It’s no secret that a healthy diet can help to keep our eye health in check. And there are so many different types of foods we can include in our day to day diets to improve our eye health, including things such as carrots, kale, oily fish and Brazil nuts (and many more) – which all have their individual benefits to our eyes.
But this week, we’re focusing in on curbing cataracts, an age related condition that causes our vision to decrease over time. This is something that occurs naturally with ageing and the lens of the eye will become less transparent.
This causes our eyes to become cloudy and it will become more difficult to see. But Shirley Dang of the American Academy of Ophthalmology has recently released a news article which suggests that Vitamin C rich fruits and vegetables can actually help to stop the progression of cataracts in its tracks.
With cataracts being the leading cause of blindness in the world, it’s important that we do everything we can in earlier life to prevent and slow down the ageing process. And now we have the evidence to prove that healthy eating really can change the health of our eyes.
10 Years of Research Now Revealed
Taking research from King’s College in London, there is now enough data, after 10 years, to reveal that vitamin C is successful in reducing the risk of cataracts in patients; tested on more than 1,000 pairs of female twins, the experiment tracked the intake of vitamin C rich foods and supplements over a decade.
The follow up on sets of twins 10 years later showed that vitamin C, together with other nutrients from fruits and vegetables, helped to reduce the risk of cataracts by 33%. This was measured by the subjects’ lenses and the ones who had a bigger intake of vitamin C had clearer eyes and less clouding.
So how does this work? Well, our eyes are made up of a fluid which is very similar to vitamin C. It’s a natural antioxidant that helps to keep our eyes from clouding over. So a vitamin C rich diet will help to maintain the compound in our eyes and because the test was conducted on twins, the study provides a much more accurate view without being affected by genetic differentiations.
Top 10 Fruits and Vegetables High in Vitamin C
1. Bell peppers (183.5mg in every 100g)
2. Guavas (228.3mg in every 100g)
3. Kale (120mg in every 1o0g)
4. Kiwi fruit (92.7mg in every 100g)
5. Broccoli (89.2mg in every 100g)
6. Strawberries (58.8mg in every 100g)
7. Oranges and citrus fruits (53.2mg in every 100g)
8. Tomatoes (22.8mg in every 100g)
9. Peas and mange tout (60mg in every 100g)
10. Papaya (60.9mg in every 100g)
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