Eating for your eyes...

This week is World Retina Week, a week which aims to create awareness on measures one can take to protect and save their vision.

As always, nutrition is at the heart of every health issue and so today we highlight foods one can consume for increased eye health.

These are: vitamins A, C and E; omega 3 and omega 6 essential fatty acids as well as zinc.

Vitamin A protects the eye surface (cornea) and keeps it well lubricated, which protects it from infection. It also helps reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration.

Good sources of this vitamin include carrots, sweet potatoes, beef liver, eggs (yolk), oily fish, amaranth leaves and other green vegetables such as spinach and kale, as well as brightly-coloured fruits and vegetables including tomatoes, watermelons, oranges and squash.

Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps prevent cataracts as well as reduces the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration. This vitamin is found in vegetables and fruits, mostly citrus fruits.

Vitamin E is another antioxidant and can be found in nuts, avocados and other fortified cereals. It protects the eye from damage caused by free radicals.

Zinc is an essential mineral in eye health tasked with bringing vitamin A from the liver to the eye for production of melanin, which is a protective pigment that keeps damage and infections away from the eyes.

This mineral is available in nuts and seeds including pumpkin, sesame (locally known as simsim), sunflower seeds as well as fortified cereals.

Omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids are also beneficial to eye health since they promote proper visual development and retinal function. Sources of the oils include oily fish like sardines and salmon, sunflower oil, safflower oil, corn oil and soybean oil.