Celebrate Give the Gift of Sight Month by munching on foods that improve eye health at every holiday party, dinner, and feast you attend this December.
Vitamin A helps the retina, the membrane that lines the eye, convert images into chemical and nervous signals for the brain, reducing the risk of night blindness later in life. This nutrient also keeps the eye moist. At your holiday festivities, eat Vitamin A-rich foods like sweet potatoes, bluefin tuna, king mackerel, butternut squash, spinach, collard greens, and carrots.
Omega-3 fatty acids from cold-water fish support the eye’s ability to tear and reduce the risk of developing age-related eye disease, so dine on salmon, tuna, and sardines at Feast of Seven Fishes and other December meals.
Antioxidants protect the macula, the part of the eye that creates the most detailed vision. Lutein and zeaxanthin are found in leafy green vegetables and eggs, so opt for these foods.
During your holiday meals, choose beans whenever you can. Not only are they full of zinc, which helps keep the retina healthy, but they also contain copper. This combination is great, because zinc can reduce the amount of copper in the body. Legumes contain both minerals, so you will improve eye health when you consume beans at festive feasts.
Our eyes contain tiny arteries that move oxygen and nutrients, so the nutrition that helps your heart also helps your eyes. This holiday season, eat foods rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats like walnuts, salmon, and avocados, fiber such as quinoa and brown rice, antioxidants like leafy green vegetables and berries, and healthy proteins like beans, nuts, salmon, and lean cuts of meat.
This month is going to be full of parties. You can have a good time and make delicious and healthy choices. Start the new year with healthy eyes!
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