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It feels great tobe one of the first people to Instagrammermaid toastor your early-morning workout with your furry BFF. And when its Bachelorette time, does an episodeeven happen if you dont live-tweet it?

All that time looking at screens (and the potentially eye-damaging blue lightthey emit) adds up, thoughespecially sinceyoublink 66 percent less than normal while checkingyour iPhone or watching videoson your laptop,studies show.

Think about how much of your day is spent looking at illuminated digital data: To start off, theres (at least) eight hours at the officeusing your work computer. Plus,the average American looks at their phone 76 timesper dayfor a total of 145 minutes. (A really good argument for ditching your phone on vacation, BTW.) And that doesnt even figure in Netflix binges(hello, nightly hit of Friends, a la Emma Watson).

So how do you know how much is too much? Is it even such a big deal?

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Symptoms like blurred or double vision, fatigue, or recurring headaches are a tipoff. But the best way to assess things is to visit your optometristtheres no hiding that late-night Instagram scrolling habit from them. They can tell if screens are hurting your eyes, even if you dont have any of the tell-tale signs, says Linda Chous, MD,optometrist and chief eye care officer of UnitedHealthcare.

There are muscles inside the eyes that have to work for us to see up close, and Dr. Chous says they have all a few tests to see how those muscles are workingwhich is a good reason to keep optometrists on your medical calendar (along with the gyno, dentist, and dermatologist). Theres no need to see your eye doctor as often as your main MD, but booking some face time every two years is ideal, Dr. Chous says.

Just because you have 20/20 vision doesnt mean you have healthy eyes. It can give you a false sense of security.

Just because you have 20/20 vision doesnt mean you have healthy eyes, she says. It can give you a false sense of security. Dr. Chous explains that the eyes truly are windows to the rest of the body, and often they can providecues for things to look out for, like diabetes or high-blood pressure.

The takeaway: Make a regular date with your optometrist toavoid stressing out about your screen time year-round. Best-case scenario? Youre all good. Or maybe you just need your prescription tweaked. Worst-case? You come up with a plan together.

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Maybe you already know staring at a computer all day at work is messing with your visionyou can feel it. Or your eye doctor literally told you that you needed to chill with the screen time. (There isnt a hard-and-fast rule when it comes to how many hours is bad, so let your doctorand your eyesbe your guide.) So what do you do? James Stringham, PhD, who specializes in neurology and vision, says the first thing to do is fill up on more greens.

Leafy greens are full of luteinand zeaxanthin, two specific types of antioxidantsthat are vital for vision, he says. Dr. Stringham explains that theyre highly concentrated in eye tissue, which the blue light from screens can damage. When that happens, people can start experiencing headaches or migraines, he says.

Leafy greens are full of luteinand zeaxanthin, two specific types of antioxidantsthat are vital for vision.

Ideally, Dr. Stringham says people need 26 milligrams of the two antioxidants each dayabout two cups of spinach. But most people dont get that, and may opt to pop a supplement. (In fact, Dr. Stringham has been helping develop one, Blutein, which will be available next month at Vitamin Shoppe.) He says some professional athletes even take the two so-called eye vitaminsto speed up how quickly their eyes react to a moving target. Some other foods withlutein and zeaxanthin: eggs, zucchini, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts.

What about those blue light-fighting glasses that are gaining traction?Dr. Stringham says if youre getting enough bluetein and zeaxanthin, they arent necessary. Wearing glasses doesnt give you the other benefits filling up on the healthy foods wouldlutein and zeaxanthin is in your brain too, so getting enough is important for cognitive function as well, he says.

A breakdown in vision, he points out, is yet another sign of inflammation. So when you fill up on foods that fight that, it does your whole body good.

This inflammation-fighting food pyramid can help you build the ultimate healthy meal planand here are a few recipes, if you need guidance.

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Do you really need to be worried about all that screen time? - Well+Good

This entry was posted on June 6, 2017 at 11:45 pm and is filed under Eye Sight & Vision. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |