5 Easy Tips That Will Replenish And Keep Your Eyes Healthy By Dr Kausthub Desikachar

Your vision is the most quintessential of the five sense organs. Many say that eyes are a window to your soul and the world. How true it is! They empower us to gaze into the eyes of our loved ones and feel the world encircling us. Shockingly, we seem to ignore caring for our fragile and delicate eyes though our eyes are of help to us in several ways each and every day. After all, humans take the best things in life for granted. Isn’t it? How about taking some time out now? Dr Kausthub Desikachar says, let us switch gears and learn to practise good eye care habits to keep the eyes healthy. In this article, Kausthub shares some easy tips that will replenish and keep your eyes healthy. 

Most Common Eye Problems:

1. Diabetic retinopathy
2. Cataracts
3. Macular degeneration
4. Nearsightedness & Farsightedness
5. Glaucoma
6. Dry eyes
7. Floaters
8. Tearing
9. Eyestrain
10. Corneal Disease
11. Conjunctivitis
12. Colour blindness & Night blindness

Many factors can be a barrier to your eyes from feeling fresh, healthy and nourished! Overexposure to UV rays from the sun can lead to many eye problems. Other factors that negatively impact the eyes and make them unhealthy are age, excessive screen time, unhealthy eating, stressful lifestyle, smoking, lack of sleep, dust and genes.

Easy Tips That Will Replenish And Keep Your Eyes Healthy 

1.Eat A Balanced Diet

Optimal eye health begins with good food on your plate 🙂 This is a sure-shot mechanism for keeping your eyes healthy. Certain foods boost your eyesight, reverse the impact of your eye health due to unfavourable lifestyle and diet and ageing. 

• Eat foods rich in Vitamin A – vital for supporting your eyes’ light-sensing cells, also known as photoreceptors.
• Lutein and Zeaxanthin – natural sunblock, protection against harmful blue light, an excellent source for eye health
• Omega 3 Fatty Acids – prevent eye disease, essential for eye health
• Gamma-Linolenic Acid – reduce the symptoms of dry eyes
• Vitamin C – Vitamin C plays a protective role in your eyes
• Vitamin E – reduce the risk of age-related eye disease
• Zinc – adequate for visual sharpness

Fill your plates with:

• Spinach
• Kale
• Carrots
• Sweet potatoes
• Parsley
• Pistachio
• Sweet Corn
• Red Grapes
• Guava
• Broccoli
• Green Peas
• Citrus Fruits – Lemon, Oranges, Kiwis, Grapefruit
• Almonds
• Chia Seeds
• Sunflower Seeds
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Flax Seeds
• Peanuts
• Beans
• Beetroots
• Dates
• Legumes

Dr Kausthub Desikachar says a healthy, wholesome diet may prevent many chronic eye problems. Getting adequate of the nutrients every day listed above may help lessen your risk of eye problems and play a significant role in maintaining eye health. 

2.Quit Smoking

Smoking damages your optic nerve and endangers your eye to high levels of oxidative stress. Smoking, apart from being harmful to the lungs, affects your eye health and leads to cataracts and macular degeneration as well. Kausthub says though it might seem impossible and challenging in the beginning to quit smoking, the more you try, the more you get better at it and succeed. 

3.Wear Sunglasses

Sunglasses are a sure way to reflect in style. But, most of us forget that wearing the right pair of sunglasses can protect our eyes from the harmful ultraviolet rays. It is recommended to wear sunglasses the very moment you get out of your house until sunset. When you buy a pair of sunglass, don’t forget to choose a pair that blocks 99% to 100% of UVA and UVB rays.

4.Look Away From The Digital Screens, Give Your Eyes A Break

Dr Kausthub Desikachar says in this modern era, technology has made it hardly impossible for us to look away from digital screens like a computer, mobiles, tabs, TV, etc., Our jobs demand us to keep looking at the computer screen for hours together and then comes the mobile for our rescue from work stress. But did you know, these mesmerizing screens expose you to long-term digital eyestrain. This blue light that emits from the screen is easily transmitted to the retina and can affect your vision in the long run and cause premature ageing of the eyes. 

Researchers show that overexposure to blue light for an extended period can contribute to a lot of eye problems like:

• Eye Strain
• Discomfort in the eys
• Burning, Itchy Eyes
• Tired or Heavy feeling eyes
• Blurred or Double Vision
• Loss of Focus
• Head and Neck pain
• Macular Degeneration

Not just that, Blue light can also interrupt sleep patterns and circadian rhythms when you view screens close to bedtime. Also, it is essential not to use the digital screens in a dark environment as it strains and tires your eyes. 

Tips For Relief From Digital Eye Strain:

• Train yourself to blink more often when you use your computer. This will bring moisture to your eyes. 
• You should also use your device/s functionality to monitor screentime and remind you when spending extended time starring these devices.
• Excercise your eye with the 20-20-20 rule. An ophthalmologist suggests looking away from your screen every 20 minutes and fix your eyes on something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. By doing this, your eye muscle that helps you focus on something will feel relaxed.
• Adjust your display settings. Adjust the brightness of your display to the brightness of your surrounding. If you feel like you are stressing your eyes to read something, increase the text size.
• Consult your doctor to check if computer glasses can benefit you. 

5.Get A Goodnight’s Sleep

A good rest is so beneficial for the health of your eyes. Our eyes go through a lot during the day. It is essential to give them enough recovery time when we are asleep. When you don’t get adequate sleep and provide them with enough time to renew, your eyes feel dry, itchy and strained the next day. In the worst-case scenario, it can also burst blood vessels in the eye.

Dr Kausthub Deskachar Shares A Few Known Ayurvedic Tips To Replenish Your Eyes

1. Placing 2 slices of cold cucumber on your eyes for 15 – 20 minutes will ease and relax your eye muscles.
2. Dip cotton balls in pure or organic rose water and place them on your eyes for 15 – 20 minutes. It can relieve the burning sensation in your eyes caused by eyestrain. 
3. Trāțakā: Lit a candle or a lamp and meditate on the flame without blinking your eyes for 2 – 3 minutes until you become teary and your tears are cleared. This is an excellent exercise to overcome eye problems.
4. Applying one drop of castor oil on each eye before bedtime helps soothe your irritated, inflamed, itchy and dry eyes. Your eyes will feel nourished. 
5. Every time you wash your face, splash some cold water into your eyes.