Blueberries and Eye Health
Blueberries have been historically considered beneficial to the eyes, earning these sumptuous berries the moniker ‘vision fruit’. There have been claims that WWII pilots of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) regularly gorged on blueberry preserves to improve their eye sight, specifically their night vision, resulting in significant improvement to their sight and accuracy. Other claims include the blueberries’ effectiveness in slowing the rate of cataract progression in the elderly and preventing retinal cell damage. Do these delicious berries really possess such miraculous properties? Let’s find out.
What’s So Special in Blueberries?
Blueberries are a rich source of essential minerals and vitamins and have one of the highest total antioxidant content per serving of all fresh fruit & vegetables, dried fruits and nuts- all, good for maintaining general eye health. And then there’s anthocyanin- a compound known to prevent cell damage by light and ageing. Blueberries contain high quantities of anthocyanins, the primary reason many think they have the ability to reverse the loss of vision! So, now you know of the claims, but are they all true?
The high antioxidant content of blueberries certainly means that regular consumption can, in fact, prevent damage from macular degeneration and reduce the risk of cataracts and glaucoma- two of the most common causes of visual impairment. The high anthocyanin content means incorporating blueberries into your daily diet can reduce the risk of inflammatory eye diseases along with damage from diabetes (diabetic retinopathy). The claim of blueberries enhancing night vision, well it’s yet to be scientifically proven. What we know is that a blueberry supplemented diet will still help prevent or delay problems like dryness of the eye, myopia, hypermetropia along with several eye infections. It will also help keep you in good overall health. These, if taste alone isn’t good for you, are good enough reasons to add more blueberries to your daily diet!
Information in this article appeared in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2014; 62 (46)