I can’t remember where I first heard it or how long ago it was. I’m fairly certain it was about the time I came out of the womb when I first heard that eating carrots was good for the eyes. Sound familiar? But is this really true?
It’s been said that foods which resemble body parts are typically beneficial for said part; take the walnut for example- it looks an awful lot like a brain and has a high concentration of DHA (a type of Omega-3 fatty acid) which has been shown to protect brain health and improve cognitive function. There’s no denying that when you look at a sliced carrot, it certainly resembles the eye. Carrots are loaded with beta-carotene, which converts into vitamin A… this helps MAINTAIN normal vision by strengthening the cornea. While that helps support healthy eyes (being deficient in Vitamin A can lead to blindness) it probably isn’t going to improve eyesight.
Besides eating carrots, there a few other ways to help support healthy eyes and vision too.
- Wear sunglasses to protect from UV rays (even on cloudy days!)
- Take screen breaks with the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes focus on an object 20 feet away from you for 20 seconds.
- Support dry eyes with lubricating drops
Eating carrots is delicious and gives you other benefits like folate, potassium, iron, copper and manganese. So go ahead and eat up, just don’t throw away those reading glasses.
Need a good carrot recipe? Try my famous Carrot Hummus recipe at Happy Eats Healthy!
0