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Ten foods for eye health

Warning signs for eye health

Early treatment for eye health problems can prevent them from getting worse. So people who notice changes in their vision should schedule a comprehensive eye exam with an optometrist or ophthalmologist.

Possible symptoms that a person may be experiencing vision trouble include:


  • frequent changes in visual clarity



  • seeing distorted images



  • seeing floaters or flashes in the field of vision



  • reduced peripheral vision


Eating a varied diet that includes lots of fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins is enough to ensure most people get the right nutrients for eye health. People who cannot get these nutrients from their diet should ask an eye doctor about eye health supplements. People with vision problems or those with very restrictive diets should talk to an eye health provider about the right foods to eat.

Organizations such as the American Optometric Association (AOA) and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) continue to recommend nutrients for eye health based on the AREDS reports.

The AREDS reports support the following nutrient-rich foods: Fish, Nuts and legumes, Seeds, Citrus fruits,  leafy green vegetables, Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Beef, Zinc, and Eggs. Water is very important to our bodies too.

1. Fish

Many fish are rich sources of omega 3 fatty acids. Oily fish are fish that have oil in their gut and body tissue, so eating them offers higher levels of omega-3-rich fish oil. The fish that contains the most beneficial levels of omega-3s include:

  • tuna


  • salmon


  • trout


  • mackerel


  • sardines


  • anchovies


  • herring


Some studies have found that fish oil can reverse dry eye, including dry eye caused by spending too much time on a computer.

2. Nuts and legumes

Nuts are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Nuts also contain a high level of vitamin E, which can protect the eye from age-related damage. Nuts are available for purchase in most grocery stores and online. Nuts and legumes that are good for eye health include:

3. Seeds

Like nuts and legumes, seeds are high in omega-3s and are a rich source of vitamin E. Seeds are available for purchase in most grocery stores and online. Seeds high in omega-3 include:

4. Citrus fruits

Citrus fruits are rich in vitamin C. Just like vitamin E, vitamin C is an antioxidant that is recommended by the AOA to fight age-related eye damage.

Vitamin C-rich citrus fruits include:

  • lemons


  • oranges


  • grapefruits


5. Leafy green vegetables

Leafy green vegetables are rich in both lutein and zeaxanthin and are also a good source of eye-friendly vitamin C. Well-known leafy greens include:

  • spinach


  • kale


  • collards


6. Carrots

Carrots are rich in both Vitamin A and beta carotene. Beta carotene gives carrots their orange color. Vitamin A plays an essential role in vision. It is a component of a protein called rhodopsin, which helps the retina to absorb light.

Research on beta carotene’s role in vision is mixed, though the body needs this nutrient to make vitamin A.

7. Sweet potatoes

Like carrots, sweet potatoes are rich in beta carotene. They are also a good source of the antioxidant vitamin E.

8. Zinc

Beef is rich in zinc, which has been linked to better long-term eye health. Zinc can help delay age-related sight loss and macular degeneration. The eye itself contains high levels of zinc, particularly in the retina, and the vascular tissue surrounding the retina. Meats such as chicken breast and pork loin also contain zinc, but at lower levels than beef.

9. Eggs

Eggs are an excellent source of lutein and zeaxanthin, which can reduce the risk of age-related sight loss. Eggs are also good sources of vitamins C and E, and zinc.

10. Water

It may come as no surprise that a fluid essential to life is also vital to eye health. Drinking plenty of water can prevent dehydration, which may reduce the symptoms of dry eyes.

Recommended daily intake

The current daily recommendations for healthy eye nutrients, as suggested by the AAO to slow the progression of eye disease, are:

  • 500 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C


  • 400 international units of vitamin E


  • 10 mg lutein


  • 2 mg zeaxanthin


  • 80 mg of zinc oxide


  • 2 mg of copper oxide


Other eye health tips

According to the AAO, the following strategies can help to ensure healthy eyes:

  • wearing sunglasses outside, since excessive sun exposure can cause cataracts. A range of sunglasses is available for purchase online.


  • stopping smoking


  • getting regular eye exams, particularly if there is a family history of eye disease



  • wearing eye protection when working with possible eye irritants or dangerous chemicals



  • washing hands before applying contacts


  • wearing contacts only for the period recommended by the doctor or manufacturer


  • protecting eyes from computer-related eye strain by looking away every 20 minutes at something 20 feet away, for 20 seconds


Diabetes is a leading cause of blindness. People with diabetes should carefully monitor blood sugar levels, take medications exactly as prescribed by their doctor, and manage carbohydrate intake while focusing on eating low-moderate glycemic index (GI) foods.

