It is important to keep your eyesight healthy. You can help strengthen your eyes in simple ways, like taking screen breaks, wearing sunglasses, and even eating nutritious foods. By eating certain vitamins and minerals that are good for your eyes, you can ensure a balanced diet while protecting your vision health. The best part is that most of these foods are probably already in your home.
Read more: The best places to buy glasses online
The best foods for healthy eyes
Whether you have a family history of vision problems or are trying to combat eye strain in your everyday life, here are 12 foods to improve eye health.
Broccoli
A study promoted by the American Optometric Association found that indole-3-carbinol, a compound found in broccoli, can help remove toxins from the retina. This reduces the risk for age-related macular degeneration, one of the leading causes of vision loss in older adults. Broccoli also contains lutein and zeaxanthin which are also protective for your eyes. Note that this study claims that you would have to eat an unreasonable amount of broccoli to truly protect against AMD.
Salmon
Keeping your eyes healthy means keeping them adequately hydrated. Some of the best foods for healthy eyes can help a lot. Salmon, for example, contains omega-3 fatty acids. This helps reduce the risk of dry eye, an unpleasant condition that becomes more common with age.
If you’re a woman, it’s more important to eat salmon and other foods that contain omega-3s that are good for eye health. People who were assigned female at birth are twice as likely to have dry eye.
carrots
You’ve probably heard it before: carrots are one of the best foods for eye health. For starters, they contain tons of beta-carotene, an antioxidant that your body uses to make vitamin A. Vitamin A helps you see at night and protects against nearsightedness (myopia, that is). If you’ve been looking for a way to avoid the need for vision correction—or to keep your current prescription for your contacts or glasses as long as possible—get the necessary Bugs Bunny food.
Plus, carrots also contain lutein, another antioxidant. This can help lower your risk for AMD.
Read more: The best places to buy contacts online
Sunflower seeds
Yes, you should protect your eyes from the sun. Don’t let the name fool you; there is no need for protection here. Sunflower seeds are one of the best foods for eyesight. They are high in vitamin E, an antioxidant that protects our eyes from oxidative stress. Vitamin E also helps fight the sun’s harmful UV rays, reducing the risk of cataracts.
One important thing to note here: your body can synthesize some vitamins, but you must get vitamin E from food sources or supplements.
kiwi
Looking for another way to combat potential sun damage to your eyes? Back to the kiwi. This fuzzy fruit makes our list of the best foods for healthy eyes because it contains lutein, the AMD-fighting antioxidant I mentioned earlier, plus zeaxanthin, which helps your eyes filter light.
oysters
Many of the other foods that are good for eye health may not have been surprising, but this one can feel like a curve ball. Still, it’s worth the embarrassment. Not only do oysters contain omega-3 fatty acids, but they are also high in zinc. This gives you another powerful nutrient if you’re trying to fight AMD.
spinach
Take a page from Popeye’s book and eat your spinach. As a great source of versatile nutrients, this leafy green is also one of the best foods for healthy eyes. It’s high in lutein, which I’ve already noticed is a key component of eye health. Spinach also has zeaxanthin.
To help your body better absorb these antioxidants, you need to eat them with fat. A little spinach salad drizzled with olive oil — which also has omega-9s and a small amount of omega-3s — gives you an easy way to use the best nutrition for vision at every meal.
egg
Eggs provide almost everything your eyes need, from lutein and zeaxanthin to zinc and vitamin A. A 2019 study concluded that eating a moderate amount of eggs (about two to four eggs per week) on a regular basis significantly reduces the risk of developing AMD. If you want to get foods that are good for eye health, eggs can make it (very) easy.
Almonds
Almonds and other nuts contain high levels of vitamin E, the antioxidant that fights AMD and cataracts. Again, your body cannot produce this vitamin on its own.
Plus, this is one of the best foods to boost eye health if you’re trying to avoid or reduce kitchen prep time. If you don’t want to turn on the stove or grab a cutting board, you can grab a handful of almonds and go.
yogurt
Milk has vitamin A and zinc, two nutrients I’ve already highlighted as key to eye health. If you really want to choose the best foods for your vision, use the cultivated variety when making your dairy choices. Why? Because yogurt contains probiotics. Studies are increasingly showing that these good bacteria can help with everything from allergic conjunctivitis to dry eye.
oranges
I’ve already talked about beta-carotene, its role in vitamin A, and why vitamin A is important for your eyes. What I didn’t tell you is that getting beta-carotene foods is generally pretty easy for one big reason: that the antioxidant turns them orange. So you better believe that oranges have a good amount of this nutrient, earning them a spot on this list of the best foods to boost eyesight.
Plus, as you probably already know, oranges are high in vitamin C. This can help your body fight AMD, cataracts, and vision loss in general.
strawberry
Oranges get a lot of hype for their vitamin C content, but strawberries actually contain more. Since vitamin C provides the one-two-three effect in preventing overall vision loss, cataracts, and AMD, these berries deserve to round out our list of the best foods for eye health.
