The worst foods for glaucoma are those high in trans fats, saturated fats, and refined sugars, along with excessive amounts of caffeine and alcohol, as they can raise intraocular pressure (IOP) or negatively affect blood vessel health. Specifically, avoid fried foods, processed baked goods, fatty meats, sugary drinks, and large doses of caffeine or alcohol, as these can worsen blood flow and eye pressure.
Whole Grains: Oats, brown rice, and quinoa supply fiber and antioxidants that help manage blood pressure, a known risk factor for glaucoma. Nuts & Seeds: Almonds and flaxseeds provide vitamin E and omega-3 fatty acids, which protect cell membranes in the eye.
Simple Carbohydrates: This includes bread, potatoes, rice, baked goods, pasta and cereal. These foods can elevate your insulin level which in turn raises your IOP and blood pressure. This all can worsen glaucoma. Coffee: Caffeinated coffee can raise your IOP and make glaucoma worse.
In addition to saturated fats, you should also limit trans fats because they harm blood vessels and raise cholesterol levels. That means you'll need to avoid fried foods, french fries, potato chips, baked goods, and frozen pizza.
Eat more lean meats like turkey, chicken, pork, and fish instead of red meat like beef. A healthy diet can help maintain your overall health and wellness, and this can keep your eyes healthy and your glaucoma symptoms from worsening.
“Strict adherence to medication is the single most important thing a patient with glaucoma can do to keep their vision from worsening,” Yohannan says.
Heavy caffeine intake should be advised against due to its transient elevations in IOP, especially in genetically predisposed patients or those with a positive family history of glaucoma. Chronic alcohol consumption can lead to many systemic complications and increased risk of glaucoma.
“Steroids are the main medicine that can raise eye pressure for patients with open-angle glaucoma,” Dr. McKinney says. Taking steroid drugs in any form – orally, topically, through an inhaler or IV – can worsen glaucoma for these patients. Steroids applied closest to the eye carry the highest risk.
A newer, innovative glaucoma treatment option is selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT). With this procedure, your eye doctor applies laser energy to the tissue inside your eye, stimulating the affected tissue to increase the natural drainage process.
Causes of Glaucoma
According to a NIH study, women consuming fresh peaches and oranges in excess of two servings per week reduced their odds of developing glaucoma. Orange consumption led to 82% reduction in glaucoma development, while peaches served to cut this risk by 70% percent.
Closed-angle glaucoma occurs when the fluid is suddenly blocked and cannot flow out of the eye. This causes a quick, severe rise in eye pressure. Dilating eye drops and certain medicines may trigger an acute glaucoma attack. Acute closed-angle glaucoma is an emergency.
Aerobic exercises, like walking, running, and swimming, stand out for their ability to significantly lower IOP. These exercises enhance cardiovascular fitness, improving blood circulation throughout the body, including the eyes.
Green leafy vegetables, certain fruits like oranges and blueberries, and other foods like eggs are good sources of these vitamins. Adding things like kale or spinach to an omelet is one idea for making a good meal for eye health. Adding a glass of orange juice to breakfast is another healthy option.
Berries are rich in antioxidants, which can help prevent oxidative stress that contributes to glaucoma. A study published in JAMA Ophthalmology found that eating plenty of berries could lower your risk of developing the disease by as much as a quarter.
Nicotinamide/Niacinamide (Vitamin B3)
Nicotinamide (also known as niacinamide) has recently shown significant potential as a novel treatment for glaucoma. It was postulated as a neuroprotective agent for glaucoma in 2017 by Williams and colleagues.
These tips may help control high eye pressure or promote eye health.
Prostaglandin analogs are often the go-to treatment for glaucoma, primarily because they effectively lower intraocular pressure (IOP) by improving uveoscleral fluid outflow. Common medications in this category include latanoprost (Xalatan), travoprost (Travatan Z), bimatoprost (Lumigan), and tafluprost (Zioptan).
While there is no cure for glaucoma, treatment can significantly slow or prevent further vision loss. Treatment options include: Medications: Prescription eye drops and oral medications can help reduce IOP by decreasing fluid production or improving drainage.
Seniors (70+ years old): The normal eye pressure for 70 year olds and beyond may still fall within the 10 to 21 mmHg range, but it's closely monitored for any increases, as they are more susceptible to eye conditions like glaucoma.
How is glaucoma treated?
Anyone can get glaucoma, but African Americans over age 40, all people over age 60 and those with a family history of glaucoma or diabetes are at higher risk.
You might be concerned about the impact all this screen time has on your eyesight, particularly if you have a diagnosed disease like glaucoma or dry eye disease (DED). Fortunately, neither condition should stop you from enjoying any screen-based activity.
The rule of 5 is a simple rule for detecting retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) change on spectral-domain OCT (SD-OCT), in which a loss of 5 μm of global RNFL on a follow-up test is considered evidence of significant change when compared with the baseline.
High trans fats have been proven to cause damage to the optic nerve. Time to cut out fried foods, baked goods and any product with an ingredient list that includes hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. Saturated foods that include red meat, beef, lard, shortening and oils can also worsen glaucoma.