Vitamin C

I'm on a health kick lately. All the talk about lutien and its ability to help the health of the eye made me look for other possible vitamins and minerals. There are quite a few that have been studied and believed to be very healthy for the eye. It should be no surprise that Vitamin C helps contribute to healthy eyes. That way, you can tell your optometrist during your next eye exam, you've been taking care of your eyes.



Basically, all cells in the body depend on Vitamin C. The eyes have a high concentration of cells in all the tissues that are constantly active. What Vitamin C does exactly is promote healthy ocular blood vessels, help promote healthy capillaries, cartilage and iron absorption across the board and is believed to reduce the risk of cataracts in women by 64 percent if they take sufficient levels for 10 years. Fruits like oranges, grapefruits, strawberries and others are some of the best sources for Vitamin C.

The recommended intake of Vitamin C is 90 mg/day for men and 75 mg/day for women. However, research suggests that for Vitamin C to play a part in eye health, the intake needs to be at about 500 mg/day. The trick is that Vitamin C is water soluble so too much too quickly will be flushed away. One word of caution, megadoses of Vitamin C can have adverse effects. It usually is only a concern when there are supplement pills are taken. Normal, healthy diets will provide all the necessary Vitamin C.

It's becoming the norm for optometrists to talk about nutrition during eye exams. Your eye doctor might give some recommendations if they see fit to help care for the eyes and there is a growing body of research that shows vitamins and minerals play an important role in keeping eyes healthy.