HEALTH - EYE CARE - 13

Eye Vitamins for Lasting Vision

Eye care is better than eye cure. So do take good care of your eyes. Proper eye health care and a vitamin and mineral rich diet can help slow down the processes associated with aging such as macular degeneration.

Vitamins A, E, and C all appear to offer benefits for overall eye health. Such eye vitamins are a rich source of antioxidants. Antioxidants fight the effects of oxidation that contributes to the destruction of healthy tissues which results in macular degeneration.

Minerals help the body metabolize vitamins. Some crucial minerals for eye health are zinc and selenium. Other crucial supplements are Lutein, Bioflavonoids and carotenoid. Minerals and supplements can make a tremendous impact on eye health and prevent diseases like macular degeneration and dry eyes.

Sources of Minerals and Vitamins

Common food items like oranges, strawberries and broccoli are a rich source of Vitamin C., while carrots, sweet potatoes and liver are a great source of Vitamin A. Vitamin E rich foods include nuts such as almond and hazelnuts. Zinc can be found in red meat, oysters and wheat, while Lutein can be sourced from spinach and collard greens. Bio-flavonoids are found in food rich in Vitamin C.

Besides there are great food supplements available over the counter or online through websites such as VisiVite.com.

Eye exercises are beneficial because they reduce eyestrain, help the eyes work together and keep eye muscles strong and flexible. Eye exercises may also be helpful in some problems associated with working long hours on a computer. Other conditions that appear to benefit from eye exercises are headaches, fatigue, concentration problems, and vision-related learning disabilities.

Some Helpful Exercises -

20-20-20 rule

• After every 20 minutes of looking into the computer screen, turn away your
head and try to look at any object placed at least 20 feet away. This
changes the focal length of your eyes, a must-do for tired eyes.
• Try and blink your eyes 20 times in succession, to moisten them.
• Time permitting of course, one should walk 20 paces after every 20 minutes
of sitting in one particular posture. Helps blood circulation for the entire body.

Palming

Sit straight at your workstation and rub your palms against each other till you feel them warm. The warmth of your palms helps soothe and relax tired eyes. Then, lightly cup your eyes with your palms and relax for 60 seconds. Repeat this exercise two to three times whenever your eyes feel tired, or as often as you want.

Splash water on your face

Splash water on your face while closing your eyes. This has an overall relaxing effect and helps you feel refreshed.

Use tea bags

Place the refrigerated tea bags on your eyes for a few minutes as you relax. This not only soothes tired eyes, but also reduces puffiness.

Take every possible care, but don’t delay visiting a specialist when one or more of the following vision problems occur:

• Squinting, rubbing or excessive eye blinking
• Headaches, clumsiness, bumping into objects
• Dizziness, hand/eye coordination difficulties or lack of concentration
• Holding objects too close to view.

Of course, with the right ingredients in your diet, along with regular eye exercises, you can enjoy healthy eyes and a clear vision, lifelong.


II. The Concept of Eye Exercise

The concept of vision exercise might not occur to a lot of people, but think about this. The very concept of working out in itself is a recent idea. Your grandpa or grandma probably didn’t go to the gymnasium to "sweat it out". Even more so, they also didn’t involve aerobics or stretching routines to their day to day chores.

Nevertheless, it is important to keep not just your body fit, but to do exercises that keep your eyes healthy as well.

A few simple exercises a day go a long way to prevent you from contracting any dreaded or unwanted eye diseases and conditions.

Laziness to do these exercises will only result in many problematic eye ailments that will cause immense amounts of discomfort, unnecessary time at the eye specialist’s place, and spending tons of your precious money treating the problem that could have been prevented in the first place.

It really doesn’t have to be difficult, you know.

What you can do

Try this:

Focus on any item towards the right of what you can see in front of you.

Don’t lose sight of the object as you start revolving your head to the opposite direction as much as you can.

Do this again but in the other direction.

Now do it upwards, downwards, and even in the top-left, top-right, bottom left and bottom right direction.

That would be one full set. Try this at least 2 to 3 sets a day.

For the first few days, you might feel some aching, not unlike muscle aches after a gym workout. This is usual. Just be sure not to over-exert yourself.


Try this activity out and your eyes will remain strong and healthy. And if you follow a proper regime, you might not need any eye glasses or contact lenses.