In this guide you will find:
- Research backed by scientific studies to take care of your eyesight, specifically regarding screen-related fatigue.
- Natural tips and a selection of plants to keep your eyes healthy in the long term.
- Good vibes and a bit of humor.
You will not find:
- Advice from Grandma Solange, who also used to say, "Soup makes you grow, so have another spoonful."
- Improbable ingredients or impossible recipes using Himalayan cactus.
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Master Yoda's best tips for taking care of your eyes naturally (without any plants!)
Plants can provide you with the best nutrients to take care of your vision...
But it won't do any good to eat fennel seeds at every meal if you don't at least respect the fundamentals of taking care of your peepers, by following the advice of Master Yoda (who lived to be 900 years old with lynx-like eyes! Actually, the lynx has completely normal vision; it's a huge urban legend)
💧 You shall drink plenty of water:
- Nothing revolutionary, but drinking more water is the best advice you can follow, because we tend to drink less than the recommended amount. Drink a glass of water as soon as you wake up + a glass before/during/after every activity where you move your body + a glass with every meal.
- Install the Lifesum app. I tested it personally, and I almost doubled my water consumption overnight (even though I thought I was drinking enough).
- Tip: Keeping a water bottle next to your PC will help you drink more.
👀 A little eye exercise you shall perform:
- Here is a little exercise you can easily do every day: the 20-20-20 rule.
- Just look at something 20 feet away from you (about 6 meters) for 20 seconds. The rule states to repeat the exercise every 20 minutes, which can be a bit hard to follow, but if you integrate it into your routine (for example, when you reach for your water bottle), that's already great!
- You can even look out the window to get some sun at the same time (or even step out onto your balcony or terrace if you have one).
💻 The height of your screen you shall adjust:
- We aren't teaching you anything new, but if your screen isn't at eye level, you'll first have poor shoulder posture, and you'll be straining your eyes in a position that is far from optimal.
🕶 From blue light and glare you shall protect yourself (especially at the end of the day):
- This is the part of the ultra-intense light spectrum emitted by the LEDs of your screens. Turn off screens 1 hour before you go to bed and try to protect yourself with software or special filters (if possible, high-quality glasses), especially in the evening.
Learn more about glasses here
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The top 5 plants you absolutely must have in your cupboard.
Here is a list of natural foods with the best nutrients for your vision, without too much complexity.
To fight against eye aging, improve your health, protect your vision, and keep good eyesight, we recommend consuming the following once a day (on average):
Lutein with spinach
The vegetable that contains the most lutein is "kale." But let's admit that it's not the most common vegetable in market stalls, and we don't always have it in our fridge all year round.
We recommend spinach instead, especially since it is rich in iron, vitamin K, vitamin A (100g of spinach provides half of the recommended daily intake), vitamin C, and magnesium, making it a very interesting source of vitamins and minerals with numerous benefits. It is one of the vegetables richest in lutein.
Be careful, lutein is degraded by heat, but you will also get more in proportion with already cooked spinach (because there is less volume). Given the hassle of preparing spinach leaves, we recommend buying it frozen to make preparation easier. Note that lutein is better absorbed in the presence of fat, so you could, for example, eat it once a day with your scrambled eggs.
Alternatives: You will also find lutein in turnips and in nasturtium flower infusions.
Why lutein is good for your eye health according to ANSES:
- Lutein and zeaxanthin have antioxidant properties and filter blue light; they may thus prevent retinal degeneration.
- Daily dietary intakes of 6 mg of lutein and zeaxanthin are associated with a lower incidence of AMD and cataracts.
- 50% of the French population reportedly consumes less than 0.85 mg of lutein per day!
🔎 Sources:
- https://www.anses.fr/fr/system/files/NUT2002sa0105.pdf
- USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 21. Lutein + zeaxanthin (mcg) Content of Selected Foods per common Measure, sorted by nutrient content..
- USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory. Agricultural Research Service. Zeaxanthin Content of Selected U.S. Foods - 1998.
- Passeport Santé
- https://www.anses.fr/fr/system/files/NUT2002sa0105.pdf
Zinc with blueberries
Blueberries are one of the berries richest in anthocyanins—powerful antioxidants—and polyphenols. They support the proper functioning of the retina, notably by protecting its cells against oxidative stress. Their vitamin A and zinc content is excellent for your eyes, so don't deny yourself.
Since blueberries are difficult to find out of season, you can stock up in the summer and then freeze them to take out from time to time for a smoothie, or simply buy them frozen =)
Tip:
Don't take this paragraph as an excuse to down liters of Mont Blanc blueberry beer; alcohol is not good for your eyes (even if it's excellent!)
Green Tea for antioxidants
The benefits of green tea are very numerous. Consuming catechin could reduce the risk of eye diseases by protecting the eyes from deterioration caused by oxidation (reduction of oxidative stress) and preventing vision loss.
Green tea is rich in it, and what's more, it is easy to consume!
Our advice: replace your morning coffee with a green tea.
(the rest of the team is hard to convince)!
Prefer loose-leaf tea, organic if possible, by going directly to the tea shop closest to you (or online). The tea leaves will be much higher quality than those in supermarkets (better for you and your health)!
