HEALTH CARE-BETTER EYESIGHT MADE POSSIBLE WITH SOME SALT REDUCTION TIPS

HEALTH CARE- BETTER EYESIGHT MADE POSSIBLE WITH SOME SALT REDUCTION TIPS

Better eyesight is possible by eating the right healthy foods and practicing eye relaxation techniques to reduce eye strain. Additionally, our eyes do consist of muscles that require exercise to keep the visual system in good shape. However, one important aspect of eye health that is often overlooked that is also of great importance lies in reducing our salt intake. This is due to the fact that excessive salt in our diet can have a negative effect on our eyesight. There are certain foods, condiments and seasonings that can increase our sodium consumption to unhealthy levels. This can cause an increase in our blood pressure levels which in turn can negatively affect our eyesight. While the recommended daily allowance for sodium is less than about 2400 mg of salt per day, but the consumption of sodium by majority of us per day well exceeds 3000 mg a day and even well above this point. Therefore, if we are concerned about the negative effects of salt intake on the eyes, and what we can do to reduce our sodium levels, here are some tips that will help us to accomplish that goal.

In the meanwhile, let us recall here, some of the negative effects of excessive salt intake on the eyes. Excessive salt intake in our diet can lead to high blood pressure. This can lead to high pressure in the eyes associated with symptoms such as puffy eyes, eye strain, blurry eyesight, dry eye, dark circles and eye bags etc. These consistently high levels of sodium associated with high pressure levels in the eyes, can actually harm the optic nerve, and if uncorrected for an extended period of time, may  result in Glaucoma or even in some cases vision loss.

Consistently high levels of sodium in our diet also increase the risk for Cataracts. There has actually been an established link between Cataract formation and a high sodium content. Studies suggests that Asian countries such as China and Japan that have the highest consumption of sodium intake in the world, have also recorded the highest rates of the eye condition of shortsightedness.

SOME NUTRITIONAL TIPS TO REDUCE OUR SODIUM INTAKE:

Be an informed and Knowledgeable Consumer: About 75% of the sodium we consume comes from processed foods and restaurant foods. High sodium content can be found in foods such as breads, soups, fast foods, and prepared dinners such as pasta. In terms of meats, we can choose fresh meats as it consists of a lower content in sodium than bacon, hot dogs, sausage or ham. For a food product to qualify as sodium free it should not contain more than 5 mg of sodium per serving. For it to qualify as a low sodium food item is should contain no more than 140 mg of sodium per serving. At the restaurants, we have to go through the nutrition information from restaurant menus and let the server know that we would like our meal prepared with no sodium. 

READING FOOD LABELS: 

We can select healthier food choices by reading food labels carefully and choosing the food products with the lowest amount of sodium per serving.

Substituting Salt for Healthy Herbs and Spices To Add Food Flavor: As a substitute for salt instead we can replace it with natural herbs, onions, spices, garlic, vinegar and cayenne pepper to replace some or all of the salt that we would have added to flavor our foods.

  

Adding Foods Rich in Potassium to our Diet: Foods such as bananas, Leafy vegetables, sweet potatoes, kidney beans, yogurt, white beans, tomatoes and greens are good sources of Potassium. This nutrient has nutritional properties to reduce blood pressure which lowers the effects of sodium on the body.

Reducing our Consumption of High Sodium Condiments: We have to reduce our intake of condiments such as soy sauce, dressings, sauces, dips, ketchup, mustard and relish which are high in sodium.

Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables: Fruits and vegetables consists of vitamins, minerals and important antioxidants that will not only improve our eyesight, and our eye health, but they also have a far much lower sodium content than other foods.

When caring for our vision health, in addition to the proper nutrition and eye exercises, one specific aspect of eye health we can not neglect is reducing our salt intake. Even though this may seem like a difficult undertaking, considering the negative effects of hypertension on the heart and eyes, by following this tip we can reduce or eliminate these repercussions. Ultimately, by following this tip we will make a difference in protecting and preserving our precious eyesight in the long run.

Apart from eye exercises that improve eyesight with people searching for natural alternatives to glasses, contact lenses and laser surgery, reducing our salt intake is just one more healthy habit that helps us to improve our precious eyesight to a considerable extent. Therefore, let us put this tip in to practice for vision improvement with natural techniques involving nutrition and eye exercises.