The best supplements for dry eyes

I have suffered from dry eyes since I was a child. Dad was an early adopter of the PC and I remember staring at the green and black screen as young as 9 years old. Growing up, I got used to the grittiness as I got used to all the other things that was not going well in my body.

However, when I had my babies and hardly slept for years, my dry eyes peaked. It got so bad that I couldn’t see at night when I got up to feed or change them. I also found out later that seborrheic dermatitis can cause meibomian gland dysfunction and dry eyes.

This led me down the path of researching if anything could help. My diet was terrible at this stage and I knew I needed an extra boost. Enter supplements:

Vitamin A

Probably the cheapest supplement for eye health and also the one with the most evidence. A landmark study showed that Vitamin A at 5000 iu (1500 mcg) per day for as  short as 3 days improved the quality of your tears but not the quantity. Mind you, this was only 3 doses. I’ve taken Vitamin A for months at a time throughout the years and certainly felt it helps with my dry eyes.

Carrots contain beta-carotene which is converted to Vitamin A in the body but how much carrot would you actually need to eat a day? Check out my article on carrots for dry eyes and my little carrot experiment.

Vitamin D

Never thought about the link between Vitamin D and dry eyes until I saw this study correlating impaired tear function and dry eye syndrome in people with vitamin D deficiency.

As Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, keep supplementation to less than 4000 iu a day.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is my favouritest vitamin. I’ve been on it since I was a little toddler, starting off with sugared syrup and Vita-gummies and now popping Vitamin C capsules.

Vitamin C is an anti-oxidant that reduces inflammation in the eyes. This small randomized study showed that there was a significant difference between people who took vitamins A, C and E for 8 weeks had significant improvement in those who had the vitamins versus those who didn’t.

Zinc

I knew that Zinc was important for good skin but never knew they were crucial for dry eyes as well. Other than maintaining eye health, zinc also allows Vitamin A doesn’t travel as well from the liver to the retina.

Lutein and Zeaxanthin

These 2 anti-oxidants are often found in the same bottle. Both help with symptoms of dry eyes and protect your eyes from UV rays. Importantly, they both also prevent age-related eye diseases.

Omega-3

Fish oil taken at 1000 mg per day eases dry eyes due to computer vision syndrome. Omega-3 is also a strong anti-oxidant that can help soothe inflammation, reduce rate of tear evaporation.

To wrap up

While it’s best to get your nutrients from food, I for one can say that my diet isn’t good enough and my eyes can’t wait.

These are some other things you can do to help dry eyes.

 

3 thoughts on “The best supplements for dry eyes”

  1. Pingback: How to improve my dry eyes? - Madame Well

  2. Pingback: Do carrots help dry eyes?

  3. Pingback: fish oil seborrheic dermatitis

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