National Eye Care Month is celebrated every year in January for one reason: caring for our eyes. Our entire body is one remarkable macro-organism that is still not fully understood by doctors and scientists. Every organ has a unique function, and although it is hard to determine which organ is the most important, one can easily say that eyes serve a very important purpose i.e., to see! So, to cherish our eyes, one must care for them, and voilà, the National Eye Care Month is here to serve this need.
Sunset Shore’s role is to encourage and monitor overall wellbeing of our participants. We remind families, as needed, and offer support coordinating necessary medical appointments, especially for the eye, as very often other issues have been traced back to an eye deficiency.
See the tips below. They are all excellent to help heighten awareness for the need to be diligent with loved ones, regularly.
The Importance of Eye Health for Seniors
As everyone may be aware, eye health decreases as we age for various reasons. Many seniors have issues with age-related macular degeneration or cataracts. If left untreated, these could lead to vision loss and blindness. With nutritional changes and regular eye exams, health problems can be avoided.
Eye Health Tips
Diet
- An overall healthy diet will improve all body functions.
- Eat colorful fruits and vegetables like broccoli, kale, oranges, and tangerines; they contain Lutein and Zeaxanthin which are good for your eyes.
- Essential fatty acids such as fish, eggs, and whole grain foods will supply a good amount of these nutrients.
- Vitamin C is important and can be found in vegetables and mainly fruits like oranges, grapefruit, and papaya.
- Don’t forget about Vitamin E which is found in vegetable oil and nuts like almonds, pecans and sunflower seeds.
- Lean red meat, beans, and whole grains all have good amounts of the mineral Zinc, which is needed for good eye health.
Lifestyle Changes
- Always wear sunglasses- Protecting your eyes from damaging UV rays is extremely important.
- When reading, take a break every 30 minutes- This will reduce strain on your eyes, and relieves eye fatigue.
- Check your blood pressure- High blood pressure could be damaging your eye blood vessels.
- Exercise your eyes – Regularly “exercise” your eyes by rolling and moving them side to side
- Visit the eye doctor regularly – Not only does the eye doctor check for health issues, but your prescription may change as you age. If you don’t change your prescription as needed, extra stress can be added to your eyes.