challenges still exist even ...
Read more

What is CoQ 10?

Image
Coenzyme Q 10 (CoQ 10) is a natural antioxidant synthesized in body cells. It is naturally present only in small amounts in a wide variety of foods, and comes in two forms: ubiquinol, the active antioxidant form, and ubiquinone, the oxidized form, which the body has to convert to ubiquinol. Both types are available in supplements and deliver pretty much the same therapeutic effects: antioxidant, heart protective and migraine prophylactic.  The beneficial effects of CoQ 10 are focused on its vital role in oxygen utilization and energy production, particularly in heart and skeletal muscle cells. A typical North American diet includes approximately 10 mg of CoQ 10 daily, thus taking CoQ 10 supplements is recommended to meet the daily value. Although CoQ 10 can be synthesized in the body, deficiency occurs due to disease, low dietary intake, or CoQ overuse. Symptoms of deficiency include high blood pressure, chest pain and, in severe cases, heart failure.  Benefits of CoQ 10 ...
Read more
Image
NUTRIDOM VITAMIN D3 + K2, D3 EDITORIAL Research into vitamin D3 and K2 has increased in recent years and specifically their synergistic relationship to skeletal and cardiovascular health has caught the attention of health professionals. Vitamin D can be obtained in the diet, but it is most commonly known to be made in the skin when exposed to sunlight. There are two forms of vitamin D, vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), of which the D3 form is generally accepted to be the more bioavailable form of the two and thus is the form you should look for in a supplement. Deficiency in vitamin D has become more common as the evidence of sun damage and skin cancer has resulted in people limiting their skins exposure to the sun. In northern climates where long cold winters keep people inside and covered up, deficiency is even more common. A recent US study reported deficiency rates of 41.6%-86% in a study of over 4000 individuals. The importance of vitamin D in bone...
Read more