Your mother has probably always told you that carrots are good for your eyes. But is this really so? The story about roots started in the second world war. The British said that their pilots ate a lot of carrots and therefore could see well in the dark and so knew where to attack, but really the British just had a radar.
Later it turned out that carrots are actually good for the eyes. Carrots contain beta-carotene, which is converted in the body into vitamin A. This is later converted into a certain substance that is in your eyes, which ensures that you can see whether it is light or dark. It is therefore important that you get enough vitamin A to support your eyes. However, it is not the case that your eyes can improve by ingesting large amounts of vitamin A, it is ‘just’ for support.
When someone suffers from certain conditions such as genetic abnormalities, aging or diabetes, vision can be reduced as a result. Loss of vision due to any of these causes cannot be remedied by the intake of vitamin A.
There are two more nutrients that are known to support eye function, namely: lutein and zeaxanthin. The foods that are therefore good for the eyes are mainly: carrots, kale, Swiss chard and green leafy vegetables such as spinach.
If you want to know more about the different studies, you can read the following two articles:
