Why Carrots are a Recipe for Healthy Eyes

Are carrots really good for vision? While optometrists admit that carrots are made up of large quantities of a vitamin that has proven to be beneficial for one's eyes, carrots can not substitute for suitable corrective eye care.

Beta-carotene is a carotenoid, or orange pigment that converts into vitamin A once absorbed in the body. Vitamin A helps to guard the cornea, or surface of the eye, and has been determined to prevent various eye diseases such as corneal ulcers. Vitamin A, a group of antioxidant compounds, guards the surface of the eye to decrease the frequency of ocular infections and other infectious illnesses. Vitamin A is also known to be a successful treatment for dry eye syndrome and other eye conditions. A deficiency of this important vitamin (which is exist more in poor and developing countries) is known to cause night blindness, corneal ulcers and retinal damage which can lead to complete blindness.

There are two types of vitamin A, which relate to the nutritional source from which they come. Vitamin A originating from an animal is called Retinol and can be obtained from foods such as beef, liver, or dairy products. Vitamin A that is produce-derived exists in the form of ''provitamin A'' carotenoids, which break down to retinol after the food is digested. In addition to carrots, carotenoids are ingested when eating colorful produce such as oranges, sweet potatoes, spinach, kale and cantaloupes.

There is no question that vitamin A is beneficial to your eyes and your total well being. Even though carrots themselves can't correct optical distortion which causes vision impairments, grandma was right when she said ''eat your carrots.''