Sunday, August 18, 2013

6 Vision Enhancer Super Foods:

6 Foods For Your Eyes
Consider adding these six super foods to your diet. You’ll not only get the benefits of protecting your vision, you’ll also be able to add some variety to that healthy diet you said you were starting

Goji Berries

You may have heard of these berries, they have been advertised as a super fruit. For once the advertisements are very close to the truth.
These great tasting red berries offer a cornucopia of vitamins, minerals, proteins, and amino acids that our bodies need. They have long been a part of the diet of people living in Tibet and Mongolia where they grow naturally. It may be difficult to believe but these luscious berries contain more vitamin C than the same amount of orange. As if that weren’t enough they also contain vitamins A, E, B1, B6, and B2.
They have 21 trace minerals and 18 amino acids as well as protein. You could almost live on these by themselves.
What interests us the most though is the fact that they also contain five types of carotenoids that are vital to the health of your eyes.
You may have trouble finding the fresh fruits, dried fruits are more readily available in the United States. With the increase in popularity of this super fruit that may soon change.


Persimmons

Who knew that this native Chinese fruit could be so beneficial to your eye health? Persimmons contain lutein, lycopene, vitamin A, beta carotene, zeaxanthin, and cryptoxanthin.
All these big words have one thing in common; they are natural enemies of the free radicals that are derived from oxygen. These free radicals contribute to aging and disease. Many, if not all, antioxidants help to rid our bodies of free radicals that can have an adverse affect on our eyes.
Persimmons are another good source of vitamin C which has been shown to be very beneficial to eye health. Our bodies can’t store vitamin C so it is even more important to have good sources of this vitamin in our daily diet. This fruit provides one alternative for people who really don’t care for citrus juices. Some people have problems with citrus fruits because of the acid levels they contain.
Studies have shown that vitamin C helps to reduce your risk of developing cataracts, delays macular degeneration, and aids in relieving eye-pressure in glaucoma patients.
You can see why it is especially important to get your daily dose of vitamin C!

Kiwis

These fuzzy brown fruits don’t look all that appealing from the outside. While its visual appeal may be lacking, it is a must have in your diet for good eye health. This small fuzzy fruit offers more nutrition per ounce than many of the fruits we commonly eat.
Along with the vitamin C that you probably expected, these small fruits are a rich source of copper, manganese, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin E, and dietary fiber.
Don’t let the outside fool you, the best part of this fruit is found when you cut it open. This fruit can be added to almost any type of fruit salad or added to a tossed salad for some extra taste. The light green flesh of the fruit offers a sweet and sour appeal to your tongue but the real star is the small black seeds inside.
These small black seeds can be crushed to produce oil that contains omega-3 fatty acids that help to protect our bodies from free radicals caused by pollution and ultraviolet rays.

Chia Seeds

Yes, these really are the same seeds used for the Chia pets you’ve laughed at on television advertisements. These amazing seeds contain more potassium than a banana, more antioxidants than blueberries, and are rich in vitamins and minerals that are essential to good eye health.
Added to that they are a great source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids for people who don’t care for fish.
The easiest way to add these seeds to your daily diet would be to sprinkle them onto food that you are already eating. Add some to your cereal or yogurt in the morning or sprinkle a few on your salad for lunch. Mixing them in with trail mix for an afternoon snack is also a good way to include them in your diet.

Raw Cacao

A word of warning here; make sure that you get organic raw cacao; the cacao that you find in most stores has the beneficial nutrients and antioxidants destroyed during processing. You may want to look for this product at a natural food store or a health food store.
Cacao is one of the best sources of magnesium and iron. These are minerals which many people have deficiencies in. The reason it made it on our list is the concentrated antioxidants it contains. Cacao has 21 times as many antioxidants as green tea and 14 times more than red wine.
Antioxidants become more important as we age because they fight the oxidative stress levels in our bodies. Oxidants can cause eye problems like cataracts and macular degeneration as we get older.

Kale

Kale is a leafy green vegetable that can be substituted for spinach in most recipes. It provides the vitamins, iron, and fiber that spinach does as well as being a more easily absorbable source of calcium. This can be especially important for people who have difficulty absorbing calcium from other sources.
Kale has higher levels of vitamin K than broccoli, spinach, and Swiss chard. Vitamin K helps to promote proper blood clotting in the body.
It made our list of eye healthy foods because of the high amounts of zeaxanthin and lutein. These phytochemicals are essential for good eye health. These are found in relatively high concentrations in the retina of our eyes. They help to protect your eyes from cataracts and macular degeneration.

Hopefully this list of foods will help you add some diversity to your healthy diet. Just because it’s good for you doesn’t mean that it can’t taste good as well.

Source: Rebuild your vision

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