Superfoods for Eyes

June 18, 2006

Posted by Jean Carper

Sure, there’s some truth to the folk tale that munching carrots improves eyes: Carrots have protective antioxidants. But exciting new research finds you’re better off going for the antioxidants in spinach and the oil in tuna or salmon to save your eyes.

The newest ways to fight …

Dry eye syndrome. About 20% of Americans have “gritty” eyes, or a burning or itching that can lead to vision loss. But eating lots of the anti-inflammatory omega-3 oil in fish cut dry-eye risk 17% in a Harvard study. Women who ate tuna at least five times a week cut the risk 68%. (Salmon is apt to do the same.) Dry eye syndrome was 2.5 times more common in women who ate the least omega-3 and the most omega-6 (margarines, processed foods).
Sun damage. It can lead to cataracts, macular degeneration and vision loss. In Ohio State University test-tube research, lens cell damage dropped 50% to 60% by adding the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin (found in spinach).

Cataracts. Harvard research finds that women who eat the most fruits and vegetables are 10% to 15% less likely to develop cataracts. Vitamin C may be potent; in Italian research, high blood levels cut cataract odds 46% to 63%. Eating lots of omega-3, as in salmon, lowers risk 12%, a Tufts University study of women says.
Macular degeneration. Sugar, white bread and other high-glycemic foods that spike blood sugar may promote this cause of blindness in older people, Tufts research finds. Women who ate the most of such foods were nearly three times more apt to develop macular degeneration than those who ate the least.

Scientific sources for this article:

Dry eye syndrome
Biljana Miljanovic, Am J Clin Nutr 2005; 82:887-93

Sun damage
Chitchumroonchokchai C, J Nutr. 2004 Dec;134(12):3225-32

Cataracts
Christen WG, Am J Clin Nutr 2005 Jun;81(6): 1417-22

Ferrigno L. Ophthalmic Epidemiol 2005 Apr; 12(2): 71-80.

Lu M, Am J Epidemiol 2005 May 15; 161(10): 948-59.

Macular degeneration
Chung-Jung Chiu, Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Apr; 83:880-6

This EatSmart column is reprinted from USAWEEKEND Magazine and is copyrighted by Jean Carper. It cannot be reprinted without permission from Jean Carper.