Medical expert of the article
New publications
Vitamins and eyesight
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
If you want to feel your eyesight for a long time, and your eyes are not tired, use vitamins. What, you ask? We will tell you about this in detail
What did our ancestors recommend for good vision?
There were legends that people who saw in the dark, ate a lot of carrots and were fans of this wonderful vegetable. Everyone knows that carrots contain a lot of beta-carotene, which even today modern doctors recommend as a vitamin for improving visual acuity.
As for the night blindness, its ancient recommended to treat the liver of a bull. In the liver, as far as we know (and not only in the liver of the bull, but in any) - a lot of vitamin A. This vitamin helps restore visual function. With a deficiency of this vitamin, a person does not distinguish well enough objects in poor light.
Lack of vitamin A also leads to excessive dryness of the cornea of the eye (the so-called dry-pupil effect), as well as those reddish veins on the white of the eye that we see when overworked. More about vitamins for good eyesight
Thiamine (vitamin B1)
If thiamine is not enough in the body, the person is impaired motor and sensitive innervation of the eyes. And then we get tired much quicker, get annoyed very soon, our working capacity decreases, we feel much worse. And all this because of the seemingly innocuous lack of vitamin B1.
What to do?
To get enough vitamin B1, you must include the liver in the menu (we already talked about this), meat dishes, rye flour with bran, yeast, beans, in particular soy, as well as fresh vegetables.
As for the production of vitamin B1 from the pharmacy multivitamin complex, it is enough for a person from 1 to 1.5 mg per day
Riboflavin (vitamin B2)
This vitamin helps to normalize the metabolism, which contributes to a good digestion and assimilation of food. So, keep the weight in the normal and not get better. Vitamin B2 also helps to normalize the metabolism in the lens and the cornea, and this promotes good oxygen metabolism in the tissues of the eye and improving eyesight.
On the contrary, if the vitamin B2 in the body is small, a person, receiving less than it, begins to see badly even in the twilight, not to mention night vision. It can be troubled by a burning sensation and "sand" in the eyes.
What to do?
To include in the diet sources of vitamin B2 - yeast (sold in a pharmacy tableted), apples, wheat germ, cheese, cheese, nuts, liver, eggs - boiled and fried.
To get vitamin B2 from tablets and pills, take into account its average daily dose - from 2 to 5 mg.
Cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12)
This vitamin can be obtained only from animal food. If it is not enough in the body, the process of hematopoiesis can be disturbed. The fact is that cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12) promotes the formation of red blood cells.
If the diet is too little vitamin B12, the work of the nervous system is broken, as participation in the formation of nerve cells is also the work of vitamin B12.
The appearance of a person with a deficiency in the body of vitamin B12 is tired, watery eyes, a dim cornea, red veins of blood vessels on proteins. To avoid such an icky appearance, you need to pay enough attention to the vitamin complex.
What to do?
To eat food of animal origin, where there is vitamin B12, namely eggs (especially yolks), dairy and sour-milk products, liver, sea fatty fish. It's good to eat them with beet salads - it helps to absorb this vitamin.
Ascorbic acid (vitamin C)
It is a universal vitamin, which doctors recommend not only as a vitamin for good eyesight, but also for strengthening nerves, increasing the level of immunity.
Vitamin C - the normalizer of carbohydrate metabolism, it also helps to strengthen the walls of capillaries, improving their permeability, and regulates the processes of recovery in the body.
If a person lacks vitamin C, this can lead to destruction of the eye tissues, as well as the fragility of the capillaries and the fragility of the eye vessels. There may even be a hemorrhage, especially if a person works a lot at a computer and often strains his eyes. In addition, vitamin C is the creator of collagen fibers, which contribute to the elasticity of tissues. With its lack, the strength and elasticity of the eye muscles is impaired. Accordingly, we begin to see worse.
What to do?
Drink decoctions of rose hips (in them the level of vitamin C is 30 times higher than in lemon or orange), as well as a decoction or infusion of berries of mountain ash. Do not forget about red pepper, fresh carrots, tomatoes, salads with green leaves, sorrel, different kinds of cabbage, potatoes. All these are sources of vitamin C, or ascorbic acid. This improves the mental state of a person and normalizes the work of the nervous system.
Take the right vitamins to improve your vision and be healthy.