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Eating for Healthy Eyes

What you eat is arguably one of your most important lifestyle choices in terms of how much it affects your long-range health and vitality. So it's not surprising that your food choices matter to your eyes, too, and help shape your risk for certain eye problems and diseases. What's tops and what's not when it comes to foods that promote eye health? Read on to find out.

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7 Foods Your Eyes Love
For the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients your eyes need to stay healthy, nosh on these key fruits, veggies, fats, and more:

1.
Strawberries: Vitamin C helps keep the blood vessels in your eyes healthy and may help protect against cataracts. And although most people picture only citrus when they think vitamin C, the truth is that a cup of strawberries has more C than an entire orange. Get some C with this Strawberry, Melon, and Avocado Salad.

2.
Almond butter: Spread this creamy treat on toast to load up on vitamin E, an antioxidant that can help protect eyes from free radical damage and may help put the brakes on age-related vision problems like cataracts and macular degeneration. It's great on fruit and veggies, too. Or get your E from a handful of sunflower seeds or hazelnuts.

3.
Butternut squash: Beta carotene is an important antioxidant that gets converted to eye-essential vitamin A and helps support night vision. Butternut squash is a primo source -- as are other bright orange foods like sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, carrots, and apricots. Try this healthy new twist on taco night: Bean and Butternut Tacos with Green Salsa.

.
Spinach: Leafy greens like spinach, kale, and collard greens are excellent sources of lutein and zeaxanthin -- an important antioxidant pair that helps protect retinas from light damage and may curb the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration. Try our Spinach Gnocchi recipe for a healthied-up version of this famous Italian comfort food.

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5.
Yogurt: Good old yogurt is a lesser known source of zinc -- a mineral that supports night vision and transports vitamin A from your liver to your retinas. Don't do dairy? Other sources of zinc include oysters, kidney beans, shiitake mushrooms, and sunflower seeds. Can yogurt cure bad breath, too? Find out.

6.
Salmon: You get two types of healthy omega-3 fat in salmon -- docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Each may help prevent dry eye syndrome and other health problems, like macular degeneration. Fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, and sardines are great sources. But so are walnuts and flaxseeds. Find out why eating less meat might be better for your eyes.

7.
Brown rice: People whose diets have a low glycemic index (GI) may put themselves in a better position to avoid age-related macular degeneration, according to research. One really straightforward way to lower the GI of your diet is to replace refined-grain foods -- like white bread and white rice -- with a whole grain. Brown rice -- and whole-wheat pasta and cereals -- fits the bill. Try this recipe for a delicious whole-grain take on mushroom risotto.

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Lutein 250 mcg. and Lycopene 300 mcg. can now be found in Centrum Silver. Ketchup is an excellent source of lycopene.

I love all of these foods.

I tend to stick to a low glycemic diet whenever possible just because high-carbs diets make me feel sluggish and I can hear my @ss growing in my sleep! lol

I take a very powerful, gel, prenatal vitamin.

And although I don't want to get pregnant right now, I've taken them for 20+ years just because they're so awesome.

I use Smartbeat peanut butter because of the vitamin E and Omega 3s (I've never tried almond butter but I bet it's yummy)!

It's always Summer at my place! xoxo