Indulge in good eye health with dark chocolate and wine.
Need a reason to clink glasses this week? A glass of red wine and a few squares of dark chocolate are chock full of powerful antioxidants that can protect your eyes from certain diseases.
But, as with all things in life, moderation is key, says Dr. Troy Ogden, optometrist and co-owner of Downtown Vision in Reno and Carson City.
“Dark chocolate and wine are full of flavonoids, a powerful antioxidant, and the more flavonoids we have in our diets, the less likely we are to get cataracts and macular degeneration,” Ogden explains. “But don’t have a bottle of wine and a pound of chocolate every day! A few squares and a glass of red wine once or twice a week as part of an overall well-balanced diet will suffice.”
As the eye ages, proteins in the lens begin to break down and clump together, creating a cloudy area known as a cataract, which impedes vision. Macular degeneration occurs as aging damages the macula in the retina, causing blurred or reduced central vision.
Flavonoids, a large group of phytonutrients found in fruits, vegetables, grains, bark, roots, stems, flowers, tea, and wine, have been shown to have “antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic, vasodilatory, and antitumor effects,” according to the American Optometric Association.
To reap the benefits of flavanol, the flavonoid found in highest concentrations in cacao beans, buy high-quality dark chocolate with at least 70 percent cacao.
“Milk chocolate is mostly milk, sugar, and only a little bit of actual cacao,” Ogden notes.
The flavonoid found in the skins of red grapes, and thus red wine, is called resveratrol. Research has shown that resveratrol helps stop blood vessels from being damaged and protects against cataracts and macular degeneration.
Overconsumption of red wine, however, will have the opposite effect in the long run.
“With excess consumption, you run into problems with your liver. If you damage the liver, which gets rid of toxins, you would leave more toxins in the body and potentially cause more damage to the eye,” Ogden explains.
But limited quantities of dark chocolate and red wine won’t make a difference to overall health, and consequently the health of your eyes, if it isn’t part of a broader healthy lifestyle and diet.
“Take care of the overall you, and it helps to take care of the eyes along with it. Moderation and variety are everything,” Ogden says.
For details about eye health and to find out how to schedule an appointment, visit Downtownvisionnv.com.
