As we age, our eyes naturally go into decline. After 50, most of us need at least reading glasses. While this change is inevitable, we can be proactive and take measures to protect our eyes, especially from damage due to our modern lives. We can be conscious of artificial light exposure, screen time, and our diets.
Artificial light sources can impact us at the endocrine and cellular levels, which may increase the risk of blindness, cataracts, and age-related macular degeneration. A new study shows that light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can cause retinal damage to the photoreceptors in your eyes. LEDs may also induce necrosis (cell death) in eye tissue. Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) may do the same and cause oxidative stress damage to your eyes and photoreceptors on your skin.
As with many lifestyle issues, a common sense and realistic approach is an excellent way to mitigate damage and protect your health. Let’s take a look at how eye health is declining and some measures to implement to reverse that decline.
Understanding human vision
The visual system is the sensory system that enables sight. It is highly complex and includes the eyes, neuronal visual pathways of the brain, the retinas, and the cerebral cortex. The eye on its own is very complex and comprised of several types of tissues, each with its own crucial function. All must be healthy for the eye to be healthy. Some parts of the are particularly important to the visual process. They are also susceptible to the stress of screen time.
The lens
The lens is a transparent convex disk whose function is to focus light on the retina. The lens is suspended within the eye, behind the pupil, by ligaments attached to the ciliary muscle, which forms a ring inside the eye. The lens bends parallel light rays inwards, making them converge in a point called the focal point, and making that focal point fall at the depression at the center of the retina called the fovea, which is surrounded by a ring of pigmented tissue called macula. The lens changes its curvature to focus the light of an object on the fovea to bring its image into sharp focus. The focal point must fall precisely on the retina for the object to be seen in focus. Changes in the shape of the lens are controlled by the ciliary muscle.
The retina
The retina is a neural tissue and an extension of the brain. The retina has several types of neurons that contribute to the generation of the visual signal that is sent to the brain. The light-sensitive sensory neurons that capture the energy of light and transduce it into neuronal impulses are called photoreceptors. Photoreceptors change light energy into a change in membrane potential that, in turn, creates a neurochemical signal that is passed, within your retina, to bipolar neurons and then to ganglion cells. Ganglion cells are the output cells of the retina—their axons join to form the optic nerve which carries the visual information codified in the retina to the brain for further processing. The brain then translates these neuronal signals into mental images.
The conjunctiva
Another important component of your eyes is the conjunctiva, which is the clear, thin membrane that covers part of the front surface of the eye and the inner surface of the eyelids. The conjunctiva keeps the front and inner surface of the eye moist and lubricated while protecting against dust, debris, and infection.
The lens, retina, and conjunctive are only three components of a very complex visual system that can be subject to dysfunction of other parts that are malfunctioning.
Visual health superfoods
Research confirms that certain foods provide benefits for preventing and reversing eye decline and disease. Most of these foods also provide your body with other health benefits such as sharpening your cognition, improving heart health, and boosting your immune system.
For instance, the eyes and brain are made of neural tissue. Foods that support neuroprotective functions in the retina, like membrane health and antioxidant defenses, will also support neuroprotective functions in the brain. The foods can contribute to a healthy neuronal structure, function, and communication, which are important to cognitive function.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology recently published a list of 36 foods that improve vision. The foods on the list are not only healthful choices for whole-body nutrition, they can be found at most grocery stores. Foods that you should incorporate into your diet to improve your visual health include:
Orange vegetables
We all know that carrots are good for our eyesight. Carrots are in fact one of the best foods for supporting your visual system, as they’re rich in beta-carotene, which the body utilizes to produce Vitamin A. Vitamin A improves the functioning of the conjunctiva membranes and cornea and is important for the retina to convert light rays into visual images. Other orange fruits and vegetables, such as apricots, cantaloupe, and sweet potatoes, are also naturally high in Vitamin A.
Citrus fruits
Vitamin C has antioxidant and neuroprotective effects that benefit the visual system. According to the Age-Related Eye Disease Studies, Vitamin C can help slow down vision loss due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is an eye disease that can blur the center of your vision. Citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruit, and lemons with high Vitamin C content should be consumed year-round as part of a diet that supports eye health.
Leafy green vegetables
Kale, spinach, collards, and turnip greens contain lutein and zeaxanthin, two nutrients found in the healthy eye that are thought to lower your risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD)—an eye disease that can blur your central vision—and cataracts. Cataracts form when protein builds up in the lens of your eye, preventing light from passing through clearly, resulting in cloudy vision. One large study showed that women who had diets high in lutein were 23 percent less likely to develop cataracts than women whose diets were low in this nutrient.
Ginger
Ginger, one of the most widely used spices in the world, is a bioenhancer (it enhances the bioavailability of carotenoids) with antioxidant benefits that support the healthy function of the retina and lens. Carotenoids are the pigments that give fruits and vegetables their vibrant red, orange, and yellow coloring. Carotenoids such as lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin are present in the macula and can absorb up to 90% of blue light. The absorption of this light can reduce the oxidative damage that occurs to this essential part of the eye.
