How Living In A Digital World Impacts Your Vision – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 1
Today, we are living in a digital world where escaping your screen can seem impossible. Here are some concerns you need to know about regarding your vision.
Tag: vision
New Study: Blue Light May Accelerate Aging, Even When Not Looking At Your Screen
New research reports that blue light damages cells in the brain as well as retinas.To the researchers surprise, results also showed that light accelerated aging.
Could A Poor Diet Lead to Blindness? Here’s What Expert Are Saying
Photo by Miguel Andrade on Unsplash
A 14-year old boy in the UK went to his doctor and explained that he was tired. He was a “fussy eater” but was otherwise healthy and was not on any medication. He had a normal BMI and height, and no visible signs of malnutrition. Initial tests showed he was anemic (macrocytic anemia) and had low vitamin B12 levels, which were treated with B12 injections and dietary advice. So why is it that, one year later, hearing loss and vision symptoms had developed?
The Study
Published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, University of Bristol researchers set out to examine the case. By age 17, the patient’s vision had progressively worsened, to the point of blindness. Further investigation found the patient had vitamin B12 deficiency, low copper and selenium levels, a high zinc level, and markedly reduced vitamin D level and bone mineral density. “Since starting secondary school, the patient had consumed a limited and poor diet of chips, crisps, white bread, and some processed pork. By the time the patient’s condition was diagnosed, the patient had permanently impaired vision.”
Researchers concluded that the patients “junk food diet” and limited intake of nutritional vitamins and minerals resulted in the onset of nutritional optic neuropathy (NON). NON is a dysfunction of the optic nerve resulting from improper dietary content of certain nutrients essential for the normal functioning of the nerve fibers.
Dr Denize Atan, the study’s lead author and Consultant Senior Lecturer in Ophthalmology at Bristol Medical School and Clinical Lead for Neuro-ophthalmology at Bristol Eye Hospital, said: “Our vision has such an impact on quality of life, education, employment, social interactions, and mental health. This case highlights the impact of diet on visual and physical health, and the fact that calorie intake and BMI are not reliable indicators of nutritional status.”
Source: University of Bristol. “Poor diet can lead to blindness, case study shows.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 3 September 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190903091437.htm>.
Core Nutrition
Today, about half of all American adults have one or more chronic diseases, often related to poor diet. Dietary guidelines released by the USDA provides oversight into creating healthy eating patterns to maintain health and reduce the risk of disease. Here is a general overview of the guidelines. To view the full guidelines, please click here.
- Make half of your plat fruits and vegetables
- Make half of your grains whole grains
- move to low-fat or fat-free milk or yogurt
- Vary your protein routine
- Drink and eat less sodium, saturated fat and added sugars
To take your core base of nutrition to the next level, speak with an InVite® certified nutritionists about the vitamins and supplements you should be adding to your diet. The first that may be recommended is a superior Multivitamin.
We live in an increasingly polluted environment, loaded with toxins; the soil we grow our food in is often nutrient-depleted and many consume processed, factory-made foods supplying scant nutrients. Ironically, our bodies wind up requiring even more vitamins and minerals to effectively metabolize nutrient-depleted foods. Add that depletion with less time spent outdoors, minimal exercise, prescription drugs and medications, and chronic stress, and the result is that many individuals are truly nutritionally deficient. For these reasons, healthcare professionals are advising their patients to start taking a safe, reliably-made, high-quality multivitamin mineral formula on a daily basis to fill the nutritional deficits in their diet.
What do you think about this study? What are some ways your practice healthy eating to avoid following a poor diet? Leave us a comment below to join the conversation.
The Importance of Healthy Vision on National Video Games Day
Are you noticing that your eyes are feeling dry, sore or just uncomfortable after staring at your screen all day? We’ve got news for you! The blue light emitted from your devices can be harmful to your eyes.
Protect Your Eyes from Digital Strain with These Vision Nutrients
Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash Written by Luke Kornblatt In the age of modern technology, it has become almost impossible to avoid the constant exposure to the screens of electronic devices. Whether it be from a cell phone, a tablet, a computer, or a …
One Orange A Day for Healthy Vision
Photo by Stephanie Studer on Unsplash
It turns out, orange juice is more than just America’s favorite morning beverage! According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers say those who ate at least one orange a day during the study, reduced their risk of developing macular degeneration by 60% compared to those who didn’t. Drink up!
What is Macular Degeneration?
Macular degeneration is an incurable eye disease and is the leading cause of vision loss, effecting 10 millions Americans. It is caused by the deterioration of the central portion of the retina, the inside back layer of the eye that records the images we see and sends them via the optic nerve from the eye to the brain. The macula is responsible for focusing central vision in the eye.
When the macula of the eye deteriorates, the images are not received correctly, which can lead to wavy or blurred vision and even central vision being lost.
Vitamin C for Healthy Vision
Those plenty of foods contain vitamins and nutrients that benefit eye health, oranges seem to be the best. According to lead study author Bamini Gopinath, PhD, “Flavonoid are powerful antioxidants found in almost all fruits and vegetables, and they have important anti-inflammatory benefits for the immune system. We examined common foods that contain flavonoids such as tea, apples, red wine, and oranges. Significantly, the data did not show a relationship between other food sources protecting the eyes against the disease.”
Researchers concluded that even eating one orange a week correlated with significant benefits, due to its flavonoids.
How to Keep Your Vision Sharp
If you’re like just about everyone else in this digital world, you spend a majority of your day looking at a screen. Whether it is 8-hours at your office job or if you are one of the average Americans who look at your phone 76 times per day, it’s important for you to know that the blue light our screens emit can be harming our vision and eyes.
If you are experiencing blurred or double vision, fatigue, or reoccurring headaches, you may want to visit your optometrist. But there are some quick fixes you can do to support healthy vision.
- Limit your screen time. Even if you are stuck working on the computer all day, you can still take a few breaks every once in a while to give your eyes a rest. Make some coffee, hit the restroom to freshen up, or simply close your eyes for a minute to let them rest.
- Leafy greens are full of lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidant vital for vision health. Add a high-quality, non-GMO greens blend powder to your smoothie or eat more leafy greens throughout the day to rack up on their vision benefits.
- Get a good night’s rest. Put your phone away about an hour before you head to bed to, not only set your body up for a good night’s sleep, but also give your eyes some time to “cool down” from its hard day at work.