Can Running Help Protect Your Eyes?

According to various medical sources, you should...Run for your life. Vigorous activity can protect you from the two leading sight-stealers that occur over time: cataracts and macular degeneration.If you run a little farther than a mile a day (that's about 2,000 of the 10,000 steps you're taking daily anyway, right?), you reduce your chances of age-related macular degeneration by an impressive 36 percent.

Bump that up to five miles a day (you've taken care of your 10,000 steps right there), and you cut your AMD risk by 54 percent. Push just a little farther, to 5.5 miles, and you cut your risk of cataracts more. (Just don't start exercising this vigorously overnight; begin slowly and build up.)

Not a runner? No worries. Any workout that pumps up your cardio-fitness protects your sight — rowing, biking, swimming, doing weight-training circuits. What you eat also has a big impact. Run up to the salad bar and load up on key sight-saving nutrients: the vitamin C in tomatoes and citrus; zeaxanthin in spinach and bell peppers; and alpha-tocopherol (a form of vitamin E) in almonds and sunflower seeds. 

Add 900 mg of DHA-omega-3 a day as a supplement from algae, or in fish oil (check the label for "DHA"), or in three 4-ounce servings of salmon or trout a week. That combo — DHA, vitamin C and zeaxanthin — also will keep your joints young when you exercise.

For more information about this article, to learn more about nutrition and your health, or about the Macular Degeneration Association, please visit us at http://www.maculardegenerationassociation.org/As always please consult your physician before beginning a new diet or health regime. The Macular Degeneration Association is please to announce our next educational conference: New Treatments for Wet and Dry Macular Degeneration on Saturday, April 30th, 2011 in Winter Haven, Fl. To learn more about this conference please visit us on the web. The Spring Educational Symposium will cover all the latest treatments and information about macular degeneration including genetic testing. Genetic Testing will be available for those individuals that show signs of macular degeneration or have been diagnosed with this disease. We look forward to seeing you there. Thank you for your continued support.

Resources:http://www.kansas.com/2011/04/26/1822651/as-hens-eat-better-eggs-get-healthier.html