7 Tips to Protect Your Vision and Avoid Macular Degeneration

Macular degeneration is among the leading causes of vision loss. The disease deteriorates the macula in the retina. While it may not affect your peripheral vision, it can affect your central vision or what you see directly in front of you.


Fortunately, various preventative measures can protect your vision and avoid macular degeneration. Here are a few tips to help you.

Eat a Balanced Diet

What you eat plays a significant role in your eye health. A diet filled with vegetables and fruits can help protect your vision. Ideally, eat meals that have plenty of antioxidants that slow or prevent the damage caused by free radicals to your cells.

Eating foods that have antioxidants reduces oxidative stress. With macular degeneration, high oxygen consumption makes the retina vulnerable to oxidative stress. Studies show that people with macular degeneration get oxidative stress on their eyes and all over their bodies. The oxidative stress gradually injures the macula irreversibly and damages the strength of the body to remove the damaged cells in the eye.

You can benefit from eating foods such as:

• Carrots

• Pumpkin

• Pistachios

• Dark leafy greens such as spinach, kales, turnip greens, collard greens, Swiss chard, and mustard greens

• Green peas

• Romaine lettuce

• Asparagus

• Brussel sprouts

Wear UV Protection Sunglasses

Exposure to the sun can cause retinal damage that leads to macular degeneration. Wearing UV protection sunglasses every day can help protect your vision. It can prevent the development of macular degeneration. Ideally, wear a pair labeled UV 400.

Maintain a Healthy Weight and Blood Pressure and Quit Smoking

Hypertension can limit blood flow to the eyes due to poor blood circulation. As a result, it contributes to macular degeneration. Weight loss has proven to lower blood pressure.

Smoking is harmful to your eyes and body. Research shows that smoking has a link to increasing the risk for macular degeneration. The unstable molecules and dangerous free radicals from smoking lead to cellular damage. They also hinder nutrients from getting to the retina.

Take Supplements

Multivitamins are ideal for reducing the risk of severe macular degeneration. They help supplement a deficient diet. If you have a high chance of developing advanced macular degeneration, your doctor may prescribe a blend of supplements to help you.

Regular Comprehensive Eye Exams

Macular degeneration has no early warning signs. Regular comprehensive eye exams diagnose and treat the condition before it progresses. A baseline screening for the disease is essential for adults at the age of 40 with no risk factors or signs and symptoms. Adults at the age of 65 need to get examined every two years.

Exercise Regularly

Regular exercise helps maintain a healthy weight and maintain normal blood pressure. As a result, it helps reduce the risk of macular degeneration. Studies show that working out three times weekly reduces the risk of wet age-related macular degeneration by 70 percent. Physical activity reduces the odds of all stages of macular degeneration.

Test Yourself

You can use an Amsler grid to test yourself for macular degeneration at home. Call your doctor if you notice that your central vision becomes dark or the lines appear wavy after staring at the paper grid for some time. Ideally, keep the tool somewhere you can remember to test daily.

For more about avoiding macular degeneration, visit Okaloosa Eye Care at our office in Crestview, Florida. You can call (850) 608-0003 to book an appointment today.