It is quite a popular notion that eating carrots habitually culminates into improved vision. While the saying is customary, it is reasonable to wonder if it’s an old wives tale, with no real merit based in truth. We’re going to talk about exactly this topic in this week’s article.
The understanding that eating more carrots gives better eyesight has been around since at least World War 2, where it was enthroned as the “eye vegetable”. In fact, legendary pilot fighter John “Cats’ Eyes” Cunningham of the British Royal Air Force had his exquisite nocturnal eyesight attributed to a perpetual consumption of carrots. It soon crept from a myth to compulsion that every one of the RAF pilots (who engaged in night missions) needed to eat more of carrots.
Plunging from the past to the present, the question pops up again “how would carrots help your eyes”? There would almost be no better way to know this than by looking at the very composition of carrots and how their nutrition would relate to the efficacy of our vision.
Carrots are quite notorious for their hefty composition of vitamin A. This can be attested to in the massive deposit of beta-carotene in carrots. Such beta-carotene is a vital carotenoid pigment. When you lack Vitamin A, reduced vision is a not-too-distant possibility. Aside from blindness, deficiency of Vitamin A in your system would lead to further complications like macular degeneration, cataracts and even Xerophthalmia.
Looking for lutein? Then you should rightly be looking for carrots. Basically, lutein is an important antioxidant that your body needs in good measure, especially your eyes. Foods with an impressive composition of lutein improve the pigmentation of your macula, pertaining to its density. Such improved macula automatically translates to a more functional retina, and thus a more reduced chance in the onset of macular degeneration.
Want to be able to pick a needle out of a haystack at night? Then you probably need more carrots. Carrots are rich in Rhodopsin. Rhodopsin happens to be a purple pigment which is crucial in helping us to see better at night, thereby improving your vision in the dark. Therefore, you can how tales of the night heroics of John “Cats’ Eyes” Cunningham of the British Royal Air Force were quite substantiated.
While carrots will not necessarily give you superman vision, they will at least be helpful for the longevity of your vision, provide fantastic nutrients to your body and mitigate the potential onset of macular degeneration, glaucoma, or even astigmatism. Carrots will not be able to take the place of corrective lenses. They should also not make you think that you can skip regular check ups with your eye doctor. All the same, carrots are a tasty snack and nourish your eyes with many of the goodies you need to maintain your vision for as long as possible!
