Dark Chocolate Improves Night Vision -- and More!
Nope, the title to this hub is not a mistake. This research project has brought some interesting results. First the information I found on carrots, and then I will get to the new findings on chocolate . . . yes, chocolate! Chocolate can improve your eyesight!! And that’s not all.
Can carrots make your eyesight better? Some people think they can while other people think not. I have been told all of my life that eating carrots will make my eyesight better. Recently a friend told me that generally accepted belief had turned out to be wrong. My friend told me that the generally accepted belief that carrots can improve a person's eyesight, and especially their night vision, had been debunked.
Since I know carrots contain beta-carotene (learned that in my nutrition class at the university), and that beta-carotene can be turned into vitamin A by the liver, and that vitamin A is directly related to healthy eyes and eyesight, in my mind I questioned my friend’s statement. Then an idea for a new hub was born!
Vitamin A Is An Important Ingredient In Your Diet
Vitamin A has always been considered important for a lot of things, but it is believed to contribute especially to good eye health and vision. I did not challenge my friend’s statement at the time -- that eating carrots had no effect on eyesight. Instead, I decided I would research whether or not it was still considered true that carrots do in fact improve a person’s eyesight. I just wanted to see if something had changed since I took that nutrition class at the university nearly 10 years ago.
Yes, believe it or not, things that have been considered scientific facts for a long time are sometimes changing as new information is discovered. Our new and improved technology is making it possible to learn more details about things we thought we knew, and sometimes that means modifying or completely changing what were previously thought to be scientific facts. So rather than arguing with my friend, I decided to do a little research to see what I would find.
Most eye specialists still agree that carrots can improve nutrition, which in turn will improve eyesight – if that vision problem is attributable to poor nutrit
“According to Dr Amy Chow, O.D, an eye doctor at Cupertino Family Eye Care Center, carrots can improve your eyesight. They contain beta-carotene, which is turned into vitamin A by the liver. The vitamin A is absorbed by retinal cells in the eyes so you can see,” (Robbertt).
Professor Algis Vingrys of the University of Melbourne's Department of Optometry and Vision Services, is reported on ABC’s Health and Well Being blog as saying, “A diet with sufficient vitamin A, iron and other provitamins (substances that our bodies can convert into vitamins) is vital for eye health, (Ryan).
According to Professor Vingrys, night blindness may be the first sign of vitamin A deficiency, and that vitamin A deficiency is usually quite severe by the time night blindness is noticed as a problem by an individual. He also says eating carrots can improve night vision if you have a vitamin A deficiency, but if your diet is already balanced, eating more carrots will have no affect.
Cheryl Murphy, Optometrist, writing on the Scientific American blog, expresses it somewhat differently. She agrees that proper nutrition is important for healthy eyes and can even help slow the advancement of certain eye conditions and diseases like cataracts and macular degeneration, but she says there is no magical cure for the need for glasses or contacts.
Carrots Can Improve a Person’s Eyesight
So it turns out that carrots can help a person’s eyesight, because vitamin A (manufactured by the human body from beta carotene) directly effects eye health, vision, and night vision. Carrots are a good source of beta carotene, so they are a good way to get the necessary vitamin A your body needs to be healthy -- not limited to just effecting your vision.
In fact, according to the experts in vision that I found listed on the Internet, and there are many more than I have listed in my reference section, if one is deficient in vitamin A, then eating carrots can improve one’s vision and one’s health generally. Will eating carrots improve a person’s eyesight to the point where they will no longer require corrective lenses? Not likely.
More About the Benefits of Dark Chocolate
- Benefits Of Dark Chocolate
Dark Chocolate is the healthiest of all the types of chocolates. To know all about chocolates and the benefits of dark chocolate, read on...
Chocolate Lovers Rejoice! Dark Chocolate Improves Eyesight!
Interestingly, Cheryl Murphy talks about a study that was done this last May on the effect of cocoa flavanols. The study found that persons who consumed dark chocolate showed improvement in both cognitive and visual performance in as little as two hours after eating the dark chocolate!
So, what it seems to boil down to is that carrots are a good source of beta-carotene, which the human body turns into vitamin A, which in turn contributes to better overall heath as well as healthy eyes and better night vision.
Eating carrots can help improve your vision if your vision is defective because of poor nutrition, but if your poor vision is a result of genetics, or some other cause than poor nutrition, eating carrots is not likely to help.
