can a healthy lifestyle protect against macular degeneration?

Keeping a healthy diet, moving your body with cardio and avoiding smoking not only benefits your general health and wellness but has tremendous benefits on your vision.

Do you ever wonder about the foods you eat and how they contribute to your overall health? What you feed yourself with needs to be a lifestyle change. In this modern and fast paced world, we are often neglecting our bodies and feeding ourselves anything just to curb the hunger. Conscious selection of our foods, specifically focusing on fruits and vegetables, can truly be life changing for your health. How does this relate to the eyes and vision? Well I’m here to say that your food can determine whether you develop or worsen vision threatening conditions such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

What is AMD? You may have heard your mother saying carrots are good for your eyes, and she wasn’t wrong! The reason is due to the high amounts of lutein and zeazantin, powerful carotenoids which are antioxidants, that help preserve your eye sight. Specifically, the part of the eye called the macula which provides your center vision. If your macula degrades, it causes permanent blurred vision when looking at peoples faces, reading a book or phone and so on. These antioxidants are found in leafy green and colorful vegetables and fruits, such as kale, spinach, broccoli, brussel sprouts, bell peppers, carrots, berries and more.

Macular degeneration is an age-related eye disease that can be diagnosed when you have a dilated eye exam or have retina images taken. Often in its early stages there is minimal affect on the vision, however as it progresses it can be vision threatening. Eye vitamins can be recommended by your doctor to help protect the macula from worsening, and discussion on changes in your diet and lifestyle will help such as stop smoking, eating more vegetables and fruits, controlling underlying conditions of high cholesterol and diabetes, exercising with at least 30 minute walks per day, and continuing to have your eyes examined yearly.

Remember, you can do your best to protect your eyes with the right choices. Be well, live well.

written by: Laheqa Suljuki, O.D.