There's a lot to learn about blue eyes and those who peer out at the world through them.
Whether it's due to weird scientific facts, related health conditions, or just plain genetics,
people who rock those baby blues are just a little bit different than their darker-eyed
friends.
Even though they may appear to be blue, these icy-cool peepers aren't actually blue at all.
It might sound crazy, but there's no such thing as blue pigment when it comes to our
eyes — you're either melanated, or not very melanated at all.
And, according to Gizmodo, if you're melanated in each layer of the iris like the majority
of humans around the world, then you would have brown eyes…that are actually brown
— no optical illusions there.
"Why are their eyes so big?”
“The eyes are the windows of the soul.”
So if there's no pigment in the front layers of the iris of blue eyed-people, what is it
that makes them look blue?
According to the American Academy of ophthalmology, blue eyes look blue for the same reason that
both the ocean and the sky appear to be blue: it's simply a trick of the light.
This is called the Tyndall Effect, which is the way that light scatters in blue eyes,
giving rise to the blue appearance.
Although many actors, models, and other celebs have blue eyes - which can make them seem
like a very common asset, at least on TV - not many people are lucky enough to boast beautiful
baby blues in real life.
In fact, the most common eye color throughout the entire world is brown, according to World
Atlas.
Specifically, 79 percent of people have eyes the color of coffee and chocolate, dwarfing
every other eye color possible.
"I see a darkness in you.
And in that darkness, eyes staring back at me.
Brown eyes.”
But just how many people have blue eyes around the world?
The outlet estimates that approximately 8 to 10 percent of the population are blessed
with cerulean peepers.
Of course, plenty of folks who don't have blue eyes can fake it with contacts, as celebs
Selena Gomez and Nicki Minaj have done on occasion.
But you can always tell the difference between a natural blue and an artificial one - it's
a pretty tough color to fake.
"OK, fine."
Although the odds of having blue eyes are markedly lower than having brown ones, blue
isn't the rarest of all eye colors.
It’s actually the second most common eye color out there, according to World Atlas.
"We just wanna be loved."
It turns out that having hazel eyes is less common than having either blue or brown eyes,
as only 5 percent of people have them.
Approximately 5 percent of people have amber-colored eyes, and only 2 percent of people's eyes
are green.
But the rarest eye colors in the world are gray, red-violet eyes, and people with eyes
of two different colors - all clocking in at less than one percent of all people worldwide.
Blue eyes can appear to be more or less common depending on where you are in the world.
In fact, sometimes the majority of people in an area have blue eyes.
For example, if you were strolling through Estonia or taking a vacation in Finland, not
having blue eyes would be weird, as 89 percent of the populations of those countries have
azure irises, according to World Atlas.
Blue eyes are also still the majority in Ireland and Scotland, at 57 percent and 50 percent,
respectively.
England is next on the list with 48 percent, while 45 percent of people in Wales have baby
blues.
Belgium and France clock in at seventh and eighth, with just under 29 percent of people
in the former having blue eyes and roughly 20 percent having blue eyes in the latter.
Finally, at nine and ten are the United States and Spain, both with just over 16 percent
of the population possessing the trait.
If you are the lucky owner of a set of cobalt peepers, chances are you've noticed that your
eyes appear to change color, sometimes looking bluer or grayer - or even lighter or darker.
That was certainly the case with the iconic actress Elizabeth Taylor, whose bright blue
eyes could look violet when the light hit them just right.
There's a reason blue eyes appear to change color, and it's related to why they look blue
in the first place.
It all depends on how much light is both coming into and reflecting out of the eye, according
to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
The color of the eye can also be influenced by clothing color, and eye makeup.
If you're a parent, you might have watched the eyes of an infant change color from bright
blue to green or brown.
That's precisely why you can't possibly be sure of what someone's eye color will really
be, until about the six-month mark, according to McGill University, no matter how much any
mother wants those blue eyes to stick around.
"I think she was expecting more from this whole thing."
The reason that many babies are born with blue eyes that later darken, is because of
the way melanin functions in the human body.
When a baby is born, melanin hasn't yet been fully deposited into the iris of the child's
eye, which results in the iris's blue shade.
But without fail, genetics kick in and melanin production either ramps up, changing the color
of the baby's eye, or it doesn't, rendering the color of the iris blue for life.
Surprisingly, two brown-eyed parents can have a child with blue eyes, according to the University
of Delaware.
And, two blue-eyed parents can give birth to a brown-eyed baby.
"They're so random."
So what's the reasoning?
To put it simply, eye color is determined by several different genes, as well as the
interplay between them.
So don't be surprised if your child has eyes that don't resemble either parent - it's just
how genetics work!
Everyone needs a healthy dose of vitamin D, according to a journal published in Environmental
Health Perspectives, so it's important to get a little sunlight on a regular basis.
