Seeing is believing…Particularly when it comes to your fitness results.

It’s Healthy Vision Month!

And for most of you, your fitness and weight loss goals are not just about feeling better, but looking better, too! So take care of your eyes so you can easily see all that you accomplish.

Your efforts to create and maintain a healthier you affect your entire body, but did you really know that your exercise and diet efforts would have a myriad of benefits for the health of your eyes as well?

Check out these fun and interesting facts[i] that your health and fitness have on those beautiful sight giving orbs we call “eyes”:

• Being overweight can affect the health of your eyes! Being overweight or obese increases your risk of developing diabetes and other systemic conditions, which can lead to vision loss, such as diabetic eye disease or glaucoma.
• Your Grandma wasn’t joking about carrots. Carrots are good for your eyes, but eating a diet rich with a variety fruits and vegetables—particularly dark leafy greens such as spinach, kale or collard greens—help keep your eyes healthy, too. Research also shows there are eye-health benefits from eating fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, tuna and halibut.
• Though your eyes don’t give you the sense of smell, they still know that SMOKING STINKS! Smoking is as bad for your eyes as it is for the rest of your body. Research has linked smoking to an increased risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and optic nerve damage; all of which can lead to blindness.
• Every 13 minutes someone in the United States goes to a hospital emergency room for a sports-related eye injury.
• There are no warning signs for many common eye diseases such as glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration. Get a dilated eye exam to make sure your eyes are healthy!

• 80% of what you learn as a child is visual.
• Each eye has over 2 million working parts. Keep those parts healthy and safe!
• More than 50% of all people in the United States use some type of lens to correct their vision. If you’re having trouble with your vision, get a dilated eye exam.

• Losing your vision is not a normal part of aging. If you’re having vision problems, contact your eye care professional.

Don’t wait! Start exercising, losing weight, eating better and get an eye exam today, and keep yourself “looking” good!

Happy Healthy Vision Month!

[i] Information obtained from the National Eye Institute. www.nei.nih.gov/hvm

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