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Eat balanced meals
The foods you eat every day can improve your eye health. Eating foods rich in vitamins A, C and E, beta-carotene, omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, zeaxanthin and zinc can help cellular growth, lower eye tissue inflammation and limit free radicals that can damage your eyes.
To get the right nutrients for your eyes, eat balanced meals by including some of these foods in your regular diet, as recommended by the AAO:
- Vitamin A and beta-carotene: Apricots, carrots, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, red pepper, ricotta cheese, mango.
- Vitamin C: Grapefruit, oranges, lemons, tangerines, peaches, strawberries, tomatoes, red bell pepper.
- Vitamin E: Avocados, almonds, peanut butter, wheat germ, sunflower seeds.
- Omega-3: Halibut, sardines, salmon, tuna, trout.
- Lutein and Zeaxanthin: Collards, broccoli, eggs, peas, kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, turnip greens.
- Zinc: Lima beans, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, lean red meats, oysters, fortified cereals, poultry.
Avoid rubbing your eyes
If you habitually rub your eyes, it could cause eye damage or infections. Dry eyes and eye strain can make you want to rub your eyes, and some may rub them too much or too hard. This can lead to issues such as reduced or blurry vision, headaches, inflammation, eye and light sensitivity. Another reason to avoid eye rubbing is that bacteria or viruses on your fingers or hands could lead to conjunctivitis, commonly called pink eye. Instead of rubbing your eyes, use eye drops or saline to clean your eyes and keep them moist. Resist the urge and find something else to keep your hands busy until you undo the habit.
Read more: 7 Home Remedies for Dry, Itchy Eyes
Wash your hands
You should always wash your hands before touching your face or eyes and handling contact lenses. Almost 45 million Americans wear contact lenses and around 1 in 3 wearers develop complications, with 1 in 5 infections from contact lenses causing corneal damage.
Plus, there’s no telling what kind of germs are on objects you touch after someone unknowingly contaminated them. Washing your hands regularly can lower your risk of respiratory illness by up to 21% and diarrheal illness by up to 40%, the CDC reports.
Take off your makeup
After a long day, the last thing you might think about is removing your eye makeup before you get into bed. Doing so benefits your eye health and can lower your risk of blepharitis or eyelid inflammation, according to the Optometrists Network.
You should also adopt good makeup practices that can save your skin and eyes, such as only using products made for eyes, replacing your makeup often (especially after an eye infection), not applying eye makeup in the inner lids and never sharing eye makeup with someone else. If you use brushes or sponges to apply eye makeup, wash them regularly.