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Vitamin A Is Found In Fish

Do You Get Enough Antioxidants For Your Eyes?

Antioxidants can really help your eyes. Vitamin A is a powerful antioxidant that has a strong effect on the retina. Taking vitamin A can help improve night vision. The body converts vitamin A to retinol, which is stored in the liver. Zinc then liberates it from the liver and transports it to the eyes as needed. Vitamin A is found in fish, fish liver oil, eggs and liver.

Beta-carotene, a carotenoid, can be a substitute for vitamin A. Like vitamin A, beta-carotene is converted to retinol in the liver. Eye experts have discovered that taking a vitamin A supplement in combination with manganese can be helpful to people with glaucoma.

Beta-carotene is found in many different foods, such as sweet potatoes, carrots and apples. Other sources are butternut and hubbard squash, mangos, dandelion greens, kale, turnip greens, beet greens, red pepper, papaya, cantaloupe, swiss chard, apricots, bok-choy, mustard greens, collard greens, tomatoes, broccoli, nectarines, prunes, tangerines, asparagus, romaine lettuce, avocados, savoy cabbage, brussels sprouts, green peas, peaches, oranges, bananas and plantains.

Getting your vitamin A through natural sources gives you not only the benefit of the beta-carotene, but also carotenoids and a host of other compounds necessary for good health. Diabetics may not be able to convert beta-carotene into retinol and may need to take vitamin A in a fat-soluble form. Fat-soluble vitamin A is found in fish liver oil, eggs and liver. Vitamin A's effectiveness can be destroyed or weakened by air pollution, nitrates, nitrites (found in fertilizers), cooking and canning.

Carotenoids are a popular way to achieve eye health. Other carotenoids that help eye health are lutein, found in spinach, marigolds, sunflowers and kale, and lycopene, which is found in tomatoes.

Studies have shown that lutein can be helpful to prevent macular degeneration. Eating foods rich in lutein may protect the retina from oxidative damage which leads to degeneration of the macula. Good foods for lutein are kale, spinach, collard greens, broccoli, brussels sprouts, leaf lettuce, green peas and summer squash. Some foods containing a moderate amount of lutein include cabbage, marigold, carrots, corn, green beans, and tomatoes. You can also ingest lutein in its supplement form, either by itself or as included in a special eye therapy supplement. Be careful not to take lutein and beta-carotene at the same time because they compete for absorption in your intestines. Take beta-carotene at one part of the day and lutein at another. Both lutein and beta-carotene are more readily absorbed with a bit of fat.

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