23rd, September 2019 | Oh Jinna
Healthy Recipes for Good Eyesight That You Can Easily Prepare at Home
Ever wonder why do including healthy recipes for good eyesight in our diet is a must?
SCIENTIFIC STUDIES BEHIND THESE CLAIMS
Studies have shown that our eyes lose it good vision as we age. This can be caused by several factors such as macular degeneration, obesity, or diabetes type II. In order to counteract these effects, we should start having a good eating habit and choose food and recipes for good eyesight.
American Optometric Association recommends a daily dose of a diverse healthy diet rich with essential vitamins and minerals for healthy eyesight. The more colorful your selections are, the more nutrient-packed you’ll get.
To help you, we have collected some amazing and healthy recipes good for the eyesight:
- Bowl of whole grains
Start your day healthy with a hearty colorful breakfast, you can have a bowl of whole grains topped with fruits and berries. The berries that you can include can be acai berries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, beets, grapes, and some green and black olives. If you’re table is quite generous, fill your bowl with sliced banana, diced ripe papaya. Almost a ROYGBIV, quite colorful, isn’t it?
Whole grain is the backbone of any healthy diet. They don’t only provide us with calories for energy but they are also food for the eyes. Be it any buckwheat, bulgur, whole-grain barley that stores four times fiber content and whole Rye contains almost 50% daily recommended iron.
Aside from that, there is freekeh (Arabian Grain) is rich in probiotics. Brown rice (basmati and jasmine), corns , whole oats are full of antioxidants, B vitamins, magnesium and phosphorus. Then, there is quinoa, technically a seed that is considered as The Power Food of Southern America. Every cup of it contains about 500 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids and has the most protein among other whole grain.
Oh, what a breakfast boost!
- Whole grains topped with berries
If you want to add a colorful side to your bowl of whole grains, you can try adding some fruits. Make sure to include fruits that are essentially packed with vitamin C, E, A, selenium and zinc. These vitamins and minerals are the most important factor in keeping our eyes healthy.
On top of that, these colorful fruits contain polyphenols, a plant compound. Polyphenol defends the brain from free radicals which are great for suppressing blood pressure. Also, it reduces inflammation which greatly influences any chances of macular degeneration.
- An orange-y brunch with healthy frittata
If you are too busy for breakfast and prefer brunches instead, then this is for you. You can have some fresh grated carrots as side dish for a frittata filled with diced cherry tomatoes, spring onions. This orange-y meal will give you a full blast of lycopene and beta-carotene which is helps protect our retinas.
Egg is a matter of fact, a ball of nutrients, aside from the usual albumin which is good source of protein, its egg yolk somehow does not lack of it. In fact, it has small amount of lutein in it, they got it from the corn which the hens are fed on it.
Get yourself a bottle of oranges from a mixture fresh homemade carrot juice (squished carrot from your juicer). Then, add an equal amount of orange juice. Carrot is the number one food you’ll ever think to improve and nourish your eyes. Carrots, tomatoes and all other orange fruit and vegetables are good source of beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is a chemical compound found in orange/red colored fruits which will be converted as a vitamin A by the human body. Beta-carotene is an antioxidant and the best source for Vitamin A.
- Have a break with nuts
For a healthier snack, have a good crunch for some nuts on your break. Place a plate full of almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, lentils, peanuts, pistachios and walnuts on your desk or dinner table for a quick munch.
Nuts are small bundles of nutrients, they are good source of Vitamin E. If you are much of a nut lover here’s a website that offers all around nuts all day!
All throughout the day don’t stay parched. Be experimental with your drinks, go for fruity flavored drinks or return to the good old tea times. There are a lot of good and healthy types of tea that you can try.
- Go green with healthy smoothies
Heavily parched? Be fruity with your smoothies or go green smoothies perhaps. Oh, don’t stay green this is actually yummy! Have a glass of this green tropical smoothie.
Get 1 cup of fresh spinach, 1 cup of kale and 1 cup of water and blend them first. Add on ½ cup cubed pineapple, ½ cup diced yellow ripe mango, 1 peeled banana, ½ cup chopped avocados. Blend for at least two minutes or until mixture is creamy and smooth.
Good sources of lutein, zeaxanthin and Vitamin A includes green leafy vegetables and green fruits. Our body clearly needs to lutein from these healthy sources since our body cannot produce lutein by itself. Daily consumption of lutein rich food proves to lower chances of age-related macular degeneration. Vitamin A is the most essential component as in the eye as it combines to a protein responsible light absorption needed for color and night vision.
- A cup of green tea
Need an afternoon break? Go for a tea it’s a nature’s gift for stress reliever, it does not only calm our senses but protects our eyes. Ever wonder why tea is very healthy? Tea has high levels of gallocatechin, a flavonoid, a chemical released by plants that are usually function as an antioxidant. Gallocatechin is gathered towards the retinas to shield against hazardous UV rays. Moreover, tea prevents eye high pressures by promoting better blood flow through strengthening capillaries surrounding the eyes. You’ve got a lot variations to choose from aside from the regular green tea.
- Fish and omega-3 fatty acids
Try this sweet and sour for main dish with your favorite oily fish: anchovies, herring, mackerel, salmon, sardines, tuna and trout; they will give you muscle strength and clearer vision acuity. Salmon and all other oily fish is packed with omega-3 fatty-acids. Also, omega-3 Fatty Acids includes DHA and EPA that prevents dry-eye syndrome by accumulating tear secretion and diminishing tear evaporation in our eyes.
- Sweet turkey meal
If it’s a lucky night, turkey will be your delight. Have a blast of easy light turkey to turn up your evening and if there’s leftover, tuck Turkey in your sandwich. Turkey is good if you’re in calorie count, it is in low fat, rich with iron, zinc and contains Niacin, a B vitamin. And, Niacin is relatively good for the eyes for they can prevent glaucoma.
- A toast of wine
Finish up your night with a toast of wine. In addition to that, another plus why to dine with wine? Wine is full of flavonoid called quercetin, strong antioxidant that protects cells in the retinas, prevents inflammation surrounding eye tissue, improves lens clarity and reduce adverse effects of constant high sugar levels by limiting excessive aldose reductase an enzyme that hoard in the lenses thus depressing risks of cataracts.
- Finally, desserts
Still up for desserts? Don’t say no, save up a little space for these lovely sweets.Get a slice of these very sweet leche flan this will give you more source of lutein, since this sweet only contain egg yolks, a can of condensed and evaporated milk, beat all together in mixing bowl and steam it till cooked.
Amongst everything else, keeping ourselves healthy doesn’t end only in a healthy diet but it’s a good start. And keeping our eyes healthy can start somewhere like these good recipes for good eyesight.
REFERENCES:
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/a20706575/healthy-whole-grain/
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/a48055/quinoa-nutrition
http://www.alcon.com/stories/foods-against-major-eye-disease
http://www.2020onsite.com/blog/something
https://www.cookinglight.com/food/quick-healthy/quick-easy-turkey-recipes
https://wabisabitea-kyoto.com/19-reasons-green-tea-benefits/
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