But depending on the color of your skin, you need to be varying degrees of careful when
you step outside, lest you wind up with a sunburn, according to the American Cancer
Society.
So if you're light-skinned, you're more at risk, though everyone should take precautions
when they go out, regardless of skin color.
"Who's side are you on, Eddie?”
“What?
What sides are there?”
“Mine or the ozone's.
Choose one."
And just as you should take precautions with your skin when you're outside, you should
also protect your eyes accordingly, especially if they're light-colored.
Ophthalmologist Ruth Williams explained in an interview with Everyday Health,
"Clinically speaking, people with blue or light-colored irises do tend to be more light-sensitive.
This is likely due to the sparsity of light-absorbing pigment in the eye."
This means you should never leave your sunglasses at home, especially if you have blue eyes.
Although having blue eyes - or light-colored eyes - is commonly considered to be beautiful,
there is one disadvantage that comes along with it.
Unfortunately, those pretty peepers mean you're more susceptible to cancer, according to an
article in Everyday Health.
Specifically, fair-eyed folks are more at risk of developing melanoma of the middle
layer of the eye than their brown-eyed counterparts.
Yikes!
Fortunately, there's a pretty simple way to protect your delicate eyes from harmful UV
rays, according to Dr. Williams.
She advised,
"People with light iris color need to be diligent in wearing UV-protected sunglasses."
The other good news is that this type of melanoma is pretty rare, and only six out of one million
people are diagnosed with it annually.
But better safe than sorry.
Taking precautions with your skin in the sunlight is also important, as fair-eyed people are
also more prone to skin cancer.
It might sound a little bit crazy, but your eye color can have an impact on the quality
of your vision, according to optometrist Richard L. Ison.
He shared with ESPN,
"Because of the lack of pigment in lighter color eyes - like blue or green eyes as opposed
to brown - you get a lot more unwanted light and that can create glare problems."
That's why baseball pro Josh Hamilton decided to rock a pair of colored contact lenses during
the day to reduce the glare and improve his vision.
He revealed,
"I've never worn contact lenses in my life and I really would like to see the ball in
the daytime.
So therefore I'm trying any means possible to do that."
"I want em to say I gave everything I had.”
Given that his stats were better at night, he wanted to see if this approach would help
him improve in the daytime.
And fortunately for him, it did.
Although our blue-eyed brethren are indeed at a greater risk of cancer, the news isn't
all bad.
There's also a bit of a super power that comes with having blue eyes.
As it turns out, blue- and green-eyed ladies have a higher pain tolerance than people with
brown or hazel eyes, according to an article in Medical Daily.
"I'm gonna remove the bullet now, do you wanna bite down on this?"
"I deserve pain."
This particular information came to light thanks to a study conducted by Dr. Inna Belfer,
a geneticist at the University of Pittsburgh.
She surveyed 58 expectant mothers as they went through the birthing process and found
that light-eyed women experienced less pain and discomfort while in labor.
She also found that light-eyed women were less likely to develop anxiety or depression
once the baby had arrived than dark-eyed women were, all thanks to having less melanin.
Belfer also shared that she plans on continuing research in this area, revealing in Medscape
Medical News,
"We are going to see if there is a link between eye color and clinical pain […] in men and
in women, and in different pain models other than the labor pain model."
"How bout we have a toast?"
Another strange thing that comes with having blue eyes has to do with alcohol consumption,
according to an article published in ResearchGate.
In the study, scientists relied on archival data to determine how eye color has an impact
on how much individuals drink and how well they can tolerate alcohol.
"OK one drink, but I'm buying."
Scientists studied two types of people: one group of white male prison inmates and one
group of white women who responded to a nationwide survey.
What they found was that in both groups, individuals with dark eyes drank a notably smaller amount
of alcohol than their light-eyed counterparts.
This conclusion was consistent with prior findings that brown-eyed people are more susceptible
to the effects of some medications as well.
Additionally, researchers concluded that dark-eyed folks are less likely to become dependent
on alcohol, as their heightened sensitivity prevents them from drinking the quantity that
would make them physically dependent in the first place.
Another fun fact about blue eyes has to do with men and their dating and relationship
preferences.
According to a study published in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, blue-eyed men find
blue-eyed women more attractive than women with any other eye color.
But that wasn't the case for blue-eyed women, who were into people with all different eye
colors.
"I told you I was hot tonight."
The brown-eyed men and women also didn't show a preference for members of the opposite sex
with any one eye color - making the blue-eyed men the outlier.
So what's the theory as to why this is the case?
Researchers attribute this preference to what they call paternity uncertainty, which is
an anxiety that can cause men to question whether a child is biologically theirs.
Given that blue eyes are considered to be a clear genetic mechanism of inheritance,
it makes sense that a man would be assured by seeing himself in his offspring.
That is, if he doesn't wanna match the DNA.
"You are the father!"
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