Nutrition and Eye Health – How Do Antioxidants Benefit Your Eye Health?
Your eyes are wonderful organs. Knowing how to care for your eyes can help to prevent cataracts, a clouding of the lens in your eyes that comes with aging. The best care you can give to your eyes is by helping your body to produce more of its master antioxidant Glutathione.
One study from the Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics showed that the cornea, lens, and retina area of the eye are especially sensitive to loss of antioxidant Glutathione, GSH.
Glutathione is your body's master antioxidant. All cells in our bodies use Glutathione.
Your eyes get exposed to a lot of oxidative stress and damage from UV radiation of sunlight. Glutathione is used directly by the lens of your eyes to deal with this daily stress.
Let's look at some major parts and functions of our eyes. Then let us see how the Antioxidant Glutathione can be the best nutrition for your eye health care.
Major parts and functions of the eye:
Your eye is like a very advanced camera. The function of eyes is to enable us to see things clearly at various distances and under various light conditions.
Different parts of your eyes work together in a complex way to achieve this important function. The following components of your eyes are especially susceptible to oxidative damage from sunlight.
1. Cornea
The cornea is the transparent front part of eye that covers the iris and pupil. The cornea passes light into the eye and helps your eye to focus.
2. Iris
The iris is the colored part of your eye. By making pupil larger or smaller, the iris helps to control the amount of light that enters the eye.
3. Pupil
The pupil is the dark opening in the middle of the iris. By changing size in response to the amount of light present, the pupil controls the amount of light that enters your eye.
4. Lens
The lens is the transparent part behind the iris. It helps focus light rays onto the retina.
5. Retina
The retina is the light sensitive, inner nerve layer of your eye. The retina is made up of light-sensitive cells known as cones and rods. These cells convert light into nerve signals, which are passed to your brain.
6. Macula
The macula is an oval yellow area in the retina. Macula contains the highest concentration of the special light sensitive cells called cones. The macula enable us to see small, fine details clearly.
Antioxidant Glutathione for Eye Health:
An article "Glutathione: A Vital Lens Antioxidant" from the Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics show that Glutathione (GSH) exists in an unusually high concentration in the lenses of our eyes.
GSH plays a vital role in maintaining the lens tissues' transparency. Glutathione detoxifies the potentially damaging oxidants with which our eyes come into contact.
The study also shows that the level of GSH in the nucleus of the lens is particularly low for older people. If preventive eye care is not taken, prolonged oxidizing damage can lead to cataracts.
If you are older than 20 years old, your body starts to produce less Antioxidant Glutathione each year as you age.
It's very important to consider an effective supplement to improve your Glutathione level for your eye health. [Unfortunately, the majority of the Glutathione supplements on the market are not effective.]
I encourage you to learn more about Glutathione and the many benefits and roles this multiple-purpose antioxidant plays for your eye health and other health areas.
You will come to appreciate how important Gluathione is for your eye health care.
Antioxidant Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and Alpha lipoic acid for Eye Health:
In the November 2006 issue of Breakthroughs in Health magazine, an article "Antioxidants May Prevent Vision Loss" interviews an eye health study done by scientists at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
They found that antioxidant vitamin E, vitamin C, and alpha lipoic acid are effective in fighting against age-related retinal and macular degeneration.
In that eye health study, Dr. Campochiaro says, "What's clear is the link between oxygen and photoreceptor damage, as well as the potential of antioxidant treatment."
Look for supplements that contain antioxidant vitamin C and Antioxidant alpha lipoic acid. Along with other essential nutrients, vitamin C and alpha lipoic acid can work synergistically to help your body improve your Glutathione level for eye health.