Kiwi-Grapefruit Immunity Boosting Drink

Reference:
http://news.health.com/2013/04/24/recipe-of-the-day-immunity-boosting-juice/

Eating Up For Healthy Eyes

Carrots!...the first food people equate with healthy eyesight. Carrots are great; but they aren’t the only food your eyes need. Your eyes need a variety of vitamins and minerals which apparently come from a diverse nutritional diet and even supplementation.

No matter how healthy you get to be, your perfect 20/20 vision may start going off-kilter especially when you hit your forties. That’s just life. Because our eyes age, too, they may be at risk of certain conditions like glaucoma and cataracts. Your eyes are very important so you must help keep them healthy by eating right. Your eyes need the vitals: antioxidants, minerals, and phytochemicals.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants chase the free radicals away and keep eye diseases at bay. High concentrations of antioxidants lie in fruits and vegetables. The more brightly coloured these are, the higher their antioxidant properties. It is best to eat fruits and vegetables in their raw state, as cooking, canning, and other processing methods destroy or reduce their antioxidant content.

Antioxidants include the all-important vitamins A, C, and K that are particularly needed to help reduce the risk of eye diseases and conditions.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A plays a huge role in our vision. It protects the cornea which spans the surface of the eye. It is so important that a deficiency in this vitamin may manifest as night blindness, corneal dryness leading to cloudiness, corneal ulcers, and even retinal damage that can cause vision loss.

The National Eye Institute in the U.S. sponsored an Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS).  The study showed how, together with other vitamins, Vitamin A in the form of beta carotene, reduced the risk of advanced macular degeneration in an experimental group by as much as 25% in a six-year period. A four-year Harvard study also discovered that Vitamin A and lutein prolonged vision in people suffering from retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Subjects were given a daily dosage of 15,000 IU of Vitamin A and 12 mg. of lutein. Over time, these people showed a significantly slower decline in their peripheral vision than those who did not.

If you are shopping for an over-the-counter lubricant for dry eyes, choose one with Vitamin A.  They are as effective as the more expensive prescription eye drops for dry eye treatment.

Great sources of Vitamin A are carrots (hence the equation to good eyesight), spinach, beef or chicken liver, sweet potatoes, and romaine lettuce.

Vitamin C

Among all the vitamins, Vitamin C is the all-around do-gooder so it is not a surprise that the C also plays an essential role in staving off the risks of cataracts and macular degeneration. Long-term studies have shown that supplementation of at least 500 mg. of Vitamin C have reduced the chances of cataract formation.

Vitamin C is common in citrus fruits, yellow bell peppers, guavas, dark leafy vegetables, kiwis, broccoli, and strawberries.

Vitamin E

Our retina, the coloured part of the eye, protects the eyeball against cell damage from UV or ultraviolet light.  As an antioxidant, Vitamin E may help prevent retinal damage from diabetic retinopathy.  Food rich in Vitamin E include nuts (sunflower seeds, almonds, peanuts), spinach, avocado, tofu, olive oil, and shrimp.

Minerals

Aside from antioxidants, minerals are essential to good eyesight as well. Although, each mineral type works in concert with others, there are those that stand out as wardens of our eyes’ health.

Magnesium

The entire human body depends on magnesium, so our eyes are no exception. It is known to help prevent glaucoma; and it is also used to help improve vision in patients with glaucoma. In addition, magnesium is instrumental in maintaining good blood flow to the eye. Dark leafy greens, nuts and seeds, fish, soybeans, and bananas are rich in magnesium.

Selenium

Selenium fights off free radicals and boosts the immune system. With such as its role, this mineral wards off cataracts and macular degeneration. Selenium is abundantly present in oysters; Brazil nuts; tuna; lean pork, beef, and lamb; and mushrooms.

Zinc

Zinc works with selenium in ridding the body of free radicals and helping it absorb those vital antioxidants for our eyes. This mineral also strengthens eye tissue and protects the cornea from cloudiness and swelling. Foods high in zinc are oysters, beef and lamb, wheat germ, and spinach.

Copper

Like Vitamin C, copper aids in the production of collagen and therefore is crucial to the health of the connective tissues of the eyes. Copper is not as abundant a mineral in our bodies as magnesium and potassium are and too much of it can actually pose a danger. Copper is best taken from dietary sources such as seafood, legumes, black pepper, nuts, and chocolate (hmmm…you like this bit, huh?)

Chromium

Chromium is important to the eyes’ muscle contraction and therefore, their focus.  Aside from a risk increase in cataract formation, low chromium levels may also promote nearsightedness and even glaucoma. Chromium is best found in broccoli, barley, oats, green beans, tomatoes, and black pepper.

Phytochemicals

Phytochemicals is a general term for various compounds found in plants, of which antioxidants are a part of.  Some of these are non-essential nutrients, meaning these aren’t required by the human body to sustain life. They are, however, needed to gain optimum health.

Two phytochemicals necessary for healthy eyes are the carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin. These are concentrated in the macula or central retina where they act as a filter to prevent eye tissues from photo-oxidative damage and therefore, macular degeneration.

Lutein and zeaxanthin are abundant in corn, egg yolk, kiwi, grapes, spinach and various types of squash.

Our eyes need better care as we age so that aside from a balanced diet, our lifestyle needs to be as healthy in order to protect our eyes from a speedy deterioration. Aging is inevitable; but, we can all go down that hill, gracefully and sedately with our wealth of wisdom and of course, the requisite healthy body.