Can you improve your night vision with carrots?
Yes, but other techniques and foods may be even better.
Night driving and bombing in World War II: why do we think carrots are good for night vision? Read on--
We all wish we had youthful nighttime vision, and/or maybe some night vision goggles, to help us when driving at night. Poorly lit roads, swirly paths, and fleeing animals are just some of our troubles. And I worry about nighttime road exercisers wearing only black—yes there are some of those still wearing only black in Cleveland surroundings that temp fate.
Further making nighttime roads more hazardous is the glare of lights from oncoming traffic-- exactly what older adults’ eyes despise. Let’s dig into why Popeye trumps Bugs Bunny.
Your eyes are comprised of two main photoreceptor types–rods and cones. Rods can be found in the outer retina, used for scotopic (low light levels) vision, and are involved in seeing light or dark. Cones are based in the center of the retina, used for photopic vision (high light levels), and are involved in seeing colors.
As individuals age, the rods in our eyes begin to deteriorate before the cones, meaning that your world becomes darker as you age. According to John Bullough, director at the Light and Health Research Center at Mount Sinai’s Hospital’s Icahn School of Medicine in New York City “By the time we hit our 60s…the backs of our eyes are receiving only one-third the light they did when we were 20.” Now, this shift in your vision may feel less apparent to you because it is such a gradual change.
Though you may not have any vision loss when driving at night now, approximately 25% of automotive travel occurs at night, yet double that--half of driver fatalities occur at night, and nearly triple that--over 70% of all pedestrian deaths occur during dark driving times (https://www.aaam.org/nighttime-driving/)
These disproportionate injuries and deaths demonstrate the dangers of driving in the dark for not only the people behind the wheel but the ones walking on the road too.
Driving at night can prove to be difficult for us all– with deer sprinting across the road and bright lights from cars racing down the freeway causing glare. Here are some recommendations for you to be safer on dark roads:
1. Make sure your headlights are bright, aligned, and clean. In addition, ensure your windshield is clean withoutstreaks, so you can see all objects ahead of you (cars, pedestrians, and animals).
2. When bright lights engulf you, look down and focus on the solid white line. That helps you stay in your lane.
3. Get a newercar. In most cases, these cars have brighter headlights, cruise control, lane control, side warning lights, and additional safety features. Or if you are to take a trip with potential of driving at night and have an older model car, rent a new one.
4. When you are driving at night, reduce your speed . This gives you more time to react to objects ahead of you.(https://www.nsc.org/road/safety-topics/driving-at-night)
5. If you are feeling tired before you get on the road, have a gulp of coffee or pull off. It’s better to be up a few hours into the night than to get into a horrific accident.
6. Avoid driving at night overall. Try to schedule your appointments and events earlier on in the day, so you won’t have to grapple with this issue.
7. After the age of 40, schedule yearly eye doctor appointments. Your doctor will get you the help that you need and direct you to extra resources.
8. Practice speed of processing games. These exercises will help your eyes and brain perceive objects in the periphery better, allowing you to know about hazards and pedestrians etc. These games also train you so you can adjust faster to quick and sudden changes.
9. Avoid air pollution and being near wildfires without a N-95 and goggles-- as air pollution increases inflammation and destruction of retinal cells --but more on wildfire caused inflammation and what to do about it next week. ( Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Mar 8;20(6):4766. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20064766. )
If you want to help your eyes be the best that they can be, here are a few suggestions on what you can do daily. Refrain from smoking and vaping which are practices that are very damaging to the eyes and increase the risk of being diagnosed with cataracts or AMD. A healthy diet, and eating fish like salmon will help you in many facets of life including your vision health.
So how did carrots get known for improving night vision? During World War II, the British Royal Air Force developed and deployed radar. But they didn’t want the Germans to know about it. And the British were winning the battles with German pilots due to this newly developed and deployed radar. So, to divert the German’s from discovering the radar systems, the British heralded the increased diet for pilots of carrots for being able to improve nighttime vision. (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-wwii-propaganda-campaign-popularized-the-myth-that-carrots-help-you-see-in-the-dark-28812484/)
Carrots maybe, but spinach certainly—Sure, carrots contain beta carotene (commonly known as a form of Vitamin A) and lutein (type of carotenoid that acts as an antioxidant) which can nurture overall eye health. Although, they do not improve the eye health of an individual who has less than perfect vision unrelated to Vitamin A deficiencies or to lack of lutein. (https://gaileyeyeclinic.com/carrots-actually-improve-eyesight/#:~:text=A%20diet%20of%20carrots%20won,vitamin%20A%20can%20cause%20blindness.)
Also, manage your diabetes to limit the eye damage along with the development of other conditions including glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic macular edema and diabetic retinopathy. (https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/preventing-problems/diabetic-eye-disease#:~:text=Diabetic%20eye%20disease%20is%20a,poor%20vision%20or%20even%20blindness.)
Thanks for reading…
Mike Roizen MD
PS by the way, we are still teaching a great Longevity Cooking, adventure and course in Lecce, Italy near the Adriatic Coast in late October: it was incredible fun last year –there are still 5 places available so do not delay signing up---
https://awaitingtable.com/cookery-courses-italy/long-courses/how-to-eat-and-drink/
here is a link to the video from last year: