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Fact Buster
Q: Can eating carrots improve your eyesight?
A: Yes, but only if your diet lacks vitamin A.
Published 19/03/2008
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There are endless food myths parents use every day to get their children to eat nutritious food – 'spinach will make you strong like Popeye', 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away' and 'eating carrots helps you see in the dark'.
A major Australian study called the Blue Mountains eye study, conducted in the late 1990s, examined the link between increased vitamin A intake and deteriorating night vision in older people. The authors found that people who reported having poor eyesight ate more carrots – just as their mothers had told them – to improve their eyesight. But it didn't help.
While there is some truth to the old wives' tale regarding carrots and eyesight, Professor Algis Vingrys, from the University of Melbourne's Department of Optometry and Vision Services, says no amount of carrots will improve your eyesight if you already have a well balanced diet.
A diet with sufficient vitamin A, iron and other provitamins (substances that our bodies can convert into vitamins) is vital for eye health.
There are two types of vitamin A: retinoids and carotenoids.
Retinoids are a lipid form of vitamin A found in liver, fish oils containing liver (eg cod-liver oil) and butter. Eating large amounts of these substances can give you an overdose of vitamin A and lead to toxicity, or worse, promote some forms of cancer.
Carotenoids are provitamins your body converts into vitamin A. Carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and dark-green leafy vegetables all contain beta-carotene, a potent carotenoid. But how much gets converted depends on how much vitamin A you already have in your body – in other words, your body doesn't make vitamin A if you don't need it.
A diet deficient in vitamin A can lead to night blindness and other eye problems. Reduced night vision is one of the earliest signs of vitamin A deficiency although people rarely complain of night blindness until it becomes really severe.
But vitamin A deficiency is rare in Australia. Most of us eat a reasonably balanced diet, although pregnant women, those who don't eat a varied nutritious diet and some people with bowel disease may need to see their doctor if they feel they are at risk.
Eating carrots (and other sources of vitamin A) can improve night vision if you are deficient in vitamin A, (you also need to be getting enough zinc and iron) but not if you already have a balanced diet.
The vision loss reported by the people in the Blue Mountains eye study was caused by age-related deterioration not a dietary deficiency, which is why their eyesight didn't improve regardless of how many carrots they chomped on.
Professor Algis Vingrys is from the University of Melbourne's Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences. He was interviewed by Claudine Ryan
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Comments (19)
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Andrei :
01 Oct 2008 10:46:06pm
Carrots help our growth, apparently.
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Andrei :
01 Oct 2008 10:53:14pm
I meant to say help us grow taller, when we're in our teens...
One thing I do know though what improves eyesight is vision-corrective eye exercises. They really do work very well in fully restoring ones vision (or serve as a means of preventative maintenance), and there are a tonn of different eye exercises out there to help your eyesight.... However, there's another, very important, point to know, understand and remeber, which is that VISION-CORRECTIVE EYE EXERCISES DO NOT WORK BY THEMSELVES. As soon as you start doing them purely mechanically, you might as well give up right away, because it'll take you so long that you won't be able to stand it, and it's ineffective and an unnecessary waste of time. This mistake alone is one that is making way too many people give up on it early, after seing no results! In order to throw away your glasses forever, one needs to understand the principles of mind work - i.e. that what we think affects how we see, and know how to apply them in the most efficient way, then that really starts doing wonders! Another thing one needs to understand is that one needs to relax ones eye muscles. It's really crucial to success, as THAT is what sets the boundary between success and failure for people - the time that the restoration process will take. We need to look after our eyes on a regular bases, *just as we look after any other part of our body*.
For me, finding out about visio-corrective eye exercises and doing them was like a miracle, because I've actually managed to fully restore my eyesight that way! I've followed a russian course myself, which is a course for general self-healing, and that helped me restore my eyesight fairly quickly, which I'm *really* happy about! I've actually noticed a load of other stuff starting to happen once I've restored my vision, like my concentration level went up *enormously*, for example. I can really see it, and, believe me, it helps a TONNE in anything that you do.
Very pewerful stuff, the effectiveness of which is not to be underestimated. Vision-corrective eye exercises (coupled with mind work) work very well, when done correctly.
I've even created a step-by-step guide, detailing the exact steps I took, which I was giving away at first, and now am selling as suggested by friends (I won't give a link out here, unless someone asks, as it would be calssified as spamming otherwise). And the really cool thing is that they are so simple, they only take 30 mins a day, 4 days a week! E.g. when you work with a pc, read a book, or when you are doing anything else that requires you to stare at it for a long time, especially close up, you need look around the room, look into the distance now and again. If you do that, your eyesight will NOT get worse. Otherwise, it WILL - it's only normal, only common sense. It took me a great amount of time to learn and understand all this (because I wanted to understand more), but now that I know this, I'll never let-
Andrei :
01 Oct 2008 10:58:11pm
my eyesight deteriorate ever again. As soon as it deteriorating (now probably not earlier than when I'm well over 40 - I hope time won't go too quickly!!), I know *exactly* what to do.
