Vision plays a huge role in human life. Literally, it is a window to the world.
But, unfortunately, over time, the clarity of vision decreases, and this happens for various reasons. Sometimes, due to everyday activities, a person does not attach importance to red eyes, itching, headaches, which are the first signs of eye fatigue. Thus it is rapidly falling. Therefore, it is so important to preserve it by following healthy habits, eating right, and doing eye exercises.
All over the world, a well-known theory is passed on from mouth to mouth that carrots improve vision. Does such a judgment make sense? Or maybe this isn't true? You can find out the answer in the article.
Carrots and eye health
It has long been believed that eating carrots promotes eye health and improves vision, especially night vision.
While there is some truth to this, the connection between carrots and vision comes from myth.
During World War II, Royal Air Force pilots pioneered the use of radar to target and shoot down enemy aircraft. To keep this new technology a secret, the pilots' visual accuracy - especially at night - was attributed to eating carrots.
This led to a long-running propaganda campaign that promoted carrots as a vision-improving food. This sugar-coated link between eating carrots and improved night vision continues today.
However, although carrots are not a magic food for the eyes, this vegetable does in fact contain certain compounds that are beneficial for your eyes.
Rich in antioxidants that are beneficial for eye health
Carrots are a rich source of beta-carotene and lutein, which are antioxidants that can help prevent eye damage caused by free radicals.
Free radicals are compounds that can lead to cell damage, aging, and chronic diseases, including eye disease, when their levels become too high (1).
Beta-carotene gives vegetables their red, orange and yellow colors and hues. Orange carrots are especially rich in beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A. Vitamin A deficiency can lead to night blindness, which can often be reversed by taking a vitamin A supplement (2, 3).
Vitamin A is essential for the formation of rhodopsin, a reddish-purple light-sensitive pigment in your eye cells that helps you see at night (4).
Your body absorbs and uses beta-carotene more efficiently when you eat cooked carrots rather than raw ones. Additionally, vitamin A and its precursors are fat-soluble, so eating carrots with a fat source improves absorption (5, 6, 7).
Yellow carrots contain the highest amount of lutein, which may help prevent age-related macular degeneration (macular degeneration), a condition in which your vision gradually deteriorates or is lost.
Diets rich in lutein may be particularly protective against macular degeneration (8, 9, 10, 11).
Summary:
Carrots are a good source of lutein and beta-carotene, which are eye-healthy antioxidants that can protect against age-related degenerative eye diseases. Your body converts beta-carotene into vitamin A, a nutrient that helps you see in the dark.
Folk remedy for preserving vision - “Brush” salad
To prepare this simple dish, you need to grate carrots, beets, and white cabbage in equal proportions and mix them. Important: all vegetables should be used only fresh! Next, add salt to the salad, season with olive or sunflower oil to taste and mix again. It's worth noting that oil helps improve nutrient absorption, so don't be afraid to add it even if you're on a diet. This simple dish in the daily diet has a beneficial effect on vision and removes toxins from the body.
MagazinLinz.ru team
Other beneficial properties of carrots
Carrots support eye health, but there are many other reasons to eat them. Most research focuses on the carotenoids they contain, including lutein, lycopene and beta-carotene.
Other beneficial properties of carrots include:
- Supports digestive tract health . Carrots are rich in fiber, which helps prevent constipation. One carrot contains about 2 grams of fiber, or 8% of the recommended daily intake (RDI). Eating carrots may also improve your gut flora (12, 13, 14).
- May reduce the risk of cancer . Fiber-rich foods such as carrots may help protect against colon cancer by aiding digestion. Additionally, some antioxidants in carrots have been shown to have antitumor effects (15, 16, 17, 18).
- Stabilizes blood sugar levels . Carrots have a low glycemic index (GI), meaning they don't cause big spikes in your blood sugar levels when you eat them. The fiber it contains also helps stabilize blood sugar levels (19, 20).
- Good for your heart . Red and orange carrots are rich in lycopene, a heart-protecting antioxidant. Carrots may also reduce risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol (21, 22, 23, 24).
- Protects your skin . Although the antioxidants beta-carotene and lycopene are not as effective as sunscreen, they can help protect your skin from sun damage (25).
- May help you lose weight . Carrots are low in calories and high in fiber. Eating it increases satiety, which can prevent overeating and promote weight loss (26).
Summary:
Apart from carrots' contribution to eye health, there are many reasons to consume this vegetable. It can benefit your digestive system, as well as your heart, skin and overall health.
Carrot tops for vision
Carrot tops consist of useful acids, vitamins and minerals: vitamins B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, D, E, iodine, iron, magnesium and sodium.
