PHOTOGRAPH BY JACOB LUND/THE NOUN PROJECT
If pinguecula and pterygium sound like conditions to avoid (you’d be right), keep UV-filtering sunglasses handy. Opthalmologist Kevin Prendiville further notes that sunlight might aggravate macular degeneration, so shade your peepers with sunglasses and a brimmed hat.
Less obvious aids to vision involve the same things that are good for the rest of your body: fruits and vegetables, which deliver nutrients to all your organs, and exercise, which increases blood flow to all your organs (particularly important, Prendiville says, for people with glaucoma).
“Eye vitamins are mainly good for macular degeneration, and those are vitamins A, C, and E; zinc; selenium; and lutein,” Prendiville says. “I also recommend eating dark green, leafy vegetables. If you have dry eyes, the omega 3s in fish and flax oil might help.”
Dietitian and nutritionist Courtney Pogue recommends foods high in vitamin A. Find them in the orange spectrum: carrot, sweet potato, papaya, mango, apricot, etc. \
Lastly, Prendiville suggests following American Academy of Ophthalmology guidelines for when to get eye exams. Those 65 years or older should have their vision checked every year or two.
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