Athletes Can Improve Their Vision Range by Eating More Fruits and Vegetables
A recent study by researchers at the University of Georgia suggests that athletes’ diets can be supplemented with colored fruits and vegetables to improve their visual range. The study found that macular pigments, plant compounds that accumulate in the retina, can improve eye health and functional vision. Eating dark leafy greens, yellow, and orange vegetables that contain high levels of lutein and zeaxanthin, two essential plant compounds, can improve the health of the eyes and the brain.
Visual range, or a person’s ability to see a target clearly from a distance, is a critical asset for top athletes in almost any sport. The effects of blue light make objects harder to see the further they are from the eyes. Many athletes already take steps to reduce blue light impact through black or blue glasses. However, eating more foods rich in lutein and zeaxanthin improves the eye’s natural ability to handle blue light exposure.
When a person absorbs lutein and zeaxanthin, the compounds accumulate as yellow pigments in the retina and act as a filter to prevent blue light from entering the eye. The amount of macular pigment density, or yellow pigment accumulated in the retina, is related to a number of measures of eye health and functional vision tests. Studies have shown that increasing the amounts of lutein and zeaxanthin in the retina and brain decrease glare disability and discomfort, improving color contrast and visuomotor reaction time. These tasks are essential for athletes.
While everyone is different in terms of how their bodies absorb and use lutein and zeaxanthin, adding more color to one’s diet has overall health benefits. However, before anyone starts eating kale in the hope of upping their game, they should note that it could take a while before improvement or may not have any. But the evidence for the health benefits of consuming more lutein and zeaxanthin is reason enough for athletes to add more fruits and vegetables to their diets.
Expanding on the Topic
Athletes are always looking for ways to improve their performance, fitness levels, and mental shape. Many have in the past taken supplements that promise quick and efficient solutions to their nutritional needs. However, research has shown that a diet rich in colorful vegetables and fruits could be a better option.
Eating more colorful vegetables and fruits has far-reaching benefits beyond vision improvement. Here are some additional advantages of incorporating more fresh fruits and vegetables into an athlete’s diet,
1. Reduced Risk of Chronic Diseases
Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables has been shown to lower the risk of chronic diseases such as heart conditions, stroke, and cancer. Athletes are, therefore, more likely to have longer and healthier careers if they adopt this diet.
2. Improved Digestion
Most vegetables and fruits are an excellent source of dietary fiber, an essential nutrient that plays a crucial role in gut health. Consuming a high fiber diet helps athletes maintain their body weight and reduce inflammation that could lead to digestion problems.
3. Increased Energy
Fruits and vegetables are high in carbohydrates, giving athletes an instant energy boost. A diet that includes fruits and vegetables ensures that athletes maintain their energy levels throughout their training sessions and competitions.
4. Recovery
An athlete’s body is subjected to a lot of stress, leading to inflammation and reducing recovery time. Fruits and vegetables contain anti-inflammatory properties that help the body recover faster after a workout.
Conclusion
While supplements might be tempting, athletes should look to natural sources of nutrients to improve their performance and overall health. Colorful vegetables and fruits not only improve vision range but have far-reaching benefits that can aid an athlete’s career. Athletes should, therefore, seek to incorporate more fresh fruits and vegetables into their diets to gain a competitive edge.
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Nutrition is an important part of any elite athlete’s training program. And now, a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia proposes that supplementing athletes’ diets with colorful fruits and vegetables could improve their visual range.
The document, which was published in Exercise and Sport Science Reviewsexamines how a group of plant compounds that accumulate in the retina, known as macular pigments, work to improve eye health and functional vision.
Previous studies by UGA researchers Billy R. Hammond and Lisa Renzi-Hammond have shown that eating foods such as dark leafy greens or yellow and orange vegetables, which contain high levels of the plant compounds lutein and zeaxanthin, improves the health of the eyes and the brain.
“Much of the research on macular lutein and zeaxanthin has focused on health benefits, but from a functional perspective, higher concentrations of these plant pigments improve many aspects of visual and cognitive ability. In this article , we discussed its ability to improve vision at the far distance, or visual range,” said lead author Jack Harth, a doctoral candidate in the UGA School of Public Health.
Visual range, or how well a person can see a target clearly at a distance, is a critical asset for top athletes in almost any sport.
The reason why objects become harder to see and appear blurrier the further they are from our eyes is partly due to the effects of blue light.
“From a center fielder’s perspective, if the ball goes up in the air, it will be seen against a bright blue sky background, or against a gray background if it’s a cloudy day. Either way, the target is obscured by atmospheric interference. coming”. on that path of light,” Harth said.
Many athletes already take steps to reduce the impact of blue light through black or blue glasses, but eating more foods rich in lutein and zeaxanthin can improve the eye’s natural ability to handle blue light exposure, Harth said.
When a person absorbs lutein and zeaxanthin, the compounds accumulate as yellow pigments in the retina and act as a filter to prevent blue light from entering the eye.
Earlier work testing pilots’ visual range ability had been done in the 1980s, and more recent studies have been done by Hammond and Renzi-Hammond on how macular pigment density, or the amount of yellow pigment that accumulates in the retina, is related to a number of measures of eye health and functional vision tests.
“In a long series of studies, we have shown that increasing the amounts of lutein and zeaxanthin in the retina and brain decrease glare disability and discomfort and improve color contrast and visuomotor reaction time, and complement these compounds it facilitates executive functions such as problem solving and memory. All of these tasks are particularly important for athletes,” said corresponding author Billy R. Hammond, a professor of psychology in the Brain and Behavioral Sciences Program at the College of of UGA Franklin Arts and Sciences.
This paper, Harth said, updates the research on these links between macular pigment and functional vision and asks what the evidence suggests about optimizing athletic performance.
“We’re at a point where we can say we’ve seen visual range differences in pilots that match the differences found in modeling, and now we’ve seen it in lab tests as well, and a future goal would be to get people on the air. outdoors and measure their ability to see contrast at a distance through a royal blue haze and in outdoor environments,” Harth said.
But before you start eating kale in hopes of upping your game, he warns that everyone is different. That could mean that the way our bodies absorb and use lutein and zeaxanthin varies, and it could be a while before you notice any improvement, if at all.
Still, the evidence for the overall health benefits of consuming more lutein and zeaxanthin is reason enough to add more color to your diet, the authors say.
“We have data from modeling and empirical studies showing that more macular pigment in the retina will improve your ability to see at a distance. The application for athletes is clear,” Harth said.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230608120930.htm
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