More studies are needed according to Cheryl Murphy, but it is looking like eating dark chocolate may actually help improve your eyesight more than carrots do! How long before mothers everywhere are saying to their children, “Finish your chocolate Sweetheart, so you will grow strong and have good eyesight!”
References for this hub:
Robbertt. Do Carrots Improve Your Eyesight? Healthmad.com. 26 May 2008. Online. Internet. 25 November 2011. Available http://healthmad.com/health/do-carrots-improve-your-eyesight/
Ryan, Claudine. Can Eating Carrots Improve Your Eyesight? ABC Health and Well Being. 19 March 2008. Online. Internet. 25 November 2011. Available http://www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghealth/factbuster/stories/2008/03/19/2176569.htmhttp://www.abc.net.au/health/talkinghealth/factbuster/stories/2008/03/19/2176569.htm
Murphy, Cheryl. Will Carrots Help You See Better? No, But Chocolate Might. Scientific American. 3 August 2011. Online. Internet. 25 November 2011. Available http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2011/08/03/will-carrots-help-you-see-better-no-but-chocolate-might/
© 2011 C E Clark
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Comments
AUTHORPatricia (pstraubie48), thank you for reading and voting on and sharing this article! Thank you for the angels also, and may there be plenty more to be with you and your loved ones at all times.
In fact carrots are still very helpful to sight, day and night sight, and dark chocolate is even better, so your idea of dipping carrots in dark chocolate is an excellent one. At the same time, dark chocolate makes the brain operate more clearly and thinking becomes easier and better. Lots of benefits from eating the very dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa. :)
My solution will be to eat carrots slathered with dark chocolate.
Thanks for the heads up.
I am often amused when we are told that something we believed as true is said to be not true. I just wonder how many years it will be till the pendulum swings the other way
I guess we just need to eat healthy all the way around and that should cover it.
Gotta' share this...it will make a lot of people happy
Angels are on the way to you ps
shared and voted up+++
- AUTHOR
Peggy W, thank you for sharing this article! Dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa, is good for your eyesight, your cognitive abilities, and more.
It has been a while since I have done all the sharing of this informative hub so will do so again. Halloween night seems perfect to consume a bit of chocolate. Our preference these days is the dark kind. Happy Halloween!
- AUTHOR
RTalloni, thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
- AUTHOR
Peggy W, thank you for Google+ing and sharing this article!
- AUTHOR
Lady Guinevere, thank you for stopping by!
Am finding it difficult to believe I am just now seeing this. Perhaps I was interrupted by a call when I first saw it, but I suspect I may have decided to go for my daily dose of dark chocolate which often requires a cup of coffee on the front porch which can lead to a neighbor stopping in and by then I might have forgotten to come back to this interesting hub. Anyway, that chocolate has more benefits than carrots is not common knowledge. Oh to be a kid in such a day as you predict! Also, we may have to stock up and hide stashes once rabbits get wind of this… :)
Good for me! More dark chocolate!! Thanks for this very interesting and informative article.
Going to Google+ this good hub of yours and once again share.
- AUTHOR
Thank you Aunt Jimi, for commenting, and for the votes and share too. Yes, I read in my research that dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa actually improves cognition more than night vision. I should probably eat more of it myself . . . ;)
This is wonderful news and information. I love carrots, but it's good to know dark chocolate is good for a person too. Seems like every time I turn around I'm reading that dark chocolate is good for something else. This is the first I've heard about it improving one's eyesight and cognitive abilities. Maybe if I eat enough of it I'll get smarter! Voted up and interesting, awesome. Will share, too.
- AUTHOR
Thank you Peggy W for pinning this article! Dark chocolate actually has more benefits than carrots. :)
Going to pin this to my Awesome HubPages board. Already pinned to my Do You Know This board. Nice job! Now...on to munching on some carrots!
- AUTHOR
Thank you for stopping by Deborah-Diane. Remember, it must be dark chocolate with 70% or more cocoa to have beneficial affects.
This is certainly good news at a time of year when people may be treating themselves to a little more chocolate than normal! "Better to see you!"
- AUTHOR
Thank you for stopping by Shyron, and for voting on and sharing this article. Dark chocolate has some wondrous properties that will help people improve and/or maintain their health. I know you can't have it unfortunately.
