Move over carrots, there’s another food that’s important for eye health… seafood!
It’s no secret that we are all about seafood here at Dish on Fish, for both its amazing flavor and its tremendous health benefits. Nutrients in seafood like vitamin A and omega-3 fatty acids help promote eye health at all life stages, from infancy to later adult years. In fact, more than half of the retina is comprised of omega-3 DHA.
Seafood is the premiere dietary source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in every cell in the body. Here is a sneak peak of how omega-3s from seafood keep our peepers seeing clearly.
- DHA: Docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, is an omega-3 fatty acid that is found naturally in in the retina, the part of the eye that receives and forms an image. Foods rich in DHA may help support vision development and retina health. Emerging research suggests that DHA may help protect eyes from age-related macular degeneration.
- EPA: Another essential omega-3 is eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). While DHA is found in high concentrations in the retina, EPA is critical for DHA production and, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), EPA helps greatly reduces the risk of inflammatory responses in the eye. Inflammation in the eye can lead to damaged eye tissue, which can lead to poor or impacted vision.
Omega-3s are so important to optimal eye health, that low levels of DHA and EPA have been associated with diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration and dry eye syndrome. This is good news for seafood lovers, because seafood—like salmon, sardines, mackerel and tuna—is rich in DHA and EPA.
Ready to start seeing more clearly? Give these recipes a try:
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