Cold-water fish
Research has suggested that diets rich in Omega-3 fatty acids from cold-water fish may help reduce the risk of eye disease. Omega-3 fatty acids cannot be synthesized in the body. You must get them through your diet. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the most complex form of Omega-3s, may help protect your vision as you age. Cold-water fish including salmon, tuna, sardines, halibut, and trout are excellent sources of Omega-3s.
Goji berry
Goji berry is a traditional Chinese medicine eye tonic used to nourish the eyes and promote healthy vision. Goji is rich in bioactive antioxidant compounds, including zeaxanthin—it’s considered one of the richest food sources of this macular pigment. Goji is also rich in polysaccharides, believed to be responsible for many of goji’s health benefits, including the support of the vision and eye health. While goji berry may not be available at your local supermarket, you can find this eye health superfood online.
Strategies to reduce digital eye strain
Too much exposure to a computer or phone screen can cause:
- Fatigue
- Blurry vision
- Dry, irritated eyes
- An inability to read or focus
- Heightened sensitivity to glare or light
All of these lead to discomfort and disruption in your daily life. And, they can produce declines in your visual health over time. Screen time is unavoidable for many people, but we can put some best practices into place to reduce digital eye strain. The following five strategies, practiced daily, can dramatically improve the health of your visual system.
Be careful about screen exposure
While avoiding screens for work may not be feasible, and there is value in getting the family together for a good movie, much of today’s digital screen time involves a lot of videos and games. Try to foster an awareness of this habit and then mindfully switch gears. Go for a walk or take a bath or read a book—engage in an activity that is not only relaxing but has no negative aftereffects and may even be health-promoting. If your work requires lengthy screen sessions, taking screen breaks is crucial. The most effective way to counteract the harm of screen time is to gaze at things that are far away, so step outside to look at the horizon regularly.
Keep your distance
We watch our screens up close. Kids who grew up in the 50s and 60s probably remember their parents telling them to sit back from the TV. They already knew it could damage their eyesight by sitting too close. Yet, we have our mobile devices and computers close to our eyes. A very good maintenance practice to visual health is to conversely spend time focusing on objects far away. When you’re looking at objects close-up, your ciliary muscles—the primary muscle in your eye’s middle layer—contract, but if you’re looking farther away, the ciliary muscles have a chance to relax. Find ways to give your eyes a break by focusing on things in the distance. Make an effort to give the focus of your eyes more distance-balance throughout the day.
Double-check your lighting
A major contributor to the effects of digital screen exposure is the degree of lighting contrast between the screen and the surrounding environment. If you need to work at night, or you can’t resist a social media catchup, using your screens in a lighted room is in fact preferred (daylight is best). And eye strain is not the only result of bright screens at night; that sort of exposure can contribute to major sleep disturbances. LED lighting is a cause of significant health concerns. You may wish to switch to incandescent lighting. OLEDs are a better choice than LEDs. OLEDs use thin layers of organic compounds instead of blue lights coated with yellow phosphor in traditional LEDs.
Take breaks
Research supports the importance of disrupting sitting uninterrupted for hours on end. The same general physiologic principles hold true for your eyes. If you have three hours of computer work to do, factor in 15-minute breaks intermittently that change the distance and lighting focus for your eyes. These breaks also give you sitting breaks. Think of them as simultaneous maintenance for body health and eye health.
Use tools available on the marketplace
You will find a wide array of tools available in the low-to-no-cost variety that can help mitigate the harm done to your visual health by digital screen exposure. Blue light-blocking glasses limit your exposure to, well, blue light, which can cause retinal damage and also disrupt circadian rhythms. If you’re working at a computer most of the day, a monitor with built-in eye protection is recommended. There’s also software you can install on any monitor for eye protection, such as Iris.
For watching TV, there’s a small box called driftTV that you can plug into your television that removes a significant percentage of the blue light from the content.
Final thoughts
Visual health has a huge impact on your quality of life. You want to be able to enjoy your family and work productively for many years. Take a proactive approach now to prevent declines in your eye health. These tips are straightforward and effective:
- Limit (or eliminate) screen time like scrolling social media.
- Counteract short-distance screen time with activities that involve looking into the distance.
- Avoid using screens in a dark room.
- Replace LED lights with healthier alternatives such as incandescent bulbs.
- Use tools such as blue light blocking glasses and UV and blue light screen protectors.
- Take regular screen breaks.
When you are at the grocery store, look for orange vegetables, citrus fruits, ginger, cold-water fish, leafy green vegetables, goji berry, and saffron—and they’re also great choices for overall health.
Your visual health declines from both age and modern-day technology. By practicing good screen hygiene and consuming eye-strengthening foods into your daily diet, you can avoid and even reverse eye disease and dysfunction, significantly improving your quality of life.