No, you don't know the friend who told me carrots benefiting the eyes had been debunked. No matter. We've gotten to the bottom of it now. ;)
I know I am not the friend that told you that carrots are not longer considered benificial for the eyes, so do I know the friend who did say that?
Voted up, U/A/B/I, shared.
- AUTHOR
Thank you Peggy W for pinning and tweeting this hub!
This is another good hub to pin. Consider it done! Also giving it a tweet.
- AUTHOR
youbar, thank you for reading and commenting on this article! Isn't it great to discover that something we love is good for us and improves our health?
It seems we are in the midst of a "Chocolate revolution" in the world of health and nutrition. How cool is THAT?
- AUTHOR
Thank you for stopping in Shyron. I'm still coughing like crazy, but I have improved. Hopefully I'll be good as new soon. I hate being sick. Having to be sick is almost as bad as the sickness itself. Thank you for thinking of me and for your prayers.
I sure hope you have nice warm blankets, and hope you feel better soon. I will say prayers for you to feel better soon.
- AUTHOR
moonlake, thank you for reading and commenting on this hub. Carrots are good, but it turns our chocolate is better for night vision and important brain functions. So unless you're allergic to dark chocolate or just hate it, try to work a little more of it into your diet every now and then to get all the benefits you can -- just a suggestion . . . ;)
Sorry it's taken me so long to address my comments, but work takes every bit of time during the week and every bit of energy -- and now I'm sicker n' a dog with chills and the whole 9 yards (for the last 4 days actually). Been in bed most of the day and now trying to stay warm while I try to get to at least a few comments. I'm always slow because of time constraints, but now has been even tougher. Even so, I appreciate very much that you and all my readers take the time to read and comment on my hubs.
I'm not a big chocolate eater but I love carrots. Voted up.
- AUTHOR
I wish you could too, Shyron. Thanks for stopping by!
I love this article, wish I could enjoy chocolate.
- AUTHOR
Thank you Neinahpets for reading and commenting on this hub. Hope you and your grandmother both benefit from this information and enjoy some yummy dark chocolate without guilt at the same time!
- AUTHOR
braydonmoore, thank you for reading and commenting on this hub! Isn't it great that something we love is actually good for us?
Oh yes, it definitely is. I even told my grandmother about this since she has the same issues with night vision as I do! I plan to be emailing her the article actually.
- AUTHOR
Neinahpets, thank you for reading/commenting/voting on this hub! Isn't it wonderful to find out something we love is good for us and beneficial to our health?
- AUTHOR
Rajan Jolly, thank you for reading, commenting, voting, sharing, and for putting a link to this hub on your hub! I thought your hub was great getting into the nitty gritty and is a great addition to the info in mine.
For improve my eyesight i love to eat carrot because it improves my eye sights . Yeah but i can't live without chocolate because i love to eat chocolates.
Very informative and interesting to read. I am surprised about the chocolate findings... I have poor night vision so I'm going to definitely grab a hold of some dark chocolate. Thank you for sharing! Voted up, useful and interesting!
Some pretty useful and excellent information here Au fait. The title is definitely an attraction. Will help to pull readers who are curious to know the commonality between the two. and the hub does not disappoint. Voted up, useful and interesting and shared.
Thanks for including a link to my hub on the health benefits of dark chocolate. Appreciate it and am including a link to this hub in my above mentioned hub.
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Thank you Peggy W for reading, commenting, and sharing this hub! It's nice to find out something we really love and enjoy is good for us for a change isn't it?
- AUTHOR
prasetio30, thank you for reading and commenting on this hub. So glad you discovered that dark chocolate (70% or more cocoa) should be a soul food!
- AUTHOR
Mike Roberts, thank you for reading, commenting, voting and especially for sharing this hub! Glad it brought you good news. ;)
- AUTHOR
DDE, thank you for reading and commenting on this hub! Have some dark chocolate -- 70% or more cocoa -- and improve your night vision while enjoying a treat!
I am chocolate lovers. I had never heard about this before. Thanks for writing and share with us. I learn many things here. Voted up!
Prasetio
Great! Exactly what a choco maniac like me likes to hear! Thanks for this hub!! Voted up and shared..
Interesting facts I like having both, the benefits of both are most help indeed thanks for sharing such a unique Hub
Came back to share this interesting article with my followers. I'll continue eating my carrots, but nice to know that good and especially good dark chocolate has such health benefits. Nice!
