More about the eyes

You may have read and tried my eye exercises I have given you here a couple of months ago. After consulting others, I come today with further advice on how to protect your eyes. Next to exercises your eyes need proper nutrients to function optimally.

Never forget to include in your diet Vitamins A, C, E, as well as minerals like copper and zinc. I always recommend avoiding buying them from the drugstore and diversify your meals with natural food. You need antioxidants like beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin to get a better sun protection for your macula (yellow spot of the eye) and best place to find them is green and yellow vegetables like dark leafy greens, egg yolks, yellow peppers, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and carrots. They help you keep macula young and avoid getting blind. Good antioxidants are anthocyanin-rich blueberries, grapes, and goji berries that also have anti-inflammatory properties that can help improve your vision.

Cataract is another disease that often affects eyes and foods rich in sulfur, cysteine, and lecithin help protect the lens of the eye against it. Try to eat more garlic, onions, shallots, and capers to receive more of these protective ingredients.

To maintain the eye health giving structural support to cell membranes you should also make use of DHA, a fatty acid found in coldwater fish like wild salmon, sardines, mackerel and cod.

Dry eyes can also lead to poor eyesight, so do not forget the general rule of the two liters of water you should drink daily, a habit that also prevent dehydration and dry eyes. Good quality water should be drunk and artificial tears should be dropped in your eyes if needed.

Your life style is also very important for the health of your eyes. Enough sleep is equally important for eye health, because eyes rest during the sleep just as your whole body. While slipping your eyes also rest, repair, and recover. Your vision may weaken if you do not have enough sleep (and enough is eight hours of sound sleep a night). Try to you’re your eyes during the day resting them for a few moments every hour. Do it even more often if you work intensively in front of the computer.

Avoid factors that can contribute to eye damage limiting contact with toxins or stressful factors like blinking lights, computer screens, environmental allergens, chlorine in swimming pools, direct air conditioning and heating, extreme weather conditions (dry, cold, heat), reading in dim lighting and constantly rubbing of the eyes. Do not smoke and limit your exposure to cigarette smoke as it may increase optic pressure. Remember to wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from UV exposure.

In the end I want to give you some more tips with exercises you could practice to maintain optimal vision and may also keep those annoying eye floaters at bay. Clean your hands carefully and perform these exercises several times a day, in the morning, before bedtime, or any time your eyes feel tired.

-Warm your eyes. After washing your hands with hot water place them against your eyes for a few seconds. Your eyes will get warmer and feel more relaxed. Repeat this several times, as long as your hands are warm.
-Massage your temples. Using your thumb knuckles, massage your temples in small circles, several times in one direction and several in the other. Repeat the same actions above the mid-point of the eyebrows at the forehead, then below the eyes on both sides of the bridge of the nose.

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Eye exercises: How to maintain a sharp vision

Glasses and contact lenses gradually worsen your vision so trying to get rid of them might be a good idea. Putting the eye muscles at work through regular exercises helps keeping your eyes healthy and you can eventually get rid of glasses.

Here is a series of exercises that might be used daily to keep eyes in good shape.

Up-down
Sit in a chair and look at an imaginary vertical line on a wall 3 meters in front of you. Trace it up as much as possible without moving your head. Trace the line back and continue the move to the extreme low. Repeat the move eight times.

Left-right
Sitting comfortable in a chair, look at an imaginary horizontal line on a wall 3 meters in front of you. Trace it to the extreme right with your eyes, not moving your head. Trace the line back and continue the move to the extreme left. Repeat the move 8 times.

Zero
Repeat the up mentioned exercises tracing a huge imaginary zero on the wall. Rotate your eyes in both directions. Repeat the move eight times.

Infinity
Imagine a giant infinity symbol ( ∞ ), on a wall 3 meters in front of you. Slowly trace its contour with your eyes. A slow movement gives better results than speeding. Reverse the move and follow the contour of the infinity sign the other way. Repeat the move eight times.

Focusing
Focus the eyes on your nose. After a few seconds, focus on a painting or something else on a wall 3 meters in front of you. To keep the best rhythm, breathe deeply while exercising and switch focus after each breath. Repeat the move eight times.

Zooming
Sitting in a comfortable position stretch your arm and keep your thumb up in front of you. Focus both eyes on it. Bring the thumb nearer to your face until you touch the nose tip focusing on it all the time. Immediately stretch the arm back, while the eyes focus the thumb all the time. Repeat the move eight times.

These exercises form a batch that should be repeated several times a day. They make the eye muscles stronger, increase their flexibility and provide a general improvement of the vision. During the day, also try the following two exercises.

Blinking
Although you are tempted to avoid blinking while watching the TV or working in front of the computer, try to override this involuntary reaction meant to avoid the short period of time when you cannot see. Blinking is good because the short pause of darkness generated by the blink allows the eye to refresh and discharge previous information. The eye strain is reduced and eyes get relaxed proportionally to the blink rate. So simply blink more often while in front of the TV or computer screen.

Covering
Stay comfortable and relaxed in a chair. Take several deep breathes. Cover your eyes with your palm but leave enough space to blink unhindered. Keep the wrist on your cheek and fingers on the forehead (slightly bent to give room for blinking).

Do the exercises several times a day for a few minutes. It calms both your eyes and mind.