When considering your overall health, how often do you take into account the proper function of your eyes? May is National Healthy Vision Month and we’ve got tips, remedies, and natural products to help keep your eyes nourished, clear, and healthy! Take a look!

There are four major factors that impact our vision and each of them can be addressed in a natural way.

Consider the proper function of your eyes during National Healthy Vision Month!

1. Two of the most prevalent eye diseases today can be attributed to free radical damage: macular degeneration and cataracts. Free radicals are molecules with unpaired electrons that destroy body compounds by binding to healthy molecules and stealing one of their paired electrons, creating another free radical. To fight back against free radicals, consider a daily antioxidant rich herb to sweep them from your system. Most eye conditions involve some degree of oxidation damage to tissues so even a general antioxidant program is a wise idea. Learn more about antioxidants and which are the most powerful here.
2. Inadequate nutrition, especially diets low in vitamin A, is another cause of poor eye health. The body cannot manufacture vitamin A on its own and when we are lacking this vitamin, our ability to send visual images to our brain is affected. Other nutrients essential to eye health are vitamins B1 and B2, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese.
3. Our environment can greatly affect eye function. Any activity that requires you to focus at a fixed distance for long periods of time can cause fatigue for your eyes, this includes staring at a computer screen, reading, driving, or watching television. Taxing your eye muscles in this way not only causes eye strain but is also thought to play a role in the eventual distortions of the eyeball known as near- and far-sightedness.
4. Exposure to glare or sudden lighting shifts can deplete the eye of rhodopsin. When a single light photon hits the compound (rhodopsin), the pigment explodes and sends an electrical charge to the brain through neurotransmitters beneath the retina; rhodopsin produces visual images for our brains. Aside from depleting rhodopsin, sudden changes in lighting or exposure to glare cause eye strain and fatigue.

Beyond the vitamins and other nutrients listed above, there are several natural products you can take to improve eye function, maintain existing eye health, and prevent damage.

• Bilberry is a European cousin to the American blueberry and has shown benefits in clinical trials for eye strain, glare exposure, adaption to light/dark shifts, poor
  

  Bilberry provides support for the eyes and addresses a wide range of eye complaints.

  night vision, cataracts, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy.

• Angelica root promotes good capillary circulation, a must for eye health. The eye needs to be constantly nourished with vital, fresh blood in order to function properly so a healthy circulatory system cannot be underestimated in the function of the eye.
• Goldenseal has been used by traditional herbalists for promoting healthy eyes as an eyewash for inflamed or infected eyes and as a circulatory tonic for the body’s extremities, including the eyes. Many traditional herbalism systems also relate eye health to a healthy liver and Goldenseal is frequently used for many liver indications.

Hanna believed in using herbs, spices, and foods to speed healing in the body and this included eye issues. While potatoes were Hanna’s most commonly suggested remedy for a variety of eye ailments, she also created a special herbal formula for eye health, and passed along several other remedies. Here’s a sampling:

• For pinkeye, eye pain, eye swelling, tired eyes, or conjunctivitis Hanna recommended finely grating raw potato and placing it over the closed eye.
• To improve blood flow to the eyes and prevent night blindness, fresh carrot juice. (Drink slowly and not in excess)
• To strengthen the eyes, assist with eye strain, and help with sensitivity to light nibble a half cup of sunflower seeds a day.
• Hanna created Eye Formula as an herbal remedy to support existing eyesight, no matter the age group!
• Find more eye remedies in Hanna’s many books and in the remedy section of our blog!

When considering your overall health, be sure to include your eyesight! We often take the healthy function of our eyes for granted but with Hanna’s remedies, as well as the herbs, vitamins, and nutrients listed here, we can promote healthy eye sight. Take a look at our Eye Health Section on our website for easy access to great products to celebrate National Healthy Vision Month!