A few grapes a day could keep the optometrist away, a new study suggests.
This is great news for those who don’t like carrots — the other eye-healthy produce: Researchers in Singapore have found evidence that eating grapes comes with big perks for your peepers.
At the center of their research was the question of whether consuming antioxidant-rich foods has a direct impact on the overall health of the eye — which they measured by signs of oxidative stress, particularly high levels of ocular advanced glycation end products (AGEs), harmful compounds that have been linked to various eye diseases.
“Our study is the first to show that grape consumption beneficially impacts eye health in humans which is very exciting, especially with a growing aging population,” said study author Dr. Jung Eun Kim in a statement.
Kim’s report, published in Food & Function, discussed an experiment involving 34 adults who ate either one-and-a-half cups of grapes per day or a placebo snack for 16 weeks consecutively. In the double-blind, randomized study, neither participants nor researchers knew if they were eating the placebo or the target food.
The team from the National University of Singapore found that participants who ate grapes had clearly benefited from improved antioxidant abilities as well as macular pigment in the retina, which protects your eyes from damaging blue light.
Meanwhile, those who ate the placebo saw a “significant increase” in AGEs.
Kim concluded that enjoying just a “normal amount” of grapes — about 2-3 handfuls — every single day could be a healthy habit that preserves your vision longer: “Grapes are an easy, accessible fruit that studies have shown can have a beneficial impact.”
