HOW TO BEAT EYE PROBLEMS: Eat these foods to boost your eyes (and no, we DON'T just mean carrots)

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There is little doubt that good diet plays a key role in eye health. Here, Sian Porter, a consultant dietitian, identifies the most important foods to include in your diet, and offers some ideas about you how to incorporate them with an appetising seven-day meal plan.

LEAFY GREENS

When it comes to your eyes, there’s no getting away from it: you have to eat up your greens.

That’s because they are rich in lutein, a nutrient important for eye health, found in the lens and retina. It’s thought it helps absorb damaging blue and ultraviolet light.

Kale is the richest source of lutein, containing 11.4 mg per 100 g. Though other foods such as oranges and eggs contain lutein, you would have to eat 41 oranges and 71 eggs to get the same amount of lutein as in one 80 g portion of kale.

Spinach is another excellent source, with 7.9 mg of lutein per 100 g.

Aim for 10 mg of lutein a day — a one portion of kale a day is enough. Slightly steam kale or spinach or eat spinach raw in salads.

COLOURFUL FRUIT & VEG

The retina needs vitamin A for night vision. Eat plenty of brightly coloured fruit and vegetables, such as carrots, sweet potato, mango and papaya, as these are a good source of beta- carotene, a nutrient the body converts into vitamin A. 

Vitamin A is also found in offal (but don’t have liver or liver products, such as pâté, more than once a week and avoid if pregnant), as well as cheese, eggs, oily fish, milk, yoghurt and fortified spreads.

The recommended daily intake — known as the nutrient reference value (NRV) — for vitamin A is 0.8 mg. You can get nearly half of this from 3 tbsp of carrot (one medium carrot); one large sweet potato provides around a quarter of your needs.

Orange and red peppers are also a good source of zeaxanthin, a pigment found in high concentrations in the retina and which is thought to help its healthy function.

TURKEY, SHELLFISH & SEEDS

Zinc is the only mineral that has an EU health claim — this means it’s been through a rigorous review of scientific evidence — saying that it supports eye health.

Good sources include lean meat, such as turkey, wholegrains and seeds, as well as crab, oysters and sardines.

The NRV for zinc is 10 mg. A 120 g tin of sardines provides 2.6 mg; a portion of wholewheat breakfast cereal, 0.7 mg; a handful of cashews, 2 mg; and a portion of turkey casserole, 3.4 mg.

PURPLE AND BLUEBERRIES

Bilberries, blueberries and blackberries contain a pigment that may protect retinal cells from damage caused by ageing and light and the damage caused by diabetes to the tiny blood vessels in the eye.

Research has shown the pigment may slow down the progression of age-related macular degeneration and cataracts, but more research is needed.

Try to include one serving of berries as part of your five a day — that’s two handfuls or 4 tbsp blueberries or ten blackberries.

OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS

These are also found in high concentrations in the retina and it’s thought that they’re needed for the normal function of the light- sensitive cells.

Make the effort to eat at least one portion a week of oily fish, such as salmon or fresh tuna — this will provide your daily needs over the week.

Sore eyes? Try these expert tips

The experts offer their advice on managing minor eye conditions.

DRY EYE

SYMPTOMS: The eye feels tired, gritty, hot and vision may be blurred.

‘Confusingly, your eye doesn’t always feel dry,’ says Ian Cameron, an Edinburgh optometrist. ‘In fact, your eyes can stream with tears, especially when you go outside as the wind causes the tears to evaporate more quickly.

‘This leads to the eye sensing it needs to produce more tears — this is your brain compensating for the dryness with a reflex action.’

The dryness is caused by problems with the quality and quantity of your tears. Your eyes need quite gloopy, syrupy tears to keep the eyeball moist and lubricated.

‘Sometimes environmental and hormonal problems can disrupt the quality of your tears — dry eye is common in post- menopausal women,’ says Ian Cameron.

Other causes include side-effects of medication for blood pressure, statins and antacids for indigestion.

‘These tend to affect the quantity of tears rather than the quality, though can affect both,’ he says.

TREATMENTS:

• Eye drops: ‘Use a preservative-free type to minimise the risk of irritation,’ says Francesca Marchetti of the College of Optometrists. Preservative-free brands include Hyabak (£10.49, youreyehealth.co.uk) and Murine Professional Advanced Dry Relief (£9.99 for 250 drops, from pharmacies). 
• Tranquileyes (£29.95, scopehealthcare.co.uk) uses specially designed goggles and reusable gel packs to soothe and hydrate the eyes.
• Wraparound sunglasses: They stop your eyes watering in the wind and cold.
• Try a supplement: ‘Optometrists rate borage oil as a supplement for dry eye,’ says Ms Marchetti. ‘It contains fatty acids, which can help lubricate mucous membranes in the body, including in the eye. 
• Omega 3, 6 and 7 supplements may be helpful, too — these help the glands near the eyelashes produce tears.’

WHEN TO SEEK HELP: ‘If your symptoms are more than mildly irritating or don’t go away with the over-the-counter remedies, then see your optometrist or GP,’ says Ian Cameron.

