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HEALTHY EYES, HEALTHY VISIONMaintain good eyesight by eating and living right, getting periodic check-ups and being aware of potentially harmful environmental factorsWe know that healthy eyes are an important factor in a good quality of life, but how can we maintain sufficient quality of sight through our senior years? Are we really aware of how dependent we are on our sight? Good visionallows us to admire the natural beauty around us, to read a good book and appreciate the faces of loved ones. Vision is so important to daily life that we worry more about losing our eyesight than our ability to walk or hear. Despite eyesight being among our most treasured senses, however, most of us take insufficient care of our eyes. Modern lifestyles increasingly involve us gluing our eyes to high-tech devices such as computers, laptops, tablets and smart- phones, which substantially increase the risks to our eyes.There are many ways to maintain good eye health and protect vision. These include eating the right food, not smoking, wearing protective eyewear and sunglasses when needed, managing our use of high-tech devices, maintaining a healthy weight and getting our eyes checked regularly.Eat rightThere are many foods that do a good job of protecting eyesight. Studies have shown that nutrients linked to a lower susceptibility to common eye conditions include lutein, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins C and E.By regularly eating foods rich in protective nutrients and antioxidants, we can help maintain eye health and prevent troubling conditions such as macular degeneration and glaucoma in later life. Good foods include leafy greens such as spinach and kale; cold-water fish such as salmon, tuna and other oily fish; nuts, beans, eggs and other non-meat proteins such as soy; dark-coloured fruits such as the berry and cherry families; and grapes, citrus fruits and juices, broccoli and green tea.Taking supplements is also recommended. Vitamins C and E work synergis- tically as antioxidants for the eyes and body. Consuming these in sufficient amounts lowers the risk of cataracts and other eye diseases and defects. Lutein is also an essential carotenoid that helps protect the macula, offsetting the harmful effects of ultraviolet light passing directly into the eyes. The evidence for lutein being beneficial to the eyes is quite conclusive. Research published this year in JAMA collated two decades of data with over 100,000 participants and gave weight to the idea that lutein lowers the risk of aged macularModern lifestyles increasingly involveus gluing our eyes to high-tech devices such as computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones, which substantially increase the risksto our eyesElite+ 49