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The 9 Best Foods for Eye Health
I received compensation from Alcon for the below post, but all opinions expressed here are mine.
Glasses and contact lenses have been a part of much of my life. When we moved to California over three years ago, I actually had to give up wearing contact lenses as I began to suffer from dryness, allergies and itchy eyes – nearly daily. This certainly complicated things as wearing glasses in the kitchen, dealing with the steam of the oven or the dishwasher fogging up the lenses, can complicate things while cooking. Plus, glasses while at the gym or yoga practice, sliding off your sweaty face is also annoying and cumbersome. After some changes to my lifestyle, managing ongoing allergies and getting back to tip top eye health, I am back to wearing contacts again and I am loving my new DAILIES TOTAL1® contact lenses. Daily disposable contact lenses are totally new for me, but I am loving the freedom to enjoy my on-the-go lifestyle without the hassle of glasses and I love that each day, my contact lenses feel fresh and new. If you would like to try them, visit DAILIESChoice.com to learn about the Alcon DAILIES® Choice Mail-In or Online Rebate Offer and how to save up to $200 on a year’s supply of DAILIES TOTAL1® contact lenses!*
Research shows that much like the rest of our bodies, what you eat can also help support eye health as you age. Of course, as always, it is recommended that you eat plenty of fruits and vegetables rich in color, like orange, yellow, red and dark green as these are particularly likely to include the vitamins great for eye health. Foods rich in antioxidants are also known to help protect the eyes from age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is the leading cause of blindness among older Americans; as well as cataracts and other eye-related conditions. It is documented that people who supplement their diet with Vitamin C, antioxidants, zinc, beta-carotene, and vitamin E experienced about a 25% reduction in risk of developing serious AMD1https://www.macular.org/antioxidant-vitamins-and-zinc-areds.
References
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Slow Roasted Citrus Fennel King Salmon with Crispy Fried Lentils
Recently I was approached by someone I met at a party, when discussing the work I do with Tasty Yummies, with one of the questions I dread most – “What are you?”. I am always taken aback by this question, to be a smart ass, I usually want to reply “a woman”, “I am human”, “a lady boss”, “a feminist” – or something of the like.
Now, I am smart enough to know exactly what they mean, but I always play dumb – “sorry, what do you mean?”. To which they usually reply “well, are you vegan, vegetarian or paleo, or like, what are you?”
While I have many wonderful friends, whom I greatly respect, that fit into each of those categories and so many others, I have always personally chosen to leave the labels off of my living. I jokingly always say “labels are for packages”, but I honestly, truly feel this way. This choice doesn’t come with judgement for those that choose to label their diet, but for me, I prefer to simply live my life and follow whatever “rules” or “non-rules” I have taken on at that specific time. But this is an ever-evolving set of “rules”, if I can even call them that. Evolving as I am. I also rarely feel as if these self-professed rules are hard-fast set in stone laws that I MUST abide by. What kind of living is that?
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Seared Tuna with Wasabi Citrus Aioli
Seafood has become a staple in our house. At least once a week I serve up some type of seafood. Scallops, salmon, tuna, halibut, shrimp, and many others are on regular rotation around here. Since we moved to the West Coast I have found that my love of seafood has reached new heights. Driving by the ocean daily, will do that to you. Additionally, by way of nutritionist school, I have gained an even deeper awareness of the many nutritional benefits of wild caught seafood, including it’s abundance of omega-3 essential fatty acids, obviously quality protein and of course, fat soluble vitamins A and D and various macro and trace minerals including iodine, selenium, zinc and magnesium. Our soils may be depleted of certain trace minerals, but every mineral we need is in the oceans and seafood is our only sure source for obtaining them all. These are just some of the many reasons high quality seafood at the top of the list for our protein choices, around here.
Why Sustainable, Wild Caught Seafood is Your Best Choice:
Regardless of the long list of nutritional benefits, it so very important to always harbor concern for overfishing and sustainability. Selecting your fish should comes with a responsibility, and hopefully, a commitment to supporting sustainably managed fisheries with a focus on best practices and ethics. I personally want to know the fisherman are using ethical catch methods (hook and line) and that at the heart of the business I am supporting, are small boat fishermen who really care and have a high level of pride in what they do. Those nutritional benefits listed above, you can be sure those will only come with wild cause fish. Just an FYI for those who still don’t know, farm raised fish, often receive antibiotics and inappropriate feed, including soy meal containing pesticide residues. Oh and pssst, farm raised salmon are actually given a dye to make their flesh pink!
