Diet, weight and eye health
Birds eye view of a green plate in the middle of image, with chicken, rice and salad on the plate. The plate of food is surrounded coconut, peppers, lime and salad.
Eating a balanced diet can help you stay healthy and may support your eye health too. Research suggests that a healthy diet might help reduce the risk of some eye conditions. Although this link isn't as strong as it is for conditions like heart disease, eating well can still help keep your eyes as healthy as possible.
A balanced diet includes:
- high-fibre starchy foods like rice, potatoes or pasta
- plenty of fruit and vegetables
- protein-rich foods such as meat, fish or pulses (for example, lentils)
- some milk and dairy foods
- limited amounts of fat, salt and sugar.
You can find more information about healthy eating on the NHS website.
Healthy weight
Maintaining a healthy weight means eating the right foods in the right amounts and staying active.
Being overweight isn’t directly linked to specific eye conditions, but it can increase your risk of health problems including:
- high blood pressure
- type 2 diabetes
- stroke.
These conditions can lead to eye conditions that may affect your sight. These include retinal vessel occlusions, diabetic eye conditions and eye conditions related to stroke.
If you’re concerned about your weight or your risk of developing these health conditions, speak to your GP. Maintaining a healthy weight, or losing weight if you need to, can help reduce your risk.
Dietary supplements
Most people can get the vitamins and minerals they need from a healthy, balanced diet. However, in some circumstances you may be advised to take supplements by your GP or eye specialist.
Many supplements claim to support eye health, but there’s no clear evidence that everyone benefits from them. Your doctor will be able to advise you on whether taking supplements is appropriate for you.
Some people with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) may benefit from specific vitamins and minerals.
You can read more in our factsheet: Antioxidants and vitamins for AMD (Word)