1- Eat A Diet:
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. So 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, and citrus fruits. To get more vitamin E, in your diet eat more nuts and seeds. Examples: sunflower seeds, almonds, and 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, or hemp seeds or take an omega-3 supplement. To get more vitamin A, you could eat leafy greens, bell peppers, carrots, eggs, and a bunch of other foods. So as you can see, if you eat a variety of different foods, you're probably covered.
2- Follow The 20 20 20 Rule:
The second tip for better eye health is to follow the 20 20 20 rule. You might be thinking, what is this rule? I did not know this rule until earlier this year. I use a lot of devices. I'm either on my iPad or on my desktop or on my phone. And over the past year, I've noticed that I am experiencing quite a bit of eye fatigue and eye strain. Talked to my ophthalmologist about this, and she recommended the 20-20-20 rule. So what's the 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. I don't remember to do this every 20 minutes, but I try. I have noticed that since I've adopted this rule, my eyes don't feel as tired as they used to and they can focus better. And when you're getting older, focus definitely becomes a little bit of a struggle. So this has definitely helped me. So try this out.
3- Wear Quality Sunglasses:
Tip number three is to wear quality sunglasses and not just on sunny days. So let's tackle the quality part first and then we'll talk about the sunny days part. So 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 - 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. So whenever you're buying sunglasses, make sure you read the labels. Now let's talk about the sunny days part. So 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 reach your eyes and cause damage long-term. So it's a good idea to wear sunglasses, not just on sunny days, but on cloudy days too, especially if you're spending a long amount of time outside.
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4- Reduce Your Blood Sugar:
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. So 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? So 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. My suggestion to you is to 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.
5- regular comprehensive eye exams:
Tip number five is to get regular comprehensive eye exams. Not just exams to figure out what your prescription is, but to go in and properly check your eyes. So my prescription has not changed too much over the last 10 years. Very minor. So I don't go for my eye exams just for that. I go to check whether or not I have glaucoma because it is something that is a possibility. I have a lot of risk factors, and glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness. If you don't get a comprehensive eye exam regularly, you would have no idea that you have glaucoma. The symptoms start so slowly that you may not even notice it. A full expanded eye exam is the only way to determine whether or not you have glaucoma. Are those eye exams fun? Not at all. I do not like them, but I think it's really important if you have the risk factors. So what are some of the risk factors? Age over 55. Black, Asian, or Hispanic heritage. That's one of my risk factors. Glaucoma exists in my family, and I also have diabetes, high blood pressure, headaches, and sickle cell anemia. So if you haven't had a comprehensive eye exam in a really long time, it's a good idea to get one.
6- wear protective eyewear:
Tip number six is to wear protective eyewear. Did you know that proper protective eyewear can avoid 90% of serious eye injuries? So when I researched for this article I thought, well, protective eyewear, I don't do anything that's that dangerous. Do I need to put on protective eyewear? And I came across an interesting statistic. 50% of eye injuries actually happen in the home. So yes, I do think I need to buy a pair of protective eyewear. So you might be thinking what could possibly happen at home that might injure my eye? Let me give you a few examples. Cleaning. Chemicals like bleach in cleaning products goods cause 125,000 eye injuries each year. What can you do to prevent that? Wear protective eyewear. Another example is 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 is yard work. Lawnmowers, trimmers, and even shovels can throw dirt and debris into the air and that can land in your eye. So it's really important to wear protective eyewear whenever you're in a situation that may cause risk to your eyes.
7- Quit Smoking:
And last but not least, tip number seven is to quit smoking. So 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.
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