Happy New Year from your friends at Sphere! A new year is the perfect time for a fresh start on healthy habits or routines. Although our main focus is optimal eye health, we love to incorporate whole body wellness into our approach. You don’t often hear much about the eyes when it comes to information about healthy food, so we want to dive into this for you by breaking down how a well-balanced diet contributes to maintaining great eye health all year and for a lifetime!

Mindfulness with respect to our food choices can help to prevent eye diseases, protect from UV damage, increase eye hydration, reduce the risk of eye infections, and so much more. Let’s explore this relationship further and how we can make simple changes to nourish our eyes in support of a lifetime of clear vision.

All in all, a well-balanced diet rich in specific nutrients can significantly contribute to maintaining good eye health. Here are some key nutrients and their sources:

Vitamin A

• Crucial for maintaining good vision and retinal function
• Found in carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, and kale

Vitamin C

• Powerful antioxidant that protects the eyes from oxidative damage
• Found in citrus fruits, strawberries, and bell peppers

Vitamin E

• May reduce the risks of cataracts, age-related eye challenges, and damage from free radicals
• Found in nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

• Helpful in maintaining the health of the retina, and combating dry eye disease
• Found in fish, like salmon, mackerel, and trout

Lutein and Zeaxanthin

• Potent antioxidants that protect the eyes from harmful UV rays
• Found in eggs, spinach, kale, and corn

Zinc

• Essential for maintaining retinal health, and reduces the risk of macular degeneration
• Found in oysters, red meat, and poultry

Antioxidants

• Help protect the eyes from oxidative stress
• Found in colourful fruits and vegetables, nuts, and seeds

There are many easy ways to incorporate eye-friendly foods into our routines. Load up on leafy greens, eat the rainbow, incorporate fish as a protein option, snack on nuts and seeds, and cook with healthy oils. Incorporating a diet rich in eye-friendly nutrients is a proactive way to promote and maintain good eye health. The best news? These foods will benefit your full body and overall well-too!

Cheers to a new year and a fresh approach to caring for our eyes through nutrition!