Ocular Supplements

Common Ingredients

Remember how your mom would always nag you about eating your carrots, because it was good for your eyes? Turns out she was right on the money, after all. Here is a list of common ingredients in ocular supplements.

• Beta carotene
• Lutein
• Folic acid
• Vitamin C and E
• Zinc
• Selenium
• Taurine
• Chromium

All of these are naturally occurring vitamins and minerals with proven health benefits, including benefits for eyes. You'll also note that you can get plenty of all the above simply through eating a balanced diet. Carrots are packed with beta carotene, bell peppers have loads of vitamin C , many nuts are rich in vitamin E and so forth. In a perfect world, good eating habits would essentially make ocular supplements unnecessary.

If you can't adhere to a good diet all the time, there's absolutely nothing wrong with popping a pill to cover the gap, however. In fact, many manufacturers include a number of more obscure ingredients that purport to have beneficial properties for eye health.

• Glutahione: An antioxidant to prevent cell breakdown in the retina.
• Bilberry extract: Helps preserve night vision.
• Quercitin: Another antioxidant similar to glutathione.
• Zeaxanthin: Protects the eye from the continuous wear of letting in light.
• Gochee berry: Is thought to strengthen the fine network of blood vessels in the eye.
• Ginko biloba: Another herb for improving the blood vessel flow.
• Ginseng: General health herb intended to combat whatever unforeseen problems might occur in the eye.

Naturally, the traditional medical community has reservations about the efficiency and usefulness of much of the above. In fact, some experts have expressed concerns about the safety of ocular supplements in general and those packed with exotic herbs in particular, suggesting they may actually cause damage in the eye and elsewhere. In fairness, most such cases are due to overdosing and ill-informed self-medication therapies; popping an over-the-counter ocular supplement each morning is highly unlikely to have any negative effect.

Still, be aware that supplements such as Ginseng can cause heart palpitations, sleeplessness, muscle tensions and swelling when overdosed (a possibility if you also take daily multivitamin supplement fortified with Ginseng, for example). Ginkgo is another low toxicity but potentially troublesome herb if overdosed, particularly if you have a medical condition. Bottom line: Consult with your doctor if you're on medication, take additional supplements or have other possible concerns regarding the safety of these and other herbs.

More on Ocular Supplements

As always, be aware of the snake oil peddlers out there. As the population ages, more and more are looking for ways to preserve eye health. This spells opportunity for making a quick buck slapping together a glitzy marketing campaign with a poor product. Be sure to read the labels closely and research the brand online; ConsumerLabs is a good place to start.

Finally, if you experience problems with your eyes -- dryness, loss of night vision etc. -- make checking with your doctor the first step, not the last resort after having experimented with various ocular supplements for a year or two beforehand. There are ills that can affect the eyes with little connection to your eating habits, so play it safe.