Fruits and Vegetables: Protecting Your Eyesight with Nutrition

Eating a diet abundant in fruits and vegetables not only supports overall health but also plays a crucial role in maintaining optimal vision. While the popular notion of carrots improving night vision is well-known, there's more to the story.

Beyond carrots, numerous fruits and vegetables contribute to eye health by mitigating the risk of common age-related eye diseases such as cataracts and macular degeneration, prevalent among older adults in the United States.

Cataracts, characterized by the gradual clouding of the eye's lens, impede vision by obstructing light passage onto the retina. Similarly, macular degeneration, marked by damage to the macula—the retina's central portion—initially manifests as a blurred central spot in one's field of vision, progressively shrinking vision over time.

The damage leading to these conditions is often caused by free radicals, which originate from various sources including sunlight, smoke, pollution, infections, and metabolic processes.

However, certain fruits and vegetables, particularly dark green leafy varieties, offer protection through their rich content of lutein and zeaxanthin—pigments known to accumulate in the eye and neutralize free radicals before they harm sensitive ocular tissues.

Recent studies further reinforce the importance of a diet abundant in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in reducing the likelihood of developing cataracts or macular degeneration, highlighting the significant role nutrition plays in preserving lifelong visual health.
Fruits and Vegetables: Protecting Your Eyesight with Nutrition

Fruits and vegetables influence cell growth in Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)

The prostate lies underneath the bladder and surrounds the tube which men pass urine and semen through (urethra). Overgrowth of this gland’s cells as a man ages constricts the urethra and results in problems in passing urine. Constriction of the urethra causes urgency, a weak stream, dribbling, hesitancy, and frequent urination during the day and at night. The condition is called “benign prostatic hyperplasia,” abbreviated BPH. An enlarged prostate is common in men after the age of about 50.

Eating more fruit and fibre will help to avoid constipation, which can put pressure on the bladder and worsen symptoms of an enlarged prostate.

Fruits and vegetable contain high levels of antioxidants such as beta-carotene, anthocyanins, flavonoids, lutein, lycopene, selenium, vitamin C, A, and E, etc that may play important roles in altering inflammatory pathways and influencing cell growth and differentiation associated with the pathogenesis of BPH.

Lutein, an important phyto-chemical found in kiwifruit, has been linked to the prevention of prostate and lung cancer. Among the best fruits and vegetables to support prostate healths are:
• Argula
• Berries (e.g., blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)
• Bok choy
• Broccoflower
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Chinese cabbage
• Citrus (e.g., oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes)
• Collard greens
• Daikon
• Horseradish
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Mushrooms
• Mustard greens
• Pomegranate
• Radish
• Rutabaga
• Tatsoi
• Tomatoes
• Turnip
Fruits and vegetables influence cell growth in Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)

Antioxidants in fruits and vegetables

There is strong supporting epidemiological evidence and a plausible scientific rationale for increasing intake of antioxidants from food as an effective means of prolong healthy life. Higher intake of fruits and vegetables can achieve this.

The benefits of consuming generous servings of fruits and vegetables on a daily basis have been clearly established.

Fruits and vegetables significantly increase blood levels of antioxidant vitamins (beta –carotene and vitamins C and E) and folate and reduce the level of homcysteine as well as reduce concentrations of various markers that are elevated during oxidative stress, such as malondialdehyde (a marker of lipid peroxidation) and 8-hydroxyguanosine (a marker of DNA oxidation).

 Antioxidants help protect against free radicals. No matter how healthy a lifestyle human live, they are still exposed to free radicals from air, water and food pollutants. They also can be produced from infection and inflammation.

Free radicals are formed in one-electron reactions by transition metals, ionizing radiation or endogenous enzymes such as xanthine oxidase and nitric oxide synthase.

Fruits and vegetables contain many natural primary (scavenging) or secondary (chelating) antioxidants that might directly prevent radical-induced damage to cellular structures including DNA.
Antioxidants in fruits and vegetables