Eyes wide shut - healthy eyes

It's National Eye Health Week and Self-Care September peeps - we need to open our eyes and read the writing on the wall. I'm talking about the Optician's wall and why we all need to start staring at it.

We all go regularly to the dentist for check ups (yawn) otherwise we'd lose our pearly whites. So why aren't we applying the same self-care to our eyes and getting our peepers checked? 

sight tests

It's not just to check your vision and see if you need glasses or contact lenses. A sight test is a vital check on the health of the eyes and can detect eye conditions, some of which show no symptoms, avoiding sight loss.

A sight test can also detect other health conditions like high blood pressure, cholesterol or diabetes. It's once every 2 years people - let's get to it.

diet

What we eat affects our vision and studies have shown antioxidants can help to prevent retinal damage. One hugely beneficial antioxidant we need in our lives is lutein, found in...

Broad leaf greens such as kale and spinach
Brightly coloured fruit and veg such as corn, carrots, orange sweet peppers and oranges
Oily fish like salmon, tuna and mackerel
Broccoli
Eggs

Eat your greens

smoking

After ageing, smoking is the biggest risk factor for developing macular degeneration. It also increases your risk of developing cataracts - toss those ciggies in the bin - it's no longer the 80s!

The sun

Never look directly at the sun. You need to protect your eyes, all year round, by choosing sunglasses with 100% UV protection (UV400). Cumulative UV exposure can increase your risk of developing cataracts and macular degeneration.

Protecting your peepers never looked so good.

Jo