You can even find some that come with herbs, flowers, plants, or fruits, for a flavor better suited to your tastes.
For my part (Stéphane), I opted for green tea with mint, even though I often alternate with a Chai black tea in winter. Everything comes from Comptoir le T (a shop in Aix-les-Bains, but they also have their website). Dominique is a sommelier and he and his wife are in love with tea; you will make the right choice by ordering from them.
🔎 Sources:
Green tea contains catechins which belong to the family of antioxidants that includes vitamin C, vitamin E, lutein, and zeaxanthin and is well-known for its disease-fighting properties.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/179965#1 December 6, 2022
Alternative to green tea: Eyebright infusion
If you don't like green tea, or if it's a bit too strong for you, you can try an eyebright infusion. This plant is renowned for its properties for the eyes, but we haven't tested it on the team. Apparently, it has a strong and bitter taste; on paper, it doesn't sound very appealing! Let us know if you've tried it ;)
https://ileauxepices.com/thes-et-infusions/578-euphraise-officinale.html
Vitamin A (beta-carotene and retinol), with carrots.
Cod liver oil is undoubtedly the most famous [undoubtedly because we were all forced to eat those gross pills when we were little (that's my case...)]; duck or beef liver also contain a high dose!
However, it is not always easy to cook, not necessarily appreciated by everyone (even less so by vegetarians), and it's not a plant! But don't worry, vegetables contain plenty of it naturally, especially carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach (them again), and pumpkin.
Plus, you can easily cook them together, for example by making a carrot/pumpkin/sweet potato soup with cumin and herbs—a killer recipe, and it's perfect for taking care of your vision!
🔎 Sources:
https://www.passeportsante.net/fr/Nutrition/PalmaresNutriments/Fiche.aspx?doc=vitamine_a_nu
Nuts for Omega-3s
Omega-3s are easy to find in fish, especially salmon.
Since it's not always easy to consume daily, you can opt for a plant-based source that is easy to find: walnuts. This will make for a 10:00 AM or 4:00 PM snack that is nutritionally more interesting than a Kinder Bueno packed with sugar!
Note: Taking care of your eyesight with plants, remember:
- This list is not exhaustive; it can easily be supplemented based on your tastes and the season.
- Plants that are good for your vision do not mean that you will truly "improve" your sight. In reality, you will mainly be fighting against the degeneration of your eyes and retina and preserving them!
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Digital fatigue and the impact on our eyes
Let's be honest: after a long day of work processing your boss's emails, or after a few hours of Elden Ring, we have red eyes, blurred vision, a headache... In the long term, it's probably not great for your eyesight; you don't want to end up with the visual acuity of a mole.
But there you have it: gamer or professional, you are in front of a screen (phone, computer, tablet) more and more frequently (every day, admit it?) and for longer and longer (according to studies*, about 6 hours/day, or even more: on the team we're more around 10 hours, so we're not judging...).
Why do our eyes get dry in front of screens?
Digital fatigue, blue light, myopia epidemic: our eyes are increasingly tired and exposed to problems (and diseases):
- By 2050, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), half the population will be affected by myopia.
- And according to the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES):
"New scientific data confirm the 2010 results on the toxicity of blue light for the eye, which can lead to vision loss. They show short-term phototoxic effects related to acute exposure and long-term effects related to chronic exposure, which increase the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD)."
The first problem comes from the long periods you spend staring at your screen. The eye is designed to alternate between near and far vision, whereas in front of a screen, you are staring at a fixed point constantly. This is reportedly one of the causes of the myopia epidemic that ophthalmologists and experts talk about.
The other problem comes from the ultra-intense light spectrum emitted by our screens, which is close to UV (blue light), which disrupts melatonin production and our sleep, and could have harmful long-term effects (notably AMD and cataracts).
On our side, we have also looked for solutions to this issue. But by searching for information on blogs, you must have come to the same conclusion as we did: the advice isn't very high-quality...
- Poor or erroneous sources and arguments.
- Impossible-to-find ingredients.
- Promises so big we only half believe them.
So, we wanted to compile real advice in this guide for you and your beautiful eyes. We hope to have helped you see things more clearly!
🔎 Sources:
- https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/2020-02-10/des-experts-comparent-l-ecran-au-tabac
- https://www.fo-rothschild.fr/patient/lhopital/actualites/bientot-tous-myopes-que-faire-face-au-myopie-boom
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Summary: the best plants to take care of your vision.
Our eyes are increasingly exposed:
- Increasingly frequent myopia
- Dry eyes
- Impact of blue light on melatonin secretion and sleep, and possible long-term consequences (cataracts, AMD)
Nutrients and vitamins to consume to preserve your sight:
- Vitamins A, C, E
- Selenium, copper, zinc
- Lutein
Plants and foods to prioritize:
- Spinach (for lutein and vitamins)
- Blueberries (for zinc and vitamins A and C)
- Green tea (for antioxidants)
- Liver oil, liver, or carrots (for vitamin A)
- Salmon or walnuts (for omega-3s)
