Summer vacations tend to change our usual lifestyle and, with it, our health may be compromised: an unbalanced diet, an abuse of sweets or caloric foods and a lack of time to cook at home in a healthy way can harm our health visual. The reason is very simple: visual health is closely related to food. So much so that the association Vision and Life explains us, given that many times it is unknown, how there is a close relationship between visual health and diet.

There are three factors that compromise more to visual health: excessive consumption of sugar, fat eating or a diet poor in certain vitamins. Mercedes Aguirre, doctor in biology and director of R & D of NUA Biological Innovations participated in the report “The prevalence of myopia among young people in Spain” of Vision and Life to explain how to take care of visual health through diet, highlighting “The excess of sugar in our diet affects not only the vascular system, but can cause cataracts, and is associated with visual problems in certain people, such as diabetics. On the other hand, a fatty diet, with an excess of trans or saturated fats generates problems in the inner wall of our blood vessels, hindering the correct flow of blood. Finally, if we offer the system an insufficient supply of certain vitamins, mainly C, D and E or minerals such as zinc, we generate an increase in free radicals, which will deteriorate the tissues of our eyes and oxidize our visual system. ”

This is even more important when it affects minors, since frequent visual problems, such as the development of myopia, despite having a genetic component, can be monitored thanks to the control of the associated environmental components. Among them, the most prominent is a balanced diet.

Thus, the association wants the public to know certain basic recommendations to protect during the summer, and before the arrival of autumn, the visual health of large and small:

The less time in the kitchen, the better. This way we will avoid consuming foods rich in saturated fats, such as fried or battered, since it is much more beneficial to consume steam or raw foods, seasoned with olive oil.
It’s fruit and vegetable time. Both to improve our visual health and to protect the rest of our body in sunny season is very important the consumption of red or purple fruits (strawberries, arándonos, grapes) and oranges (peach, orange or nectarine).
To drink, nothing better than water. It is important to avoid that the smallest consume many carbonated or sugary drinks, replacing them with natural juices. It is also not good to abuse cow’s milk and it must be combined with others, such as almonds or soy.
If we go to the beach, enjoy the food that the sea offers us. Fish such as tuna, sardine or anchoveta have large amounts of DHA, an omega-3 fat present in our macula in a percentage of 55%. This helps us enjoy a clear vision and promotes the proper functioning of our retina.
The bread, better integral. It has less sugar than refined bread and offers us the necessary fiber supply. In addition, it is important to avoid the consumption of industrial pastries or sweets, as they directly affect our visual system.
If we’re not going to leave the screens, let’s protect ourselves. Lutein and zeaxanthin, present in green foods such as parsley, asparagus, spinach, etc. or orange like the orange pepper, the yolk of the egg, the nectarines, etc. they will help us to protect ourselves from the blue light emitted by mobiles, tablets or televisions.
To protect from childhood the retina, minerals. Zinc is very abundant in the retina, since it fulfills essential support functions. Foods such as veal, spinach or chickpeas and rice can help us complete our diet.
“It is very easy, even on holidays, to maintain a healthy diet, like the Mediterranean diet, and avoid many visual complications in all ages. In the end, prevention is also very important in the vision, and being able to take care of our body and strengthen it to prevent unexpected problems from occurring is key to being able to maintain perfect visual health throughout our lives, “concludes Mercedes Aguirre.