Your eyes are an important part of enjoying a healthy life and there are lots of things you can do to help keep them healthy and make sure you’re seeing your best.
Here are three important things you can do to give your eyes what they need to stay healthy and maintain your eyesight well into your senior years.
Feed Them Well
A healthy diet is important to your eye health. Foods containing vitamins C and E, omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, zeaxanthin and lutein promote healthy vision. Foods rich in these nutrients include:
- spinach
- kale
- grapefruit
- strawberries
- brussel sprouts
- oranges
- almonds
- sunflower seeds
Give Them More Rest
Believe it or not, eye health is very much affected by whether or not you get enough sleep. Fatigue can cause eye strain, dry eyes, eye spasms and blurred vision in the short term and damage to the optic nerve that can cause pain and impaired vision in the long term.
You can improve your sleep by following these tips:
- go to sleep and get up at the same time every day
- get outside more during the day
- exercise regularly during the day
- limit caffeine and nicotine
Don’t Strain Them
TV Time
This may be difficult for some of us, but for the sake of your eyes, it’s advisable to watch less TV. Sitting close to a TV screen won’t cause long-term damage to your eyes, but extended viewing can be harmful. Watching more than four hours of TV a day can cause eye strain and fatigue, which in turn can cause blurred vision.
In children, sitting too close to the TV may be an indicator of vision problems, but not the cause. TV time should be limited, especially for young children.
Computers
If your job requires you to look at a computer screen for the majority of the day, it’s important to protect your eyes from eye strain. Adjust your monitor’s display settings to reduce eye strain, that is, adjust the brightness to match the brightness of your surrounding work area and adjust the text size to make reading more comfortable.
If possible, upgrade your computer screen to an LCD model, which is easier on the eyes than the older screens. Look up from the computer monitor or get up from your desk as often as possible to give your eyes a rest.
Reading
When reading, make sure to read in good lighting as reading in dim lighting can cause eye strain over time. Use a reading lamp or a gooseneck lamp that can be adjusted for better lighting when reading. Again, you should take frequent breaks from reading in order to rest your eyes.
