Our bodies and our health rely heavily on proper nutrition as you can tell there are many diets put in place for different parts of the body. For example there is a diet for the heart, the brain and even specific diets for bone health. Like the heart, brain and bones, our eyes, too, require proper nutrition in order to maintain proper vision.
A new study has uncovered the best type of foods to consume in order to maintain proper vision health. Furthermore, these foods can help reduce your risk of glaucoma – an eye condition which causes blindness – by up to 20 percent.
Green leafy vegetables help reduce the risk of glaucoma
A new study suggests that consuming green leafy vegetables regularly can reduce the risk of glaucoma by 20 percent. Study leader Jae Kang said, “We found those consuming the most green leafy vegetables had a 20 to 30 percent lower risk of glaucoma.”
When fluid increases within parts of the eye this causes pressure which in turn damages the optic nerve thus contributing to vision loss.
Kang and his team followed 64,000 participants between 1984 and 2012 and another 41,000 participants between 1986 and 2014. None of the participants had glaucoma at the beginning of the study.
After a 25 year follow-up, 1,500 participants developed glaucoma. Researchers then analyzed consumption of green leafy vegetables among the participants. Participants were divided into five groups based on their green leafy vegetable consumption. In the higher consumption groups participants averaged 1.5 servings a day and the lowest was one serving every three days.
Kang added, “In glaucoma, we think there is an impairment of blood flow to the optic nerve. And an important factor that regulates blood flow to the eye is a substance called nitric oxide. When you consume the higher amount of green leafy vegetables, you have greater levels of nitric oxide in your body.”
By now you probably know the importance of vegetables, in particular, green leafy vegetables into your diet for overall good health. This is just another study which stresses the importance of consuming green leafy vegetables on a regular basis in order to maintain vision health.