Eye Health
Carrots are the food you probably think are best for eye health. In fact, there are many foods that are healthy for your eyes. Foods that are rich in vitamin C, vitamin E, lutein, zeaxanthin, zinc and the omega 3 fatty acids DHA and EPA are important for both the health of your eyes and your body in general. It is never to early to maintain a healthy diet!
Eating a diet with these vitamins and nutrients may decrease your chances of developing or worsened age related macular degeneration, cataracts and dry eyes. It is still important to maintain regular comprehensive eye examinations to check the health of your eyes even if you maintain a healthy diet. Dr. Cindy Wang and I can evaluate your eye health and check you for all eye diseases.
AREDS 2
AREDS stands for the Age-Related Eye Disease Study. This was a large study that showed specific vitamins can delay or reduce the risk of developing advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
The AREDS formulation includes:
- 500 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C
- 400 international units of vitamin E
- 15 mg beta-carotene
- 80 mg zinc as zinc oxide
- 2 mg copper as cupric oxide
Taking these vitamins can reduce your risk of developing advanced AMD by about 25% over 5 years. These vitamins are typically recommended in patients with either intermediate or advanced AMD. You can continue your multivitamin if you are taking AREDS vitamins.
These vitamins were not shown to prevent you from developing early AMD. It is not possible to get enough of the vitamins in your diet if you have intermediate or advanced AMD. If you are taking AREDS vitamins, it is important that you make your primary care doctor aware to ensure it is not interacting with other medications you are on.
Alaina Kronenberg, M.D.
Cataract Specialist
Comprehensive Ophthalmologist
Dearborn, Michigan 48126
