You may have been told that carrots improve your vision, but is this really true? Eye care professionals will tell you that carrots can't save you from needing eye glasses. However, carrots do provide large amounts of beta-carotene, a vitamin that is beneficial for your eye health and therefore eating foods rich in this vitamin is clearly advised for proper eye health.
Beta-carotene is an orange pigment (carotenoid) that changes into vitamin A after it's digested in the body. Vitamin A guards the cornea, or surface of the eye, and has been proven to be preventative for certain eye diseases such as corneal ulcers. Vitamin A, an antioxidant compound, guards the surface of the eye to decrease the frequency of eye infections and other infectious diseases. Vitamin A has also shown to be a successful treatment for dry eyes and other eye conditions. A deficiency of vitamin A (which is be more likely in poor and developing countries) often causes night blindness, corneal ulcers and retinal damage which can lead to total blindness.
There are two forms of vitamin A, which relate to the food source from which they come. Retinol is vitamin A that comes from an animal source such as beef, chicken liver, or dairy products. Vitamin A that is obtained from fruits and vegetables comes in the form of ''provitamin A'' carotenoids, which are converted to retinol after the food is digested. In addition to carrots, carotenoids can be found in colorful fruits and vegetables such as oranges, sweet potatoes, spinach, kale and cantaloupes.
It is proven that through most forms, vitamin A contributes to the health of your eyes and your total well being. Even though carrots can't fix corneal refraction which causes vision impairments, grandma was right when she advised ''finish your carrots.''