Your eyes are the windows to the world around you. However, what happens when the picture becomes blurry or unclear? The fact is that your brain devotes 30 percent of the cortex to visual processing, and as little as three percent to the other senses.
With this in mind, you can clearly see why it is so important to ensure optimum eye health. And, that overall brain health significantly impacts vision health. There are many factors that can affect your eyes, including diseases, injuries and even genetics.
In cases such as these, prevention is more effective than a cure.
There are many things that you can do at home, including lifestyle changes and various home remedies that will improve your overall eyesight. The fact is that as a person ages, so does their eyesight. It can decrease, usually gradually, but sometimes in a more expedited manner. While eye issues are more common in older adults, there are many children with problems, as well.
There are several traditional methods used to correct vision, including wearing corrective lenses, or having eye surgery. However, with a few natural home remedies, like eye exercises, eye vitamins, and general lifestyle changes, you can improve your eyesight.
Eye Exercises
The following eye exercises work to strengthen the eye muscles and maintain the flexibility of your eye lens in order to improve your vision. Some of the most popular exercises include:
Breathing Yoga Exercises: This will encourage conscious breathing. The point of this is to relax your body and close your eyes. This allows the muscles to relax. Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth for two minutes. When you finally open your eyes after two minutes, do not focus on anything. Repeat the exercise three times.
Blinking Exercises: Each time you blink you are soothing and moisturizing your eyes. This easy exercise can be done anywhere if your eyes are feeling weary or tired. Blink consistently for four to five seconds at a time for a period of two minutes.
Palming Exercises: These exercises were specifically designed to stimulate the various acupuncture points around your eyes. This aids in relaxing the muscles in and around your eyes and helping to calm the mind. To do this exercise, you should place your elbows on a flat surface in front of you with your left palm covering your left eye. Your fingers should be resting on your forehead. Do the same with your right eye and right palm. The palms should cup the eyes, but not put any pressure on them. You should do this exercise for three minutes at a time.
Diet
It is important to eat the proper diet to promote eye health. This includes the addition of certain vision-enhancing foods if you currently do not consume them:
Grapes: These will aid your night vision.
Carrots: Rich in beta-carotene, which is known for great vision, as well as vitamin A.
Fish: Fish is rich in DHA, which will provide support to the structure of the cell membranes in your eyes. DHA is also used for many different treatments for disorders such as macular degeneration, dry eyes and general treatment of eyesight.
Leafy Green Vegetables: These have nutrients that will help to protect your eye’s macula, due to their rich carotenoid content.
Garlic, Eggs and Onions: These also contain helpful antioxidants that are beneficial for the lens of your eyes.
Other Eyesight Enhancing Tips
The fact is that it is much smarter to prevent eye problems, rather than treat them after the problem is present. While eye exercises and a healthy diet are important to your overall eye health, there are other home remedies you can use that will help to naturally improve your eyesight. These include:
Minimize the extended period of time that you spend in front of the computer screen. Be sure to use our 10-10-10 rule while on the computer.
After every half hour of television watching, take a 10 minute break. This will provide a break for your eyes.
Try to look at objects far away when you take a break from the TV or computer screen.
When your eyes feel tired or worn out, try washing them with cold water.
When they feel extremely tired, close your eyes for a while to allow them to rest. The old saying is “take five to stay alive.”
Lifestyle Habits
When it comes to eye health, you must treat your eyes as any other system in your body.
This means providing them with exercise and the proper nutrients. However, these are not the only elements that aid proper eye health.
In addition to the tips listed here, you also need to ensure that you get plenty of sleep each night. Aim for at least seven hours each night to allow your eyes to fully rest and rejuvenate. If you do not get enough sleep, you may find that you have an abnormal amount of eye health issues.
Another important factor is to drink plenty of water. The body is composed of mainly water, meaning that you need to replenish it regularly. This will help provide moisture to clean out dust and debris from your eyes throughout the day.
Water is essential for all of the body’s functions, including proper and healthy eyesight. In most cases, drinking eight, eight-ounce glasses of water a day will provide enough moisture and water for your body.
However, if you live in a dry area, more is necessary to provide optimum eye health.
Taking care of your eyes is a life-long process. This includes preventing eye health issues and the need to resort to corrective lenses. There are thousands of success cases and studies that prove there are benefits of taking preventative measures at home. The home remedies and lifestyle changes here will make a huge difference in your overall eye health.
This post originally appeared on Rebuild Your Vision.