One Hook, One Fish at a Time
Only a small percentage—less than 5%—of Alaska seafood comes from hook and line methods, but what line-caught fish lack in quantity, they more than make up for in quality. Using a small boat, hook and line fishermen catch and process One Hook, One Fish At A Time. This is a traditional way of fishing that results in an extremely high quality fish. Additionally, the knowledgable fishermen who know where to fish and can pinpoint species with the right lures, results in minimal by-catch.
A line-caught fish is a superior product and is the most premium quality fish on the market. No fish is handled with more care from the time it leaves the water until it is delivered to a customer than a line-caught fish. With these practices come the belief that each fish deserves to be treated with a singular devotion to quality and the respect due to a wild creature, all the way to the consumer.
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Orange Chia Refresher – Gluten-free, Vegan + Sugar-free
For the last 4 weeks, I have been working on a running program. A gradual build-up to a 5K for beginner runners, such as myself. It is an 8 week program, so this week marks the halfway point. So far I am really loving it. First time in my entire life I have tried running and I actually didn’t adamantly HATE it.
I think the biggest difference for me, is with now living here in California, every single run brings the sun shining it’s amazing rays down on me, I am surrounded by the beautiful views of the ocean, lagoon, palm trees, amazing birds, etc. These amazing surroundings has really changed running for me.
That being said, the thing I have found most challenging is being alone with my thoughts. What I enjoy about yoga is with the practice being a moving meditation, it is a wonderful way to get out of my head for a while. I don’t look at yoga as an escape from my life, but a time to acknowledge, express gratitude and strengthen, in more ways then one. I am able to shut off the constant chatter in my head and my inner voice telling me that “I can’t” or “I am not good enough”. Instead I just am. I just do. It is such an amazing thing. Yoga has taught me to not just ignore those thoughts as they arise, but to acknowledge them and the place they are coming from, then set them aside and focus on my breath and being.
With running, I haven’t quite gotten there, yet. However, that is part of what I like about running, the time it gives me to think. To really focus on the things in my head, process them fully without distractions and deal with them in whatever way needed. There are lots of thoughts swirling in my head when I run, good and bad. So different from yoga, but a really nice compliment.
Sometimes I have deep thoughts when running and sometimes I think about food and recipes. The idea for this Orange Chia Refresher came to me during a run and I couldn’t wait to make it and share it with you guys. Based on the response on my Facebook page when I asked who would be interested, you guys couldn’t wait either.
In looking around, I realized I didn’t exactly have some unique idea on my run, I discovered a drink like this has existed in Mexico for a long time. They call it a chia fresca. I don’t recall ever seeing this, but either way I guess it was in my subconscious. This drink could be made with lemon, lime or grapefruit and be just as tasty, plus I bet it would also be amazing with a sparkling water. First time I tried chia seeds in a drink, was in kombucha and I wasn’t a huge fan. However, I do think there were WAY too many seeds in it, so it was super thick and weird. I went light on the seeds with this, but feel free to add as much or as little as you’d like and sweeten according to your own preferences. I find with these measurements, you end up with a delicious water drink that isn’t overwhelmed with seeds and isn’t thick or chunky. I particularly enjoy drinking this with a straw.
Chia seeds are a super food that provides a variety of wonderful health benefits. It a nutshell – by adding just 2 tablespoons of chia seeds to your daily diet it will give you approximately 7 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein, 205 milligrams of calcium, and a whopping 5 grams of omega-3! OK, I won’t go into a huge rant about all of the many benfits of chia – instead I will ask:
What is your favorite benefit(s) of chia seeds?
[print_this]Orange Chia Refresher – Gluten-free, Vegan + Sugar-free
Makes 1 drink- 12 ounces (1 1/12 cups) of cold filtered water
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (grapefruit, lime or lemon would also be amazing)
- 2-3 teaspoons whole chia seeds
- Sweetener to taste (stevia, maple syrup, sugar, etc)
Pour water and orange juice into a glass jar with a lid (or a glass), add the chia seeds. Put the lid on and shake very well to combine (or stir if in a glass). Let stand for 10-15 minutes to let the chia seeds do their thing and get all puffy.
Take a quick sip and add sweetener to taste, shake (or stir) again, well to combine. Add ice and an orange garnish and enjoy.
*Fresher seeds will float throughout the liquid, while older ones tend to sink to the bottom. If they sink, that is totally ok, you will just need to stir them up a bit to keep them evenly dispersed as you are drinking it. [/print_this]
**Please don’t be turned off by the odd color of this drink in the photos, as the seeds soak, settle and swell even more, you will see the pretty and subtle orange hue more than the color of the seeds. I happened to only have black chia seeds on hand, but I bet white seeds would be even prettier.
