My family has a history of eye problems. Some of those problems are disease related, such as complications from diabetes and others are age related. Now that I am older I have begun to wonder what I can do to avoid or lessen my chances of contracting the age-related eye diseases that plagued my mother and aunts. In recent years I have seen Lutein advertised as the mineral that could help maintain eye health, and I began to wonder what other vitamins and minerals are good for the eyes as well. I feel it is always best to get your nutrition from the foods you eat so I have included the sources of these vitamins and minerals.
A – Found in carrots, sweet potatoes and liver.
B – Found in Brewer’s yeast (like I needed another reason to drink beer), bananas, lentils, Tempeh, turkey, liver and tuna.
C – Found in fruits and vegetables such as oranges, strawberries, rosehip and broccoli.
D – Found in fish, such as salmon, tuna, mackerel and fish liver oil.
E – Found in many nuts, such as almonds and hazelnuts.
Zinc – Found in red meat, wheat and oysters.
Selenium – Found in seafood, yeast and nuts.
Lutein – Found in spinach and collard greens.
Bioflavonoids – Found in citrus fruits, bilberry and strawberries.
Carotenoids – The pigment in red, orange and yellow fruits and plants. It’s also in leafy green vegetables and is converted into vitamin A in the body.
All of these vitamins and minerals have a positive affect on eye health from lowering the risk of macular degeneration and cataracts to improving night vision and reducing dry eyes. If you do not eat a balanced diet then a good multi-vitamin with minerals and antioxidants is the next best thing.
Fortifeye has a line of vitamins and supplements aimed at eye health, but they can be expensive with prices ranging from $25 – $50 a bottle.
Bausch and Lomb offers Preservision eye vitamins and minerals that claim to be effective in the Age Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS). Preservision comes in a variety of packages ranging from $15 to $40.
Andrew Lessman offers a vision care supplement designed to help protect and maintain cells and tissues in and around the eye. His formula is available from $25 – $35 through the Home Shopping Network.
Nature’s Basic’s 75 Complete Multi-Vitamin at $25.
Rainbow Light Vision One at $14.98.
Eyesight is important to everyone and maintaining that vision and preventing the onset of eye disease is now easier thanks to research and the foods and products readily available to help.