The tops are also used during diets. The greens are chopped and added to dishes as a seasoning. To rid the aboveground part of the plant of the bitter taste, 15 minutes. kept in boiling water. Carrot tops treat some diseases:
- allergies;
- avitaminosis;
- hypertension;
- urolithiasis;
- pathologies of the digestive tract.
But it is important to choose the dose of greens to avoid side effects. The above-ground part of the crop also copes well with impaired vision. If the carrot fruit only maintains eye health or protects, then the tops restore and maintain vision. Its addition to the diet helps cope with myopia and farsightedness.
Other Ways to Improve Eye Health
Eating carrots is not the only way to keep your eyes healthy and your vision sharp. Here are other strategies to improve your eye health:
- Use sun protection . Choose sunglasses that protect your eyes from 99-100% of UVA and UVB rays. Sun damage can lead to cataracts, macular degeneration, and pterygium (tissue growth above the whites of your eyes) (27).
- Limit your exposure to blue light . Extended exposure to TV, smartphone, or computer screens can lead to eye fatigue. At night, turn off screens or turn on a night light filter on your smartphone, as blue light can cause retinal damage (28).
- Physical exercise . Regular exercise is good for your eyes and waist. Lack of exercise increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and diabetic retinopathy, a condition that can impair your vision (29).
- Quit smoking . Tobacco smoke has been linked to vision loss, cataracts and macular degeneration. Smoking may also increase your risk of developing dry eye (30, 31, 32, 33).
- Aim for a balanced diet . EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids (such as fatty fish, flax seeds), vitamin C (such as citrus fruits, broccoli), vitamin E (such as nut oils) and zinc (such as meat, oysters and pumpkin seeds) are also beneficial for your eyes (34, 35, 36, 37).
- Eat dark leafy green vegetables . Green kale, spinach, and leafy greens contain high amounts of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, which support eye health (33).
- Get regular eye exams . The best way to know about the health of your eyes is to have them checked regularly by a specialist. Visiting an eye doctor or ophthalmologist is a good preventative habit.
Summary:
Eating a nutrient-rich diet, exercising, limiting television viewing and sitting on a computer or smartphone, quitting smoking, wearing sunglasses, and regular eye exams with an eye doctor are important habits for optimal eye health.
How many carrots should you eat to improve your eyesight?
Unfortunately, carrots will not cure myopia, farsightedness, or existing diseases. In fact, its regular use can reduce eye fatigue, increase visual acuity (especially in low light), reduce age-related deterioration, and the risk of cataract formation.
How much carrots should you eat to maintain eye health? The body needs carotene every day. To see normally, it is recommended to eat 200 g of carrots 3 times a week with sour cream or any vegetable oil. With increased physical activity, stress, and prolonged work at the computer, the rate of carotene consumption increases. To replenish it, you need to eat about 200 g of fresh carrots daily with any fat.
The norms are very approximate, because all people are different. Everyone has to choose a middle ground, eat a lot, but don’t overdo it. Excessive consumption will not improve eye health, but may worsen the overall health of the body (causing rashes in children, yellowing of the skin, nausea, vomiting, headaches).
Most often, carrots (fresh) are consumed in the form of a salad of grated vegetables with sour cream or vegetable oil; the addition of chopped nuts will be useful. But you can’t add sugar, it blocks the absorption of vitamins.
Boiled carrots also help improve vision. When properly prepared, it retains all vitamins and is easier to digest than raw vegetables. How and how long to cook it to preserve the nutrients? You need to cook the carrots covered with the skin for no more than 20 minutes over low heat. And even better in a double boiler.
Carrot juice perfectly nourishes the visual organs. For eye problems, it is recommended to take 1 glass of carrot juice daily on an empty stomach for 1 month (2 times a year).
Carrots are a very necessary product for vision. It should appear on your table regularly. And in what form - choose for yourself!
Summarize
- The idea that carrots promote eye health and good vision comes from myth, but that doesn't mean it's not true.
- This vegetable is especially rich in the antioxidants lutein and beta-carotene, which protect your eyes.
- Carrots can also help your digestion, heart, skin and overall health.
- If you want to keep your eyes healthy, you should also establish other healthy, vision-protective habits, such as exercising, wearing sunglasses, limiting screen time, eating a balanced diet, and not smoking.
Eye health, Carrots
In what form is it best to consume?
When choosing carrots, you should carefully look at the appearance of the root vegetable. The richer the color of the carrot, the smoother and more beautiful it is, the more useful elements it will contain. You can eat carrots in any form - boiled, raw, in the form of juices and purees. But like any other vegetable, carrots also lose some of their benefits when cooked. Therefore, if you want to get the maximum benefit, you should give preference to raw root vegetables.
Answering the question whether carrots improve vision, we can give an almost unambiguous answer: with severe visual impairment, the vegetable will not be able to restore at least a small part of its functions. However, if you regularly eat it, it is quite possible to reduce the risk of developing diseases, as well as prevent the worsening of existing conditions.
In some cases, color blindness can be cured
Color blindness, or color blindness, is an impairment in the ability to perceive colors correctly. The most common form of color blindness is impaired perception of red and green colors. In rare cases, achromatopsia occurs - black and white vision with a complete loss of color.
Color blindness is much more common among men than among women. According to a recent American study, approximately 5.6 percent of white boys living in the United States are color blind, while the figure is only 1.4 percent among black boys. Moreover, among girls the prevalence of color blindness is up to 0.5 percent, regardless of ethnicity.
Most often, color blindness is inherited. But it can also develop due to glaucoma, alcoholism, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, injury to the optic nerve, or taking a drug such as hydroxychloroquine (an antimalarial drug).
If color blindness is associated with a congenital pathology, then it cannot be cured. It is possible to correct color perception with the help of special glasses. There is also an isolated case of a microchip and a special antenna being implanted into the head. Thanks to them, a person with achromatopsia can “hear” colors.
Blueberry sorbet
Recipe for blueberry sorbet with mascarpone cheese.
500 g blueberries (can be frozen) 250 g mascarpone cheese 2 chilled egg whites 2 tbsp. spoons of sugar A small pinch of salt
How to make blueberry sorbet:
- Blend blueberries and sugar in a blender. Add mascarpone and mix. Transfer the mixture into a container and put it in the freezer.
- Beat the whites into a foam with a pinch of salt and carefully combine with the blueberry mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon from bottom to top.
- Place in the freezer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Serve blueberry sorbet in bowls, garnished with mint leaves.
Bon appetit!
Pupil reaction helps you find out what a person is thinking about
Pupil reaction parameters help assess a person’s condition: the pupils should be identical, round and responsive to light. Normally, the human pupil dilates not only under the influence of light, but also during orgasm, solving various problems, and also after taking certain medications. Due to changes in lighting, pupil size can vary by up to 8 mm. Emotions and thought processes can affect its size within 0.5 mm. But even this allows scientists to use this feature in various studies. Pupillometry is a research method in which changes in pupil size are recorded. It turned out, for example, that the size of the pupil increases in proportion to the difficulty of the task being solved and remains so until its completion. German neurophysiologists have found that the pupil signals the decision made by the brain even before we voice it.
In addition, the pupils react to those whom a person finds sexually attractive: American researchers presented men and women with images of other men and women and found that sexual orientation can be determined in this way. The pupils of heterosexual men reacted to female images and almost not to male ones, but the pupils of heterosexual women reacted equally often to both types of photographs.
Carrot salad with nuts
Salad recipe with carrots, nuts and parsley.
2 carrots A handful of walnuts A small bunch of parsley Sour cream 1 tbsp. spoon of olive oil
How to make carrot salad with nuts:
- Peel the carrots and grate.
- Add chopped parsley and nuts to the carrots.
- Season with sour cream and butter.
- To make this dish more festive, instead of parsley, you can cut oranges and tangerines, adding 1 tbsp. a spoonful of honey.
Bon appetit!
Eye transplantation is not yet possible
So far, doctors have learned to successfully transplant only the cornea, but there is no way to transplant the entire eyeball. The difficulty is that each eyeball is connected to the brain by approximately 1 million nerve fibers. When optic nerve fibers are cut and an eyeball is transplanted, they do not recover on their own, and doctors do not know how to reconstruct them artificially. Researchers are currently working to create a method to increase optic nerve regeneration, which will allow nerve fibers to grow from the donor eye to the recipient eye in the future.
People with blue eyes have the same ancestor
Eye color, or more precisely, the color of the iris, is determined by the amount of melanin. It is assumed that initially all people were brown-eyed. And recently, Danish scientists discovered a genetic mutation that appeared approximately 6-10 thousand years ago, which is the reason for the existence of blue-eyed people. Scientists believe that all blue-eyed people have the same ancestor, since they have the same genetic mutation.
Eye color is not just a feature of a person’s appearance. People with blue and blue-gray eyes have been found to have a 57 percent higher risk of developing melanoma than people with dark eyes. Green and gray irises increase the risk by 51 percent.