How to Protect the Health of Your Eyes?

The first tip for better eye health is the most basic, and that is to eat a diet that supports eye health. Your eyes need vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, vitamin A, omega-3, and a few other nutrients to function at their best. If you're eating a diet that is predominantly whole foods and you're not eating too many processed or refined foods and you're eating a balance, you're probably covered. But if you are eating quite a few processed foods, you might not be getting enough nutrients. what can you do to get more of these nutrients? Let's talk about vitamin C.

To get more vitamin C in your diet, just eat more fruits and vegetables. Examples would be things like tomatoes, bell peppers, citrus fruits. To get more vitamin E, in your diet eat more nuts and seeds. Examples: sunflower seeds, almonds, peanuts. To get more zinc in your diet, you could eat more hemp seeds, cashews, legumes that are either soaked or fermented and shellfish. To get more omega-3 fatty acids, you could eat fish, hemp seeds or take an omega-3 supplement. And to get more vitamin A, you could eat leafy greens, bell pepper, carrots, eggs, and a bunch of other foods. if you eat a variety of different foods, you're probably covered.

The second tip for better eye health is to follow the 20 20 20 rules. You might be thinking, what is this rule. Every 20 minutes look at something that's 20 feet away for 20 seconds. That's how it's 20, 20, 20. And this really gives your eyes a break and helps them relax. And when you're getting older, focus definitely becomes a little bit of a struggle. this has definitely helped us. try this out. Tip number three is to wear quality sunglasses and not just on sunny days. let's tackle the quality part first and then we'll talk about the sunny days part.

quality sunglasses should offer you both UVA and UVB protection -a hundred percent for both. And you can get quality sunglasses at reputable retailers. Sunglasses that are very cheap, or sunglasses that are counterfeit - they may not offer proper UV protection even though the lens is dark. Just because a lens is dark does not mean it provides adequate UVA and UVB protection. whenever you're buying sunglasses, make sure you read the labels. And if we're buying them online, make sure to read the product description.

Now let's talk about the sunny days part. wearing sunglasses on sunny days is something most of us will do because of the glare, but many of us will not wear sunglasses on cloudy days. But did you know that UV radiation can still damage your eyes on a cloudy day too? UV rays can still get through clouds and reach your eyes and cause damage long-term. it's a good idea to wear sunglasses, not just on the sunny days, but on the cloudy days too, especially if you're spending a long amount of time outside. The fourth tip for better eye health is to reduce your blood sugar.

And you might be wondering, what does my blood sugar have to do with my eyes? A lot. If you have diabetes, it puts you at risk of a disease called diabetic retinopathy. In the early stages, you may not notice any symptoms or changes to your eyesight. you can't tell if your eyesight is being damaged. Did you know that diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness in adults? it's really important to know your blood sugar levels. So many people are pre-diabetic or diabetic, but they have no idea because they don't know their blood sugar numbers.

talk to your doctor and get your blood work done so you know what your blood sugar is. If your blood sugar is high, start to make changes to your diet and your lifestyle to reduce that number because that way you can reduce the risk of diabetic retinopathy. Tip number five is to get regular comprehensive eye exams. Not just exams to figure out what your prescription is, but to actually go in and properly check your eyes. If you don't get a comprehensive eye exam regularly, you would have no idea that you have glaucoma. The symptoms start so slow that you may not even notice it. The only way to find out if you have glaucoma is to get a comprehensive dilated eye exam.

Are those eye exams fun? Not at all. it's really important if you have the risk factors. what are some of the risk factors? Age over 55. Black, Asian or Hispanic heritage. Family history of glaucoma, another risk factor and certain medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, migraines, and sickle cell anemia. And there are a few other risk factors too. if you haven't had a comprehensive eye exam in a really long time, it's a good idea to get one. Tip number six is to wear protective eyewear. Did you know that 90% of serious eye injuries could be prevented by wearing the appropriate protective eyewear?

 you might be thinking what could possibly happen at home that might injure my eye. Let us give you a few examples. Cleaning. Chemicals like bleach in household cleaning products cause 125,000 eye injuries a year. What can you do to prevent that? Wear protective eyewear. Another example, home improvement. Screws, nails and hand tools can launch into the air and injure your eye. So, always a good idea to wear protective eyewear if there's a possibility of something landing in your eye. Another example, yard work. Lawnmowers, trimmers, and even shovels can throw dirt and debris into the air and that can land into your eye.

 it's really important to wear protective eyewear whenever you're in a situation that may cause risk to your eyes. And last but not least, tip number seven is to quit smoking. there are many, many different reasons to quit smoking, and let me add a few more to your list. And that is to reduce the risk of eye issues in the future. Things like cataracts and macular degeneration happen to occur in smokers a lot more frequently than they occur in non-smokers. So definitely consider quitting smoking for better eye health.