Omega 3 And Dry Eyes

Recent research indicates that increasing your omega 3 intake can help to reduce dry eye symptoms, whereas a diet rich in omega 6 increases dry eye symptoms.

Unfortunately, western diets are overloaded with omega 6 fatty acids (from vegetable oils and animal fats) and lack in healthy omega 3's from cold water fish, nuts, flaxseeds and other sources. This increases the risk of developing dry eye. Currently, about 8 million U.S. residents have dry eye symptoms, most of them women.

Studies, conducted by Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Schepens Eye Research Institute (SERI) in Boston clearly suggest the positive effects of omega 3 fatty acids towards relieving dry eye symptoms:

A group of women were tested who consumed at least five servings of tuna weekly - the results showed a very impressive reduction of dry eye symptoms by a factor of 68%, compared to a second group of women who had only one serving of tuna a week.

Other studies however showed that women who consumed proportionately higher amounts of omega 6 fatty acids were more likely to experience increased symptoms of dry eye.

About 37,000 women participated in the study on the relationship between dry eye symptoms and fatty acids.

Other studies also showed positive results in reducing dry eye, when flaxseed oil was added to the diet. As mentioned above, flaxseed oil is one of the richest sources of omega 3. Best results were obtained, when flaxseed oil was combined with fish oil. Make sure to use the freshest possible sources of flaxseed oil to get optimal results.

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