If you do start noticing your eyesight worsening, then you can start doing more exercises - move your eyes up, down, left, right, look onto your nose etc - do this for a couple of mins once every hour or so, then close your eyes and relax. If you put your hands over your face, so that your eyes are right in the middle of your palms, with no light getting through, and stay like this for a minimum of 3 mins, then your eyes will relax and you'll see a huge improvement for a moment - every day you'll notice a slight improvement in your vision, right until the moment when you fully restore it.-
ABC (Moderator):
03 Oct 2008 10:50:04am
Eye exercises can only help certain eye conditions. They can not restore vision for people with many age-related conditions such as macular degeneration, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy. If you have problems with your vision seek treatment advice from a qualified health professional.
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unknown :
30 Jun 2008 5:47:48am
To get better results from carrots, try juicing them. It has been proven that juicing will give your body more of the Vitamin then eating it.
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Matabele :
13 Apr 2008 9:50:02am
Surely the claim that carrots improve eyesight comes from the myth the RAF used during WWII. The Germans, we are told, couldn't figure out how the British fighters could find the German bombers in the dark. The British had invented Radar, of course, and the carrot myth was used to confuse the enemy.
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Tony Barca :
09 Apr 2008 12:51:16pm
I have machula adema in the back of my eyes from diabetes type !!. Can you suggest anything that can help me.
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ABC (Moderator):
10 Apr 2008 9:08:14am
Unfortunately we cannot provide individual medical advice; treatment options are best advised by your doctor or eye specialist. For general information you might like to read this page on the Victorian Government's Better Health Channel site: Diabetic retinopathy.
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Anonymous :
26 Mar 2008 10:42:30am
There are so many problems with this article I don't know where to start.
Firstly, somebody please tell me their conept of a balanced diet? If you believe the illustrious 5 food groups we have problems. Initially they were designed as a result of large advertising campaign aimed
- billions spent in creating and advertising products that are less healthy for us than the basic foods that nature provides.
- Basic 4 / 5 created by food industry giants- wheat (or breakfast cereal), dairy & meat- supported by medical kingdom and educational system.
Secondly, cummulative toxicity of retinoids may occur at levels of 100,000 IU; for comparison the RDI in Australia is 2500IU; and short term treatment levels range form 10,000-50,000 IU. Don't think we are really at risk of toxicity!
Thirdly, our profit- oriented industry often has more influence on our diet and health than do informed parents and nutritionists.
For those cynics, as retinaldehyde, vitamin A is an integral part of rhodopsin, the light sensitve portion in the retina.
And do some research....Vitamin A has chemopreventative properties -
Gabrielle Cusack :
26 Mar 2008 12:36:10am
I was only in my 40s when I noticed my night vision deteriorating significantly.
Years later, I found that I had coeliac disease which disturbs absorption of vitamins and minerals and requires a gluten-free diet.Don't ignore this symptom. -
Adrienne Walker :
25 Mar 2008 5:06:06pm
I agree with Paul Murray . My father was a pilot in WW2 in th eUK.He always related the same story that eating carrots was used to explain the improvement in vision, as a subterfuge to prevent the German forces from suspecting the discovery/implementation of radar.
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Paul Murray :
21 Mar 2008 2:30:47pm
My understanding of this is that the carrots/eyesight canard was invented by the Allies in WWII to explain why their fighters were so good at locating German bombers. The truth what that the allies had invented radar, and didn't want the Germans to know.
See http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/carrots.asp -
k.zwart :
20 Mar 2008 9:50:46pm
It is known that rabbits eat a lot of carrots and it
is also known that none of them wear glasses........
so , eat a lot of carrots-
Cecilia :
21 Mar 2008 12:00:07am
Rabbits don't ALWAYS eat carrots. Animals eat what their organism requires; they are smarter,not foolish. Eating a balanced and varied diet is the key to stay healthy.
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Steven :
21 Mar 2008 5:55:43am
If they listened to their grandmothers they would always eat their carrots. Instead they hang around on street corners eating junk food and listening to loud music - I've seen them, and they'll probably regret it when they get older.
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Buggs :
08 Apr 2008 10:58:30am
Buggs Bunny always ate his carrots and he didn't wear glasses
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Barbara :
22 Mar 2008 4:39:30pm
They could be wearing contact lenses
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