what are the best foods to eat for improving eye health and vision?
What are the reasons those foods are particularly important for maintaining eye health?
How much you need to eat in order to obtain enough essential nutrients from those foods
to obtain the health benefits?
To learn more keep watching.
Hello everyone This is Dr Audrey Tai, I'm a board-certified and fellowship trained Cataract
and refractive surgeon, ophthalmologist and cornea specialist, welcome back to my channel
- eye Channel by eye surgeon.
I am here to bring you the latest information on eye health and medicine.
I also have a Masters degree in nutrition, and have made a series of videos on nutrition
and eye health, you can check out other videos on this topic with the link above.
This is a two-part video series on the most nutritious foods for eye health.
In today’s video, I will cover the animal origin or non-plant-based foods that are the
most nutritious for eye health.
So stay tuned, hit the subscribe button and notification bell so you won’t miss part
two of this video series covering the most nutritious vegetables and fruits for eye health.
Number one: eggs Eggs are one of the few foods that could be
classified as super foods, because of the density and range of nutrients that are packed
in a small package.
Eggs contain a high concentration of vitamins, minerals and proteins and healthy fats.
Whole eggs are so nutritious that they are sometimes referred as natures multivitamin.
On average, one egg contains about 70 to 80 calories, with 7 g of high quality protein,
5 g of fat, 1.6 g of saturated fat, along with vitamins, minerals and carotenoids.
Let's look at which nutrients and the amount of each nutrient that are contained in eggs.
One large egg contains numerous vitamins that are essential for maintaining eye health,
such as 6% of the recommended dietary allowance or RDA for vitamin A, which is an essential
fat-soluble vitamin that serves as the molecule that transmits the signal of stimulation from
light in our eyes to the brain, allowing us to see both during the day and at night.
Vitamin A also is also essential for maintaining the health of the surface of our eyes, protecting
the health of the cornea, the clear windshield of our eyes, and the conjunctiva, the layer
of clear skin outside the white part of our eyes, the sclera.
To learn more about vitamin A and eye health, you can Check out this video.
Each large egg also contains 15% of the RDA of vitamin B2 or riboflavin, 7% of the RDA
of vitamin B5, 5% of the RDA of folate or vitamin B9, 9% of the RDA for vitamin B12
or cobalamin.
Vitamin B12 is important for maintaining the health of optic nerve, and folate is important
in maintaining the health of the retina.
You can learn more about how vitamin B complex affects eye health in this video.
In addition, eggs also contain vitamin E and zinc, which are important micronutrients for
preventing and slowing down the progression of an important disease called age-related
macular degeneration or AMD.
Eggs also contain large amounts of xanthophylls, lutein and zeaxanthin.
Xanthophylls are the only types of carotenoids found in the retina and are responsible for
forming images and enabling us to see.
Studies have shown that a high dietary intake of lutein and zeaxanthin was associated with
a significantly lower risk of developing macular degeneration, and they also function as powerful
antioxidants, protecting against oxidative stress that can cause early cataract formation.
The average weight of a chicken egg yolk is 17 to 19 grams, and the concentration of lutein
and zeaxanthin in chicken egg yolks are 292 µg per yolk and 213 µg per yolk.
Although there's no official recommended dietary allowance for lutein and zeaxanthin , daily
intake of approximately 6 mg of lutein and ZEAXANTHIN has been associated with a decreased
risk of macular degeneration.
To learn more about lutein and zeaxanthin, you can check out this video.
You may be concerned about the cholesterol in eggs, and research so far on the subject
is mixed, but, most studies have reported that there's no association between moderate
dietary intake of eggs and increased risk of heart disease or stroke, and a few studies
have even found that moderate consumption of eggs is associated with a lower risk of
cardiovascular disease.
A randomized cross-over design study involving 33 men and women consuming 1 egg per day for
5 weeks reported increased serum lutein (26%), and zeaxanthin (38%), but serum concentrations
of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides were not affected.
Most recently, it was reported that a daily intake of 3 eggs for 12 weeks increased lutein
and zeaxanthin levels by 21% and 48%, respectively in 20 adults.
However, not all chicken eggs are created equal.
The nutrients contained in eggs vary kdepending on how the egg-laying hens are fed and raised.
Eggs from hens that were pasture raised, or fed with omega-3 enriched food tend to contain
much higher concentration of omega-3 fatty acids, which are important in maintaining
the health of the retina, and a beneficial in preventing dry eye disease.
One study showed eating five omega-3 enriched eggs per week for three weeks reduced triglycerides
by 16 to 18%.
