Dry eyes and nutrition

Dry eyes are characterised by typical symptoms, which can occur individually or together:

• redness of the eyes
• itching
• burning
• a foreign body sensation
• tired eyes
• watery eyes
• increased sensitivity to light

You should eat a healthy and balanced diet to ensure that your eyes are optimally supplied with essential nutrients. However, there are some vitamins, healthy fats and trace elements that are particularly important for eye health.

Everyone has probably heard this saying before: Carrots are good for your eyesight. Is that really true? While certain foods alone cannot improve visual function, a general diet, rich in vitamins, can definitely help your eyes to stay healthy and function properly. Among other things, they need a lot of beta-carotene, which is found in carrots. But there are other vitamins and foodstuffs that are particularly valuable for eye health:

• Vitamin A (retinol), or more precisely its precursor beta-carotene, is important for the visual process. Apart from carrots, it is also found in pumpkin, spinach, tomatoes, apricots, dairy products and liver.
• Vitamins B2 prevents cell damage and is found in whole grain products, dairy products, broccoli and avocado.
• Vitamin B6 is needed for a well-functioning tear film and is found in salmon, mackerel, sardines, goose, kale and potatoes.
• Vitamin B12 contributes to eye lubrication and is found in beef kidney, calf and pork liver, mackerel, eggs and dairy products.
• Vitamin C also plays an important role for an intact tear film and protection against oxidative stress. It is found in acerola berries, rosehip, broccoli, peppers and Brussels sprouts, among others.
• Vitamin E also protect against cell damage and dry eyes. It is found in mackerel, wheat germ oil, sunflower oil, spinach, peppers, mangoes and currants.

The body needs omega-3 fatty acids for the stabilising lipid layer of the tear film. If this outer protective layer is deficient, the tear film will rupture more quickly and the typical symptoms of dry eyes occur. In addition, omega-3 fatty acids have an anti-inflammatory effect. They are considered essential nutrients, which means that they are vital but cannot be produced by the body itself. Consequently, the nutrients need to be supplied through the diet. Omega-3 fatty acids are primarily found in fish and cooking oils:

• Fish: e.g. trout, tuna, salmon, mackerel, cod
• Cooking oils: e.g. linseed oil, rapeseed oil, walnut oil, safflower oil
• Vegetables: e.g. Brussels sprouts, pumpkin, spinach, avocado
• Cheese
• Eggs

Zinc

Apart from omega-3 fatty acids, the trace element zinc in particular plays a major role in eye health. This is because zinc is directly involved in the visual process and contributes to maintaining vision. It is found in: 

• milk products
• legumes
• cereals
• nuts
• poultry
• red meat and offal
• fish
• shellfish

Selenium

Selenium is a trace element with antioxidant properties that protects the retina in particular from oxidative stress. The selenium content of food depends on the amount of selenium in the soil on which the food is grown. Animals accumulate selenium, making a high-protein diet with animal ingredients the main source of selenium in the human diet.

Lutein and zeaxanthin

Lutein and zeaxanthin occur naturally as antioxidant pigments in the retina, especially in the centre of the retina (macula lutea), the location of the retina's sharpest vision. However, their concentration declines more and more with age. High concentrations of lutein and zeaxanthin are found, e.g., in kale, spinach and broccoli.

A healthy and diversified diet contains all the vitamins, minerals, fats and trace elements that support the tear film and eye health. Food supplements are not usually necessary with a balanced diet.

In addition to a nutrient-rich diet, you can relieve dryness in your eyes by doing the following:

• Avoid environmental stimuli such as smoke, draughts or chemical substances.
• If you work a lot in front of a computer screen, give your eyes a break more often.
• Blink more often to specifically moisten your eyes.
• Use lubricating eye drops to lubricate your eyes regularly.
• Ensure more humidity in heated rooms with dry air, for example by placing a damp cloth on the radiator.

If the symptoms of dry eyes cannot be permanently controlled, you should consult an eye specialist. This is because the symptoms can also conceal inflammations or other eye diseases that require special treatment with medication.