Earlier this month I was asked if I could speak with some of the elders at the Hadhari Project on Burton Road, Derby. It’s just a short hop from us and had been a while since we went out to share our wisdom, so we jumped at the invitation to work with our local community.
We were asked by Joyce, the manager at The Hadhari Project to talk about nutrition and food to benefit eye health. We had an informal chat about eye health, eye conditions and various vitamins and minerals required to support good eye health.
We arrived at the Hadhari Project and set up, we had taken a selection of eye drops and eye health supplements, some leaflets about our BlephEx treatment, AMD and nutrition and a lovely booklet Emma had made specifically for the talk.
To start I talked about common eye conditions such as Glaucoma, Diabetes, AMD and dry eye and how these may affect your vision. Many of the elders had heard of these conditions, with some having them themselves.
As nutrition and food was the main focus of the presentation, we talked about the different nutrients within food that are beneficial to eye health and what they do for your eyes.
Vitamins A, C and E as well as zinc and beta-carotene are high on the list of great vitamins for eye health and I found out that the wonderful goji berry contains ALL of these in one fabulous red morsel!
We talked about omega 3 for oil production for a healthy tear film and ocular tissues and also touched on non-fish sources like linseed, flaxseed and almonds.
Emma and I made 2 delicious smoothies each packed with many of the nutrients needs for good eye health. The information booklet that Emma produced contains some suggested recipes to help put the words into action and included one of the smoothie recipes we made.
I have to say how fulfilling it was to reach out and share information and to be on hand for questions and answers in a local community setting. Making an impact on someone’s day whether it be through knowledge or guidance is something I am grateful to be able to share.
Top tips on eye health:
- Eat berries: ALL berries contain vitamin A to some degree: Reach for the goji berry for a guaranteed vitamin boost. Add it on top of your porridge or into a smoothie or just snack on them if you like them!
- Get good oils from oily fish, high quality omega 3 supplements. If you prefer plant based sources go for flaxseed, linseed or almonds.
- Lutein and zeaxanthin are paramount for macular health: get them in spinach and kale as well as egg yolks and courgettes.
To start I talked about common eye conditions such as Glaucoma, Diabetes, AMD and dry eye and how these may affect your vision. Many of the elders had heard of these conditions, with some having them themselves.
As nutrition and food was the main focus of the presentation, we talked about the different nutrients within food that are beneficial to eye health and what they do for your eyes.
Download the booklet for some recipes and information on nutrition and eye health.
