When focusing on ways to make your body healthier, it’s easy to focus on problems and solutions that target the health of your heart, your overall body weight, or the development of muscles. It’s all too easy to forget that the health of your eyes is just as important as the rest of your body, and that poor vision may actually be a result of other health problems. Making sure you have healthy eyes is actually pretty simple — and here are a few tips to get you started:

• Know your family’s medical history. It’s common for eye problems to run in families because of shared genes, so you might be able to prevent serious vision problems or have a problem treated early on, if you know the symptoms to look for. Similarly, diseases (like diabetes) that aren’t directly related to the eyes may also affect eye health, so it’s a good idea to know if any of these diseases run in your family.
  

• Eat healthy foods. You’ve probably been cajoled into eating their carrots after being told that carrots will give you nighttime vision with super-power strength; while that’s a bit of an overstatement, it’s true that carrots are one of the foods that provide essential nutrients for healthy eyes. Other foods include dark leafy greens and foods that are high in omega-3 fatty acids.
  

• Wear protective eyewear when necessary. Even if you have great vision and don’t have to wear prescription eyeglasses or contact lenses, there are plenty of situations where you should wear goggles, glasses, or shields for safety reasons. High-impact sports often require goggles or face masks, and for any activity where chemicals or dust particles could get into your eyes, it’s always recommended that you use heavy-duty protective eyewear.
  

• Have regular comprehensive eye examinations with your local optometrist. Most people who wear contact lenses or prescription glasses will already know the importance of having regular eye appointments, since it’s common for your vision to change over time. But again, even if you have perfect vision, it’s important to have your eyes examined in order to detect any possible vision problems and treat them as early as possible.

Now it’s your turn — what tips do you have to keep your eyes healthy? Be sure to let us know in the comments section! See this link for more.