Nutrition for Your Vision

Everyone knows how important eyeglasses are for your vision if you need them but eating properly is just as important as wearing your glasses every day! You may find it hard to believe but fat is actually essential to your daily living. Crazy, right? Without fat in your diet, you may as well render your glasses useless. There's a huge difference between the fat that you find in bacon and the fat that you find in salmon. The fat that you find in bacon is greasy and bad for your heart. The fat that you find in salmon is actually a building block of fat known as fatty acids and they help regulate your blood pressure, heart rate, and blood clotting. Sometimes called essential fatty acids, EFAs are 100 percent necessary and totally critical in our diets since our bodies cannot produce them. There are two types of EFAs: omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. We'll be focusing on the omega-3s since they are the most beneficial to your health - especially your eyes.

From the time you were an infant, omega-3s have helped you see and aided in your vision development. Recent studies have shown that pre-term infants who were given formula supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids had significantly better visual acuity by four months of age than similar pre-term infants who were fed regular formula. Additionally, pregnant women who ingest adequate amounts of omega-3 fatty acids have an effect on the vision of their babies once born. It's not just babies who benefit, adults also benefit from eating omega-3 fatty acids. Did you know that omega-3s help protect your eyes from macular degeneration and dry-eye syndrome? They also help properly drain intraocular fluid from the eye which decreases the risk of glaucoma and high eye pressure.

We've already learned that fatty acids are important to our health and the balance between omega 3s and 6s are extremely important. In general, your diet should consist of four parts omega-3s to one part omega-6s. An improper balance can lead to heart disease, asthma, arthritis, and depression. Additionally, it's been linked to cancer. Since the American diet generally contains around 30 times more omega 6 than omega-3, it's helpful to know what foods contain omega-3 fatty acids. Grilled salmon is an excellent (and natural) source of omega-3 fatty acids, as are sardines, herring, and tuna. If you can, opt for the "wild" caught fish since the farm-raised fish are usually subjects to higher levels of chemicals and pollutants. A minimum of two servings of cold-water fish a week can not only reduce your risk of eye diseases, it can also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease