More Antioxidant Nutrition Tips For Your Eyes
Yesterday (January 12) we looked at the role of antioxidant nutrition in eye health. Here’s some more about specific antioxidants that are important for macular degeneration symptoms.
Are you getting enough Vitamin C?
Vitamin C is not made or stored in the body. It is essential every day to eat vitamin C-rich foods - citrus fruits, berries, green vegetables and new potatoes - &/or take a quality vitamin C supplement in powder form or in a multivitamin or formula. 500 mg a day is recommended for macular degeneration symptoms.
Vitamin C is needed for immune, adrenal and antioxidant functions, for repair of connective tissue and for removing toxins from the body.
Vitamin E prevents cell membrane damage. It’s fat-soluble but not stored for long in the body so it too needs to be taken every day. Vitamin E (tocopherol) is found in oils and nuts. AREDS, the Age Related Eye Disease Study, recommends 400 IU daily.
Co-enzyme Q10 (ubiquinone) is an important fat-soluble antioxidant, necessary in every living cell. It’s quite expensive as a supplement, but well worth taking.
The trace mineral Selenium has antioxidant properties and is critical in activating other processes for health. We need 70 mcg a day, though many experts recommend 200 mcg. Selenium can be found in seafood, yeast, Brazil nuts, broccoli, whole grains, garlic and onions. But if there’s no or low selenium in soils where foods are grown, it won’t be in those foods either. This means that most Americans and Australians are deficient in selenium, and also in manganese and zinc.
Some plant extracts are rich in antioxidant compounds. Grape seed, bilberry fruit and gingko leaves rate highly. Green tea is also popular … and a study carried out at Cornell University might cheer you: it says that dark chocolate, or a cup of hot cocoa, is even higher in antioxidants than green tea or black tea, or even that health-enhancing glass of red wine.
Look for these special antioxidants for the health of your eyes, and make sure you eat or take a variety of nutrients for best antioxidant nutrition.
Support your healthy diet with a supplement specifically for macular degeneration symptoms and eye health.
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