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Can Raw Smoothies Improve Eye Health? December 09 2013

Brightly colored fruits and vegetables make delicious smoothies and also contribute to healthy eyes.  Vitamins in these raw foods can protect against such conditions as night blindness, eye infections, and degenerative eye diseases. Although supplements are plentiful and widely marketed, health professionals stress the importance of a good diet. Making raw smoothies with your high performance blender is one way to give your diet a boost while taking care of your vision.

Seeing Better with Vitamin A

Children and pregnant and lactating women who have a vitamin A deficiency are at a risk for blindness. In fact, night blindness is the first symptom of an eye disease that may be linked to insufficient vitamin A in the diet.  This vitamin nourishes cells in the retina that are responsible for creating nerve impulses triggered by light.  Vitamin A also helps to relieve dry eyes and can guard against glaucoma.   Look for yellow, orange, red and green vegetables and fruits for good sources of vitamin A.  Examples include:  spinach, pumpkin, kale, collard greens, cantaloupe, and apricot. Vitamin A is a fat-soluble nutrient and will build up in the body.  It is important to get enough, but not to get too much of this vitamin.  The recommended daily intake for girls who are more than 10 years of age and women is 800 mcg; boys older than 10 and men should take 1,000 mcg a day.

Vitamin D Lowers Risks

Vitamin D in sufficient amounts lowers the risk of eye infections as well as protecting overall immunity and helping you maintain good vision.  Most recently, studies published in leading ophthalmology journals show a link between vitamin D deficiency and an increased risk of macular degeneration, a progressive disease resulting in blindness. Fortified juices, daily milk and almond milk are good sources of vitamin D and can easily be used in your smoothies and sauces. Daily requirements of this fat-soluble vitamin vary by age.  Those below age 50 should consume 200 IU, men and women between 51 and 70 need 400 IU, and those older than 70 require 600 IU.

Vitamin E and Your Immunity

Vitamin E is an antioxidant and can be found in sweet potatoes and nuts, as well as vitamin-fortified cereals and peanut butter.  It helps the immune system and plays a role in reducing the risk of blindness in later years. Foods that are good sources of vitamin E include kiwi, avocado, peach, pumpkin, and papaya.  All can be used found in soup, smoothie or sauce recipes. Vitamin E, which is also a fat-soluble vitamin, must come from either supplements or diet because the body cannot manufacture it through any biological function.  The recommended daily requirement for vitamin E is 22 IU for men and women.  Women who are lactating need 28.5 IU every day, and children between the ages of 4 and 8 require 10.5 IU.

Vitamin C: The Other Antioxidant

Many nutritionists and medical professionals consider this vitamin a good source for making overall immunity stronger.  It is also thought to improve eye health because it can protect against eye infections.  Other advantages are said to include antioxidant and anticarcinogenic properties. Among the raw fruits and vegetables high in vitamin C are peas, strawberries, oranges, kale, broccoli, carrot, apricot, papaya and collard green. The recommended daily dosage of this water-soluble vitamin is 75 mg for women and 65 mg for men

Eye Support with Lutein and Zeaxanthin

Colorful vegetables contain these two important substances, which are referred to as xanthophylls.  Both lutein and zeaxanthin are present at high levels in the human eye. Specifically, these compounds are found in the macula and provide an antioxidant benefits that keep the cells in the eyes healthy. Zeaxanthin can protect the photoreceptors in the eye as well as the retina and macula.  Some studies *** indicate that these two substances play a larger role in reducing the incidence of macular degeneration than vitamins E or C.  Studies suggest *** that adults should eat foods that contain 6 mg of lutein and zeaxanthin a day. If you are in the habit of making raw smoothies with richly colored fruits and vegetables, the changes are good that you are giving your body the right amount of vitamins and other nutrients for optimal eye health.  Rather than seeking out supplements and researching to find credible manufacturers, it is far easier to make smoothies using some of the colorful fruits, vegetables along with fortified milk or juices.

 

References ***

www.mdsupport.org

http://www.luteininfo.com

 

(C) 2013 OmniBlender.COM LLC

 


Vitamin D and Macular Degeneration Risk December 05 2013

Can Vitamins and Antioxidants Improve Eye Health?

 

After recently released study results, doctors are beginning to pay attention to their patients’ vitamin D levels and ask them more questions about eye health. Researchers are finding that when vitamin D as well as other vitamins, minerals and foods rich in antioxidants are present in sufficient amounts, the risk of blindness is reduced. Smoothies made with ingredients for proper nutrition can keep your eyes healthy in later years.

The two main causes of blindness in the elderly are age-related macular degeneration and cataracts. Studies published by the Archives of Ophthalmology and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed a link between nutrients and eye health.

 

Antioxidants and Protection Against Cataracts 

A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye and can result in blindness if not treated. Current medical technology allows those with cataracts to undergo an operation that removes the clouded lens and replaces it with an artificial one.

Although surgery procedures have become routine and most people with cataracts can be treated on an outpatient basis, it is better to take steps to reduce the risk of getting them in the first place. One study that was published in June 2008 by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that the combination of antioxidants lessened the cataract risks of 2,400 older adult subjects. 

Fruits and vegetables have been rated on the degree to which they function as an effective antioxidant.  The standard measurement is called the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), and the chart below lists raw fruits and vegetables that have a high ORAC score (see below). All of these foods can be used to make raw smoothies, soups or sauces in your high performance blender.

 

Fruits

Vegetables

Blueberries

Beets

Strawberries

Spinach

Cranberries

Red bell pepper

Acai

Kale

Raisins

Onions

Dark grapes

Eggplant

 

 

The macula is the central point of vision in the retina.  Macular degeneration is a progressive disease characterized by a dying off of light sensing cells, which eventually results in blindness. There is no medical treatment available that will reverse the disease process of macular degeneration at this time.  Of the men and women in the United States who are 40 years old or older, 15 million are said to have some degree of age-related macular degeneration.  

One study conducted by the University of Buffalo’s School of Public Health*** found that women younger than 75 with above average vitamin D levels had a decreased risk for age-related macular degeneration.   The recommended daily allowance of vitamin D is 400 IU up to age 18, 800 IU for ages 19 through 50, and 1200 IU for those over 50 years of age.   

Unlike the water-soluble B and C vitamins, vitamin D is fat-soluble and can collect in the liver and tissues. While the skin when exposed to sunlight absorbs some amount of vitamin D, this method alone will probably not provide the recommended daily dosages. Dietary adjustments need to be made to reach the recommended allowance.

You can find out what whether your vitamin D intake is sufficient through a simple blood test. Many lab forms used by doctors to order these tests include a place to indicate that vitamin D assessment is necessary. Doctors consider that someone with less than 30 nanomoles of vitamin D per liter of serum is deficient.  

If you want to increase your intake of vitamin D to protect your eyes, try including these foods in your diet: canned tuna, herring, salmon, dairy milk, almond milk, orange juice with vitamins added, and fortified cereals. Follow smoothie recipes that use milk or orange juice and whip up a few in your smoothie blender each day to increase your vitamin D level.

A healthy diet throughout life that includes raw fruits and vegetables can keep you seeing clearly in your older years. The antioxidant benefits of berries together with the vitamin D advantages of dairy milk or fortified orange juice is a recipe for delicious smoothies and healthy eyes.

 

Reference***

http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/macular-degeneration/news/20110411/vitamin-d-levels-may-affect-macular-degeneration-risk

 

(C) 2013 OmniBlender.COM LLC