Dry Eyes?

Today I read two articles - both about eye health - and it led me to thinking about crying and eyesight.

Did you know that tears are made up of a precise balance of water, salt, proteins, mucus, and oil?
If this mixture somehow gets unbalanced, you could experience Dry Eye Syndrom. That's the name for tat irritating, gritty sensation under the eyelid. If it remains untreated for a prolonged period, it can damage the cornea and lead to vision loss.

A study by researcher's from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Schepens Eye Research Institute assessed the dietary intake of 32000 women between 45 and 84. They found that women who ate 5 or more servings of tuna per week has much less risk (65%) than women eating only one serve tuna per week.

I should tell my nutritionist, Peggy Lim - that might get us eating more tuna!

What is Stevia?

I've been telling my colleagues about the dangers of too much sugar and recommending an alternative herbal sweetner called STEVIA.

Stevia is a shrub native to Central and South America. It specifically contains two extracts called steviosides and rebaudiosides, which are 250-300 times sweeter than sugar.

BUT, unlike sugar, stevia does not contain carbohydrates and will not cause dangerous spikes in blood sugar levels.

Be careful and read the labels of everything you buy, including vitamins and other supplements. And be conscious of added sugar.

Vit A for sun damage

I've mentioned in previous posts that my upbringing under the African sun left me with permanent skin damage and recurrent nonmelanoma basal cell cancer.

Now a new study found that you can substantially reduce your risk of developing skin cancer if you increase your intake of Vitamin A.

Vitamin A is essential to the health of your eyes, bones, skin and immune system. Here are some vitamin A basics:

• Fruits and vegetables with orange and yellow coloring, and green leafy vegetables contain beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A
• The body poorly converts beta-carotene into vitamin A
• The best dietary sources of vitamin A are animal products, such as eggs and liver
• Cod liver oil is an excellent natural source of vitamin A
• The problems with vitamin A toxicity are associated with supplements of synthetic vitamin A taken in high doses

Scientists at the Arizona Cancer Center, University of Arizona (UA), USA, reported that a previous study showed that vitamin A supplements significantly reduced the risk of squamous cell skin cancer in patients with moderately severe actinic keratoses which developes from occasional sunburns.

10,000 IU of beta-carotene vitamin A per day is adequate for most people.