Why Proper Nutrition is Necessary for Maintaining Healthy Vision

Can munching on carrots really help your vision? While the vitamins in carrots are beneficial for reducing the risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), protecting your visions is not as easy as eating more carrots. Our optometrist in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows understands that the prospect of vision loss can be pretty scary. While there’s no magic pill (yet) for curing AMD, eating more foods that contain beta-carotene, lutein, zinc, selenium and vitamins B, C and E can make a difference.

Below, our eye doctor shares what you need to know:

1. Aim for three servings of fruit each day.

In a recent study, scientists found that people who ate at least three daily servings of bananas, oranges and other fruits had a 36% lower risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) than people who ate fewer than one and a half servings. The more fruit people ate, the less likely they seemed to develop AMD.

2. Can’t get in 3 daily fruit servings? Nutritional supplements can help.
Unfortunately, most of us don’t get in a full three servings of fruits each day. But all is not lost: studies from the National Eye Institute (NEI) created a special nutritional supplement formula called “AERDS” for participants in NEI’s Age Related Eye Disease Study. According to the study’s findings, first reported in 2001, the AERDS nutritional supplement formula reduced the risk for AMD by 25%. This formula is a blend of Vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, zinc and copper. Additional studies in 2006 looked at the addition of antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, Omega-3 fatty acids, and lower dose of zinc. The NEI recommends that anyone who is at high risk for AMD take an AERDS formulation.

3. Current (and former) smokers should skip beta-carotene supplements.
While the jury is still out on beta-carotene supplements, separate research studies found that beta-carotene could increase the risk for developing lung cancer. As a result, the NEI tested AERDS formulations without beta-carotene and found these formulas to be similarly effective. Keep in mind that these formulas contain very high concentrations of these nutrients, much more than what the average person could obtain from their diet alone.

Questions about supplements? Call 604-463-4469 to schedule an appointment with our Maple Ridge Eye Care team today!