CONJUNCTIVITIS 

SYMPTOMS: Red and sore eye; eyelids may stick together with gunge. This is caused by infection of the conjunctivia, the clear layer of tissue that sits on top of the white of the eye and on the underside of the eyelids.

‘You normally don’t see the conjunctiva because it’s clear, but when it gets infected it goes red, hence the eyeball looks red,’ says Ian Cameron.

It accounts for 5 per cent of all GP consultations, says one study. There are several different types, but the most common is bacterial conjunctivitis. Others include viral conjunctivitis and allergic conjunctivitis (caused by pollen, dust mites and other allergens).

TREATMENTS: ‘Most types of bacterial conjunctivitis go away on their own within five to seven days,’ says Ian Cameron.

‘Keep the eye clean by bathing it in cool boiled water and do not share towels or flannels with others as it is highly infectious.’

Using antibacterial eye drops, available to buy over the counter, may help clear it slightly faster. Try chloramphenicol eye drop or ointments such as Golden Eye antibiotic drops (£4.95, Boots).

If you still have conjunctivitis after a week, it could be viral conjunctivitis, which typically lasts six to eight weeks (though it can last for more than a year).

There’s a risk the infection spreads to the cornea, the transparent outer layer and the pupil, causing scarring.

It can be treated with anti-viral drugs available on prescription from prescribing optometrists or your GP.

Allergic conjunctivitis is treated with eye drops for hay fever or antihistamine tablets, available from pharmacists.

WHEN TO SEEK HELP: ‘If the problem doesn’t resolve itself quickly (within five to seven days), the eye is painful or your vision is affected — for instance, it’s blurred — see an optometrist to get your eye examined with a slit lamp (a powerful magnifying microscope), which can reveal if it’s viral conjunctivitis,’ says Ian Cameron.

EYELID INFECTION 

SYMPTOMS: The edges of the eyelid become red and swollen and may feel itchy and sore; the eyelashes may become crusty and the eyelids stick together.

It can be hard to distinguish the symptoms from conjunctivitis. However, it’s the eyelids rather than the eyeball that are affected.

This is known as blepharitis and is typically caused by an infection of staphylococcus bacteria (one in five of us carries this on our skin) or complications of skin conditions such as rosacea (which leads to inflamed skin on the face) or dermatitis (dry or flaking skin).

Sometimes it can be a reaction to a build-up of mascara or eyeliner. It may also be caused by a build-up of the tiny mites that live on the eyelashes. These demodex mites feed on the oil produced at the base of your eyelashes and can cause irritation when their waste products go into the eye, causing inflammation.

An optometrist can remove them with specialised tweezers, but they are very hard to get rid of completely this way, says Ian Cameron.

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY, AND OTHER TIPS ON PURCHASING READING GLASSES

Once you hit 40, inevitably you’ll start to develop presbyopia, an age-related vision problem that makes it difficult to focus on things close up, affecting reading.

It occurs when the lens becomes stiffer — possibly as a result of protein build-up, though it may also be a sign the tiny muscles in the eye that bend and straighten the lens have become weaker.

Laser eye surgery cannot treat presbyopia. Many people opt for reading glasses, which you can buy for as little as £1 from chemists and supermarkets . The lens strength on the label refers to the magnification: the higher the number, the greater the magnification.

Try before you buy: a common problem is that shop damage means that the lenses may be slightly scratched or pitted.

Opt for versions that are fitted together with a screw rather than heat-welded as they are less liable to break.

TREATMENT: ‘Keeping your eyes clean is very important, so take care to remove eye make-up,’ says Ian Cameron.

If you have an eyelid infection, clean the area by adding a drop of baby shampoo to a pint of boiled water, allowing it to cool and then applying to the eyelid with cotton wool — avoiding the eye itself.

‘But special eyelid wipes are much better than the baby shampoo approach,’ says Ian Cameron.

‘They’re impregnated with sensitive cleaning agents that break down the debris really effectively and yet don’t irritate the eye.’

Try Blephaclean (£7.99 for 20 wipes, butterflies-eyecare.co.uk).

‘Applying a warm compress to your closed eyelid for five to ten minutes may also help by melting the oils built up in the glands in your eyelids, and it has a soothing effect.

‘You can use a clean cloth or flannel to do this, but there are also products that you heat up in the microwave.

‘These are easier to use because they retain heat for longer.’ (Eyebags, £20, from opticians and eyebagcompany.com)

WHEN TO SEEK HELP: If your blepharitis is caused by a bacterial infection, you may need antibacterial treatment. See a health professional if it hasn’t cleared in five to seven days.

STYES

SYMPTOMS: Lumps of pus from infected eyelash follicles. These are usually caused by a bacterial infection and will clear on their own in a few days without treatment, says Ian Cameron.

Sometimes, though, they are connected to blepharitis infections and the two will need to be treated together.

TREATMENT: ‘Applying a warm compress will encourage a stye to release pus and heal quicker, but never squeeze it,’ says Francesca Marchetti. ‘If it doesn’t get better in a few days or is tender, see a GP or your optometrist, who may decide to drain the pus.

‘The old wives’ remedy was to rub a stye with a wedding ring. This is thought to work because of the massaging element and the fact that gold retains heat.’