Apricots and Eye Health

Apricots are an excellent source of vitamin A, which helps maintain good vision and overall eye health. One apricot has 13 percent of your daily value for vitamin A.

Rich in vitamins and antioxidants, apricots are among the foods that help protect your eyesight. Research suggests that eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular degeneration by 36 percent compared with people who consume fewer than 1.5 servings of fruit daily. Macular degeneration is a leading cause of vision loss among those over the age of 65.

Apricots are particularly beneficial to eye health because they contain vitamins A, C and E and carotenoids, which serve to absorb damaging blue and near-ultraviolet light in order to protect the retina part of the eye. The retina is the part of the eye with the sharpest vision.

The vitamins and antioxidants in apricots also protect the lenses of the eyes by blocking cell-damaging free radicals. Cataracts are another common eye disease, and high vitamin A consumption has been linked to a reduced risk of developing cataracts.

Eat an apricot a day throughout the summer months to keep the eye doctor away!