Eating For Health

Does what you eat affect your vision?   Do the foods you eat or don’t eat affect your eye sight?   Recently I was at a restaurant and a couple sat down in the table next to us.   The man asked the server for a flashlight as he was not able to read the menu in the dim light.   It was a little dim in the restaurant but most people would be able to read the menu.   I didn’t know what his vision problem was, but one thing came to mind, vitamin A deficiency.   One of the first systems of vitamin A deficiency is night blindness.   This results in poor vision at night or in dim light.   Perhaps this gentleman had trouble reading the menu in the dim light because he was deficient in vitamin A.   What are the vitamins and nutrients that promote good vision?   The March 2016 issue of Environmental Nutrition has an article, “ Eat to See Clearly ”.   Choose a Rainbow of Colors:   – Eat the colors of the rainbow for healthy eyes.   ...

Many of us are trying to cut back on calories and thus cut back on fat calories.   But do you need some fat?   The answer is yes.    Fat is important for many reasons but one is that fat soluble vitamins need some fat to be absorbed.   Thus, you may not want to use a fat-free dressing on your salad but a dressing with some fat.   If you want to cut back on fat calories, you can choose the light or reduced fat version of dressing and not the fat-free version.    In the classes I teach, many students come up with a snack for kids of carrots and Fat-Free Ranch Dressing.   Carrots are a healthy food but serving it with Fat-free Ranch means you won’t be absorbing all the nutrients in those carrots.   Not to mention the child will be hungry in no time as carrots are low in calories and Fat-Free Ranch also is low in calories.   Are there health benefits to using salad dressings with some fat such as regular Ranch or Light Ranch ...