Studies have shown eating up to three eggs a day may be perfectly healthy for most people.
In summary, eggs are my number one recommended superfood for maintaining and improving eye
health.
Number two: Coldwater fish, such as salmon When we talk about Coldwater fish, we are
talking about fish that are most active in cold water, and become stressed at higher
temperatures, such as salmon, trout, and tuna.
However not all fish, or even all Coldwater fish are created equal.
The type of coldwater fish that I recommend the most for improving eye health is salmon,
because of its high concentration of omega-3 fatty acids and relatively lower concentration
of toxins like Mercury.
It is important to know that wild caught salmon typically contain a higher concentration of
the good nutrients and less toxins compared to most farm raised salmon.
One 3.5 ounces or 100 grams serving of cooked wild caught salmon has one hundred 82 calories,
25 g of protein and 8 g of fat.
It also contains 127% of the daily value or DV of vitamin B12, 56% of the DV for vitamin
B6, 62% of the DV of niacin or vitamin B3, 30% of the DV of vitamin B5, 23% of the DV
for thiamin or vitamin B 1.
Additionally, wild caught salmon also contains vitamin A, which is an important vitamin for
maintaining eye health as I mentioned earlier.
Coldwater fish also contain Omega-3 fatty acids especially EPA and DHA.
Studies have shown that EPA and DHA have anti-inflammatory properties, and can improve function of the
cells that form the lining of our blood vessels.
Particularly, studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids are protective against diabetic
retinopathy in people who have diabetes, and can improve the symptoms of dry eye disease.
Although there's no official RDA for omega-3 fatty acids, the national institutes of health
have reported the adequate intake level for omega-3 at 1.6 g daily for adult males and
1.1 g daily for adult females.
Each serving size of 3 ounces of wild caught Atlantic salmon contains 1.22 g of DHA and
0.35 g of EPA.
Therefore eating about 3 to 4 ounces of wild caught salmon daily will meet the AI value
recommended by the NIH.
The FDA has advised that adults can safely consume a total of 3 g per day of combined
DHA and EPA.
Learn more about omega-3 fatty acids and dry eye disease and how to choose the right omega-3
supplements for you, you can check out this video.
Please always remember to consult your doctor before taking any high dose of vitamin supplements.
Number three: dairy products such as milk and yogurt
the reason that milk and yogurt are healthy foods for maintaining eye health is because
they are a good source of important vitamins and minerals that are essential for maintaining
eye health, such as vitamin a, vitamin B2 or riboflavin, vitamin B 5 , vitamin B 12,
and as zinc.
A serving of nonfat milk contains about 17% of the recommended daily value for vitamin
A, 43% of the DV for vitamin B two, 22% of the DV for vitamin B five, and 59% of the
DV for vitamin B12, and 9% of the DV for zinc.
Compared to milk, each serving of low-fat yogurt contains higher-level of zinc, about
15% of the DV for zinc.
I have mentioned the important health benefits of both vitamin a and vitamin B complex for
eye health in this video earlier.
Zinc is important for maintaining the health of the retina, as zinc is an essential component
of many enzymes that are needed for metabolism in the eye, and it also plays an important
role as an antioxidant and affects the structure and functions of cell membranes.
The areds 2 formula recommended by the national eye Institute for prevention of macular degeneration
contains 25 mg zinc per serving.
One thing worth mentioning is that one of the foods that has the highest concentration
of zinc is shellfish, such as crabs and oysters.
On average, 85 g or 3 ounces of oysters provides 74mg of zinc which is 673% of the recommended
daily zinc intake.
However because many people are allergic to shellfish, I did not include shellfish in
the list of best foods for eye health in this video.
For people who have certain dietary restrictions, you may need to take supplements in order
to obtain adequate amounts of essential nutrients to maintain eye health.
I've listed all of the recommended vitamin supplements for eye health in the description
below, so you can check them out.
Please always remember to consult with your doctor before taking any high-dose vitamin
supplements to make sure they're safe and right for you.
I hope you found this video helpful.
If so, be sure not to miss part two of this video series, coming out soon!
Hit the subscribe button and notification bell so you won’t miss any of my new videos.
Please let me know in the comments below what is your personal favorite food for eye health.
Any time you don’t have 10 minutes, you can watch short fun videos about eye care
tips on Instagram @draudreytai.
You can also follow me on Facebook and LinkedIn @draudreytai to learn more about my practice.
I look forward to connecting with you there.
Thank you again for watching and I will see you in my next video.