Eat This High-Protein Breakfast Food To Improve Your Eye Health
What was on your breakfast menu this morning? Did you even eat breakfast? Even if you're into intermittent fasting, breaking your fast before you begin the activities of your day gives your body energy and your brain a boost. You don't want to start that morning meeting with brain fog. A good breakfast also helps you make smarter food choices the rest of your day, keeping your body and mind in optimum health (per Better Health Channel).
The American Society for Nutrition says breakfast is a great time to get in some of your daily protein. By spreading your protein needs throughout your day, your body can use this protein more efficiently to fuel your muscles and balance your glucose levels. A good breakfast will also have some key nutrients to sustain your health.
To keep your eyes healthy, you'll need nutrients like lutein, zeaxanthin, vitamin E, and zinc, according to the American Optometric Association. You can find many of these nutrients in fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Adding an egg or two to your breakfast each day can also provide many of these nutrients to boost your eye health.
Eggs for eye health
A large egg has 72 calories and 6 grams of protein, but your eyes will love the 116 micrograms of lutein and 115 micrograms of zeaxanthin. These two carotenoids protect your eyes from the harsh blue light from your digital devices while improving the function of your retina, according to the Assil Gaur Eye Institute. These antioxidants also fight off free radicals in your eyes. Eggs also have vitamin A to preserve your retina and cornea.
The nutrients in eggs can protect your eyes from specific conditions. A 2020 study in Clinical Nutrition found that people eating two to four eggs per week had a reduced risk of developing late-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD) than people who ate less than a single egg per week. Even if people had already developed early-stage AMD, they were less likely to develop late-stage AMD if they ate more eggs.
Eggs that are enriched with lutein and DHA might improve age-related eye problems, according to a 2022 study in the Journal of Functional Foods. Thirty people ate two enriched eggs every day for six weeks. After six weeks, the people's eye function improved without adversely affecting their cholesterol levels.
Other health benefits of eggs
In the past, people abandoned eggs from their diet for fear of increasing their blood cholesterol. The USDA later decided that diets no longer needed an upper limit for dietary cholesterol, allowing people the freedom to consume the yolk again. According to a 2022 article in Nutrients, eggs provide high-quality protein to your diet without adding a ton of extra calories, and the protein in eggs is better digested than plant protein to help your body build muscle. Eggs also help older adults sustain muscle and lower the risk of sarcopenia. The protein in eggs can help with weight loss because it suppresses the hormone responsible for hunger.
The 169 milligrams of choline you get in an egg yolk might also improve your brain health, according to a 2023 study in Lipids in Health and Disease. Middle-aged or elderly adults without dementia took an egg yolk choline supplement or a choline-free egg yolk supplement for 12 weeks. The group taking egg yolk choline showed improved verbal memory scores compared to the placebo group. However, the choline group also had lower scores in processing speed, symbol digit coding, and physical quality of life compared to the placebo group after six weeks.