- AUTHOR
Thank you for your comments Shyron. I wish you could enjoy chocolate too! Have you tried the 70% or more cocoa chocolate that gives all the health benefits? Could that darkest of chocolates have a different effect than the milk chocolate so many people favor?
I know people are more likely to get horrific hangovers and headaches from cheap alcohol (scientifically proven), so maybe it's the same with chocolate. Eat the high quality stuff and maybe it will have a completely different physical affect from what you have gotten from the lower quality (not 70% cocoa) chocolate. Just a thought . . .
I wish I could enjoy Chocolate. I have to stick with Carob, while telling myself it taste better than chocolate.
- AUTHOR
Hi Jen! Glad to see that you checked this article out on carrots & dk chocolate. Yes, pretty interesting that one can get so many good benefits from eating dark chocolate and they kick in pretty quickly after eating it too. I think eating some before studying for and again before taking an exam might not do any harm. Would be interesting to see if it made a difference. Thank you for reading & commenting, Jen!
What a surprise to learn that dark chocolate improves night vision and cognitive ability too. I'm putting dark chocolate on my shopping list. I won't forget to make sure it's 70% cocoa. So nice to have chocolate on the list of foods that are healthy for a person.
- AUTHOR
Thank you for stopping by and commenting Geo. Be sure to get the dark chocolate that is 70% or more cocoa so that you will get the health benefits.
very interesting also.
especially chocolate which I like so much
bye
- AUTHOR
Thank you Peggy W for reading and commenting. Chocolate is amazing for many things it would seem and it's cutting edge, which is why you may not have heard about it before.
Very interesting! I grew up hearing that eating carrots is good for one's eyes...but the chocolate research is definitely something that I had not heard regarding eye health. Up and interesting votes!
- AUTHOR
Thank you Thelma Alberts for reading and commenting on my hug! Just for fun, maybe we should try chocolate dipped carrots? ;)
This is a great information. I never heard about chocolate being good for my eyes. Now I will start eating dark chocolate more than carrots. Yummy! Thanks for sharing.
- AUTHOR
Brett: Thank you for reading and commenting! When put with the right filling, dark chocolate can be pretty yummy!
I hadn't heard of this before. But, why oh why can't it be creamy milk chocolate like galaxy that is good for your eyes!? ha ha
Thanks for SHARING.
- AUTHOR
tillsontitan: Yes, and dark chocolate improves cognitive ability within 2 hours of eating it also. Thank you for your comments! Enjoy the more dark chocolate!
Great hub! We all knew about carrots and I'm glad to hear that hasn't changed. As for chocolate, I'm a chocoholic's chocoholic! The darker the chocolate the better so I was thrilled when they said dark chocolate had antioxidants now I find it helps vision. Way to go! Voted up.
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R2-D2-2: You are so right! It's always nice to have another good reason to eat chocolate!
This is great! I heard that dark chocolate is good for you but I didn't know it could improve my eyesight. Can't have too may reasons to eat chocolate!
- AUTHOR
Thank you Shyron, for taking time to read my hub. I'm sorry you can't eat chocolate.
I do believe that carrots are healthy especially for the eyes. However I would not eat chocolate, it is not good for migraines.
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Thanks for your comments Dave. Make sure that's dark chocolate you're eating . . . ;)
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Thank you Angela for your comments. Enjoy your chocolate with no guilt. I plan to!
Now I know what to tell my dietician when she says not to eat too much sweet stuff (Im a diabetic chocoholic), and have to watch my weight(!) Im still watching my weight and its not going anywhere. Good Luck Misty Dave
Chocolate lovers rejoice -- it's healthy to eat chocolate. I loved this HUB -- well written, informative, and another excuse for my Chocolate Jones! Voted UP! Best, Sis
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laurathegentleman: Thank you for your comments. Yes, now we can all have our decadent dark chocolate with a clear conscience!
Thank goodness!! There is a healthy benefit to eating chocolate?!?! So I have an excuse now!?! :D I'll refer to this hub every time I eat some chocolate now, thanks for the helpful information!
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I'm with you susannah42! I've worn glasses since I was just 8 years old. I'm planning to stock up on my favorite dark chocolate for Christmas and get healthy at the same time!
Thank you for your comment!
You have some interesting information here. I will have to start eating more chocolate because my eyes are really bad.
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