7 Tips for Improving Your Eyesight

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Getting scheduled eye checkups is one of many tips for enhancing your vision and preventing illnesses and injuries that could impede your eyesight. Eyesight can also decline due to health conditions or age. However, poor vision must not be an inescapable consequence of old age. Here are seven essential ways to enhance your eye health.

Get Enough Essential Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamins E, A, and C, as well as zinc, consist of antioxidants that could aid in preventing macular degeneration, which is a condition whereby the macula — the portion of the eye that regulates central vision — declines. Food sources with these essential nutrients include a range of colorful fruits and vegetables such as; red peppers, carrots, spinach, broccoli, citrus, sweet potato, and strawberries. Foods containing omega-3 fatty acids like flaxseed and salmon are also approved for improved eyesight.

Stay Fit

Keeping a healthy weight and exercising can improve your eye health. Type 2 diabetes is more common in obese or overweight individuals and can lead to damage to the little blood vessels in your eyes. This is referred to as diabetic retinopathy. The excess sugar circulating your bloodstream damages the intricate walls of the arteries. Therefore, regularly checking your blood sugar level and exercising are important in reducing your chances of developing diabetic retinopathy.

Deal With Chronic Conditions

Besides just diabetes, other conditions affect eyesight such as multiple sclerosis and high blood pressure. These conditions are associated with incurable inflammation, which harms your overall health. For example, optic nerve inflammation will result in excruciating pain and even total loss of vision. While multiple sclerosis can only be managed with medications and healthy habits, high BP can be treated with exercise, antihypertensive medications, and a healthy diet.

Adhere to the 20-20-20 Rule

The human eyes work nonstop all day and require a break from time to time. The strain will be particularly extreme if you work mostly at a computer.  You have to go with the 20-20-20 rule to reduce the strain. This means that you have to look up from your computer screen every 20 minutes and look at an object 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

Stop Smoking

Smoking does irreversible damage to not only the lungs and heart, but also to the teeth, skin, hair, and eyes. Smoking drastically increases your chances of developing age-specific macular degeneration and cataract. Fortunately, your lungs, eyes, and heart can begin to slowly heal from years of cigarette-induced damage within just hours of quitting.

Study Your Family's Health History

Various conditions that affect eyesight are hereditary. Therefore, knowing the eye conditions your grandparents or parents have endured can aid you to take further precautions. Hereditary conditions to look out for include; optic atrophy, age-specific macular degeneration, glaucoma, and retinal degeneration.

Ensure Your Lenses and Hands Are Clean

The human eye is quite vulnerable to infections and germs. Even foreign objects that merely irritate the eyes can hamper your vision. For these reasons, you have to ensure your hands are always clean before touching your eyes or contact lenses.

You might not associate eating fruits, staying fit, and washing your hands as vital tips for improving your eye health; however, they all play their part. Living a healthier lifestyle in general is the most important tip for enhancing your eyesight.