Glaucoma is a leading cause of vision loss, often developing silently until damage is advanced. It’s actually a group of eye conditions that damage the optic nerve – often due to increased pressure inside the eye – leading to gradual, irreversible vision loss.

Emerging research suggests that what you eat – especially leafy greens rich in nitrates and antioxidants – may play a meaningful role in protecting your eyes. Here’s how adding more greens to your diet can help reduce your risk.

The Benefits of Leafy Greens

  1. Glaucoma is caused by a blockage in the eye that prevents fluid from draining away causing increased pressure.
  2. The disease often manifests itself slowly over a number of years causing gradual loss of vision from the periphery and typically causes sensitivity to light.
  3. It develops so slowly that often people do not notice their peripheral vision is failing. The area of vision becomes narrower as the disease progresses.
  4. Chronic open-angle glaucoma affects up to two in every 100 people over 40 years old and around five in every 100 people over 80 years old.
  5. It is thought that leafy vegetables improve blood circulation to the optic nerve which is impaired in people with the glaucoma.
  6. Researchers have found that greater intake of dietary nitrate and green leafy vegetables was associated with a 20 percent to 30 percent lower risk from regular glaucoma and up to 50 per cent for glaucoma with central vision loss.
  7. People who eat at least 240mg of nitrate – which is found in vegetables like spinach – were 30 per cent less likely to develop glaucoma.
  8. People would need to eat just two cupfuls of lettuce each day to achieve the same result.
  9. Research that looked at the records of more than 100,000 middle aged people suggests that thousands of cases of the disease could be prevented.
  10. A diet high in leafy greens like lettuce is not only a preventative for glaucoma but can also prevent blindness in later life.