Early treatment for eye health problems can prevent them from getting worse. So people who notice changes in their vision should schedule a comprehensive eye exam with an optometrist or ophthalmologist.

Summary

Eating a varied diet that includes lots of fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins is enough to ensure most people get the right nutrients for eye health.

People who cannot get these nutrients from their diet should ask an eye doctor about eye health supplements.

People with vision problems or those with very restrictive diets should talk to an eye health provider about the right foods to eat.

Source: Medicalnewstoday.com https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321226.php#takeaway, google.com, pixbay.com, pexels.com, publicdomainpictures.net  

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Gout

How To Eat when You Have Gout and Diabetes – Part 1

It’s possible to suffer from both gout and diabetes at the same time. People with both gout and diabetes are advised to avoid foods that may affect the levels of uric acid and insulin in the body. Therefore, recommended diets for this group focus on lowering both uric acid and blood sugar levels.

Changing Your Eating Habits

1.Eat six small meals per day. This should include three regular meals and three snacks in between meals. General dietary guidelines for diabetic persons include:

  • Carbohydrates should provide 45 – 65% of total daily calories.
  • Fats should provide 25 – 35% of daily calories.
  • Protein should provide 12 – 20% of daily calories.

2.Calculate how much food from each food group you can eat. Basically, carbohydrates and protein each provide 4 calories per gram, while fat provides 9 calories in each gram.


For example, if you have eaten 100 grams of fat in a meal, then the number of calories consumed is 900 (9 multiplied by 100). If you have eaten 100 grams of protein, then you have consumed 400 calories (4 multiplied by 100). If you have eaten 200 grams of carbohydrates, then you have consumed 800 calories (4 multiplied by 200).
Once you know the number of calories from fat, carbohydrates, and protein, add them up to get the total calories for that day. So 900 + 400 + 800 = 2100 calories. After this, you can now determine the percentage of calories you have consumed.

To do this, divide the number of calories from each nutrient by the total number of calories for that day and multiply it by 100. So, for fat: (900/2100) x 100 = 42.8 percent. For protein: (400/2100) x 100 = 19 percent.

For carbohydrates: (800/2100) x 100 = 38 percent.
Once you are aware of the general dietary guidelines for diabetic persons using this basic computation, you can easily tell if your diet falls in the normal range.

3. Eat 45-60 grams of carbohydrate with each meal. In order to guide you, according to the American Diabetes Association, there are about 15 grams of carbohydrate in:

  • 200 ml of milk or orange juice
  • 6 to 8 hard candies
  • ¼ French fry
  • 1 cup of soup
  • 1 small piece of fruit (about 4 oz)
  • 1 slice of bread
  • ½ cup of oatmeal
  • 1/3 cup of rice or pasta
  • 4 to 6 crackers
  • ½ hamburger bun
  • 3 oz of baked potato
  • 2 small cookies
  • 2 inches (5.1 cm) of cake without frosting
  • 6 chicken nuggets
  • ½ cup of casserole

4. Eat 0.8 grams of good-quality protein per kilogram of body weight each day. For example, if your weight is 64 kilograms, the recommended protein intake is 51.2 grams (0.8 multiplied by 64). Good-quality protein sources are defined as those that have PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility–Corrected Amino Acid Scoring Pattern) scores[10]. This is essentially a grading scale for protein, with 1 being the highest score and 0 being the lowest. Here is a breakdown of the common proteins and their PDCAAS score:

  • 1.00 for casein, soy products, egg white, whey
  • 0.9 for beef and soybeans
  • 0.7 for black beans, chickpeas, fruits, vegetables, and legumes
  • 0.5 for cereals and peanuts
  • 0.4 for whole wheat

5. Get 25 – 35% of your daily calories from fats. For diabetics, 1500 to 1800 total calories is the ideal daily intake. Fat provides 9 calories per gram. To compute for the daily recommended intake in grams: if the diabetic patient has a diet of 1500 calories per day for example, then multiply 1500 by 0.25 and .35 to get a range of 375 to 525, then divide each by 9. So 375/9 = 41.6, and 525/9 = 58.3.
This gives you a range of 41.6 to 58.3 grams of fat per day. For diabetics, healthy fats such as Omega-3 fatty acids are recommended.

6. Avoid skipping meals. This can lead to hypoglycemia or low blood sugar levels because the body uses up the stored blood glucose in the body when it cannot get energy from food.

7. Eat meals and snacks at the same time every day. This will help your body to develop a routine in terms of its consumption of glucose from foods. This helps to prevent the occurrence of either high blood glucose or low blood glucose levels.

Read more: How To Eat When You Have Gout and Diabetes – Part 3

Source: Google.com, www.wikihow.com