Eye Tips

Are Your Habits Hurting Your Eyes ?

The habit: reading in low light.
The truth: “Eyes can work well even in dim light. In fact, this helps the ocular muscles react optimally—provided that you’re not in the pitch dark, of course—and that can keep your vision sharper longer,” says optometrist Hilary L. Hawthorne, a trustee of the American Optometric Association.
The habit: waiting to get a stronger prescription for glasses or contact lenses.
The truth: Using a weak prescription won’t necessarily make eyes worse. The problem is that “the symptoms, like blurred vision, that are prompting you to get a stronger prescription may be caused by a more serious, undetected problem, such as cataracts,” says Hawthorne. And that can be caught only with a comprehensive eye exam.
The habit: constantly using eyedrops that reduce redness.
The truth: Doctors don’t recommend long-term use of redness-alleviating drops. Although initially they help to restrict the blood vessels in the eyes (“getting the red out”), that effect eventually wears off and causes a rebound effect. “You’ll have a much redder eye that’s resistant to the drops,” says Hawthorne. Instead, use artificial tears (made with saline) as recommended by your doctor.

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Diet control and Exercise

Looking for the path toward a healthier you? It's not hard to find. The journey begins with some simple tweaks to your lifestyle. The right diet, exercise, and stress-relief plan all play a big role.

Follow a Heart-Healthy Diet

There's an easy recipe if your goal is to keep away problems like heart disease and strokes.

• Eat more fruits and veggies.
• Choose whole grains. Try brown rice instead of white. Switch to whole wheat pasta.
• Choose lean proteins like poultry, fish, beans, and legumes.
• Cut down on processed foods, sugar, salt, and saturated fat.

When eating healthy, flexibility often works best, says Joyce Meng, MD, assistant professor at the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at UConn Health. If you like to follow a strict diet plan, go for it. If not, it's OK. "Find what works for you."

Tricia Montgomery, 52, the founder of K9 Fit Club, knows first-hand how the right diet and lifestyle can help. For her, choosing healthy foods and planning small, frequent meals works well. "I don't deny myself anything," she says. "I still have dessert -- key lime pie, yum! -- and I love frozen gummy bears, but moderation is key."

Exercise Every Day

The more active you are, the better, Meng says. Exercise boosts your heart health, builds muscle and bone strength, and wards off health problems.

Aim for 2 and a half hours of moderate activity, like brisk walking or dancing, every week. If you're OK with vigorous exercise, stick to 1 hour and 15 minutes a week of things like running or playing tennis. Add a couple of days of strength training, too.

If you're busy, try short bursts of activity throughout the day. Walk often. A good target is 10,000 steps a day. Take the stairs. Park your car far away from your destination.

Montgomery exercises every day, often with her dog. By adding lunges, squats, and stairs to a walk, she turns it into a power workout. "I also am a huge Pilates fan," she says.

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10 Health Tips

1. Eat Right

This can seem difficult in college but, when broken down, is a bit more attainable. Try to follow some simple principles like: always eat breakfast, never skip meals and snack regularly to avoid hunger.

Balance your meals by ensuring you have the proper amounts of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy and proteins while leaving sugary and fatty foods by the wayside.

2. Exercise

Keeping your body healthy and in shape is important. It doesn’t have to be extreme either! Walk to your classes, take a class that involves physical fitness or check out the student facilities your campus offers for students to utilize.

3. Get Enough Sleep

It can be difficult to ensure you’re getting enough sleep when you’ve got a huge load of class work, piled on top of all your other commitments or when your friends are staying out all night partying. But getting enough sleep can really improve your overall health and wellness. For college students, experts recommend seven to nine hours nightly.

In addition, try to stick to a sleep schedule so that you can stay well-rested throughout the day.

So stay asleep, turn off the lights and all of your electronic devices. Also, try not to eat or drink caffeinated beverages near bedtime.

4. Wash Your Hands

It’s so easy for students to spread germs to one another and not washing your hands makes it even easier to do so! Hand washing is such a simple way to prevent germs from spreading from many illnesses.

Wash your hands throughout the day but especially before mealtime, when you’ve been around people that are sick and whenever you touch your eyes, nose or mouth.

5. Don’t Smoke

Even smoking occasionally can put your life at risk. Do we really need to elaborate? If you’d like help quitting, your student health center has many programs that can assist you.

6. Avoid Caffeine and Sugary Drinks

Foods that are high in protein and fiber are way better for you in the long run since caffeinated and sugary drinks seems like a great choice for studying until you crash later on.

7. Get a Flu Shot

It’s always better to be safe than sorry and getting a flu shot is no exception. It’s one of the easiest ways to avoid illness. Trust us, come flu season, you’ll be happy you did.

8. Drink Lots of Water

Staying hydrated will give you more energy throughout the day, reinvigorates your body, stops you from overeating and aids in concentration. It also helps prevent those pesky headaches so fill up your water bottle daily.

Remember to reuse a refillable bottle rather than wasting plastic, which is bad for the environment!

9. Relax

It’s all too easy to get stressed but being overly stressed can cause a variety of  health issues. Make sure to give yourself plenty of breaks, maintain a healthy routine on a daily basis and always have time to do activities that are low-stress like hobbies, hanging out with friends and exercising.

10. Avoid Tanning and Wear Sunscreen

The beach is relaxing and fun and we’re not saying to avoid it all together, just lather up in sunscreen to avoid the unhealthy side effects that come along with it. Reapply every two to three hours to make sure you’re fully protected.

Make sure you avoid harmful tanning salon beds because putting yourself at risk for skin cancer is definitely not worth the risk of a little color.

If you feel you must have some summer glow, try a healthier alternative of a sunless tanner. There are plenty of realistic looking options out there that don’t have the deadly cancerous side effects!

What other health tips would you share with students?

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