You should always listen to what your momma tells you. Unless what she's telling you is just an old wives' tale. Ella from Ruby Room helps us decipher the truths from the myths:

• Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. There aren't too many people who would dispute this. A good breakfast gives you the energy to get through your day and it can even help you lose weight.
  
• Hot milk will help you get to sleep. Milk contains melatonin and tryptophan so it can help you feel sleepier.
  
• Beans are the musical fruit. They certainly do produce a fair amount of gas while digesting. But they're a healthy addition to your diet ... so they're worth it.
• Mixing drinks will increase your hangover. I remember a little rhyme from when I was in college: "Beer before liquor, never been sicker. Liquor then beer, nothing to fear." The truth is, it's simply the level of alcohol in your blood and the amount of dehydration that creates a hangover.
• Carrots will help you see in the dark. Carrots are rich in vitamin A, which is beneficial for vision. But the direct link between carrots and eyesight is far more myth than fact.
  
  

Check out the full article on Ruby Room to find out the truth behind other cliches.

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We know that it's important to eat right and exercise to care for our bodies. We buy special products and take care of our skin. Brushing and flossing take care of our teeth. But what about our eyes? It's just as important to guard our eye health -- Revolution Health gives us six simple tips for healthy vision:

• Good nutrition. Inflammation is the root cause of many eye disorders, so opt for anti-inflammatory foods when possible. Avoid red meat, choose fish and other products that are rich in omega-3s, and choose monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (avoid saturated fats as much as possible). Also eat lots of green, leafy veggies -- they're high in lutein which is important for eye health.
  
• Protect your eyes from the sun. Wear sunglasses that have 100% UV protection. It can also be helpful to wear a wide-brimmed hat when at the beach or other sunny spots.
  
• Exercise. Moderate exercise has been proven to reduce intraocular pressure, a causative factor for glaucoma.
  
• Don't smoke. Smoking doesn't just damage the lungs -- it also damages blood vessels which, in turn, can deprive the eyes of much-needed oxygen.
• Minimize eye strain. Position your computer monitor properly (not too close and a bit below eye level) and use a glare guard.
  
• Have regular eye exams. Even if your vision isn't impaired, it's important to visit an eye doctor regularly. (Many people go annually, but you can ask your doctor what intervals he/she recommends.)

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Do you avoid eye exams because you hate having your pupils dilated? I do. I'm avoiding an appointment right now, in fact. Last time I went for my annual eye visit, I made it out of the office without having those blurry drops dripped into my eyes. I basically whined my way out of the procedure and my doctor, who knows me well, let me get away with it. "You have to come back," she told me. I agreed to stop in at a later date so she could examine the depths of my eyes. That was months ago. I haven't been back.

Many Pearl Vision centers are now offering an alternative for babies like me, according to the April issue of Family Circle magazine. The less-invasive optomap retinal exam involves taking a digital picture of the eye then projecting it onto a screen and printing it for future exams. Sounds much better. It's more objective too. In addition to detecting eye conditions like glaucoma and macular degeneration, the test can detect systemic diseases like hypertension, diabetes, and certain cancers.

Dilation is still the gold standard, though, since it reveals more of the retina. Bummer. I guess I'm still headed for this drippy test. One of these days.

For more on eye care, check out this AOL Body site.

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Macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts, and diabetic retinopathy are just some of the eye diseases we can all face as we age. A recent study from Prevent Blindness America and the National Eye Institute shows that the numbers of vision-threatening disease is on the rise. More than 3 million Americans over age 40 suffer from visual impairment. More than half of those are women; some vision-threatening conditions strike women nearly twice as much as men.

Another eye condition that strikes more women than men is dry eye syndrome. Postmenopausal and pregnant women are at an increased risk due to hormonal changes.

See your eye doctor at least once a year -- even if you don't need vision correction -- to care for your eyes and detect any issues sooner rather than later.

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I got quite the shock when I went to see my optometrist five years ago, only to have him tell me that my vision had deteriorated signifcantly and I needed glasses. I found out I was quite near-sighted, despite having near-perfect vision a few years earlier. I racked my brain to figure out what I had done wrong, and it all came down to one thing: My job. That was around the time I started to work in an office environment, slaving over a computer day in and day out. Nearsightedness is rarely caused by genetics--more often, it is caused by strain to your nearpoint vision. And the top source of that kind of strain? You guessed it--the computer.

So my advice? Give your eyes a break. Finish this article, then turn off the computer and let your eyes relax. Men's Health also has this suggestion: Close your eyes, tense all the muscle in your body and and release all at once with an exhale. Do this a few times a day, and you'll find your whole body will be less tense, including your eyes.

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Another good reason to stop smoking: Macular degeneration. It's the number one cause of blindness in people above the age of 60 and can stem from cigarette smoking.

Smoking more than doubles the chances you'll acquire macular degeneration and former smokers are at risk just like current smokers. There are other risk factors for macular degeneration -- like age, family history, obesity, exposure to sunlight, low levels of nutrients, and cardiovascular disease -- but smoking is the single most preventable cause of this eye disorder.

Degeneration of the macula causes blurred central vision or a blind spot in the center of your visual field. The first sign of the condition may be a need for more light when doing close-up work. Fine newsprint and street signs may become harder to read and while these symptoms may develop gradually, they often lead to severe vision loss in one of both eyes.

A comprehensive eye exam can help determine whether or not you have some degree of macular degeneration. Quitting your smoking habit can help ensure you don't ever get it.

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Americans are worried about a lot of things as they age -- weight gain and back pain, to name two -- but they aren't worried about losing their vision. That's not good, according to eye health experts, because some eye diseases don't have a lot of symptoms. February is Save Your Vision Month and the American Academy of Ophthalmology wants you to celebrate by getting a baseline exam if you are over 40. Even if you're under 40, you should talk to your ophthalmologist if you're at high risk for eye disease or if you're suffering vision loss or symptoms.

Age-related eye disease will increase as baby boomers age, so if you know someone who should be seeing an eye doctor, give them a little nudge.

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Ever heard of Computer Vision Syndrome? You might not have but chances are you've experienced it at one point or another. Afterall, if you're reading this, you've used a computer, and the majority of us use computers for several hours a day. CVS is characterized by dry, red eyes, headaches, neck and back pain, double vision and trouble focusing. Yikes -- it sounds serious.

So what can you do to reduce the effects of CVS? Taking breaks is important, whether you physically walk away from the computer or simply just look at something else for a few minutes. Use artificial tears to reduce any dryness and lower your computer so you're looking down on the computer rather than straight on.

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It's too bad when the body turns on itself, but in the case of a natural amino acid called homocysteine, too much of it in your body could hard your eyesight according to the latest research.

Homocysteine has been connected to heart attacks, stroke and dementia in prior research, but now the protein is being linked to retinal damage. Unfortunately, severe damage to the retina can lead to blindness if left untreated.

Moral of the story: ensure that your folate and vitamin B12 levels are adequate, as these two convert homocysteine to methionine. If the conversion fails to occur, elevated levels of homocysteine can occur.

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Sight is one of those most precious abilities we have, yet sadly it's one of things many people know the least about. Almost half of people surveyed said they worry more about losing their vision as they age than they do their memory or their ability to walk or hear. But at the same time only 30% of adults get their eyes checked every two years as recommended, and a whopping 79% of contact lens wearers admitted to bad habits like wearing their contacts to bed and/or wearing them longer than recommended.

What's wrong with this picture? Do you think it's because people don't know what they need to do to take care of their eyes, or just that they aren't taking it seriously?

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Tattoos are an artistic expression of individuality, style, and art, and have (until now) only been appreciated by those with the gift of sight. But now, through the efforts of a student at The University of Arts Berlin, you can also make a statement that can be felt and appreciated by the blind.

By having a series of small beads or a small plate embossed with text (made of stainless steel, titanium, or plastic) implanted under the skin you can have an expressive work of art that can be appreciated through both sight and touch. It's braille for your skin!

Would you do it? I'm thinking with color maybe, without it just looks an organized group of zits.




Via Trendhunter

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Wearing contacts used to be a really big deal -- remember the hard lenses that were supposed to last a year or more but would pop out at random and leave people searching the floor in the middle of a crowd or, worse yet, the bottom of a pool? Thankfully I never had to deal with hard contacts, but I have been wearing regular soft lenses since high school and after awhile it's hard not to feel like you know everything. But do you? Here's a list of 5 things every contact lens wearer should know:

• Wash your hands!
  
• Try not to wear your contacts during periods of seasonal allergies, or if you must then dispose of them more often.
• Keep eye drops handy to help prevent dry eyes and potential eye injury from dry lenses
• Don't keep/wear lenses for longer than they were intended
• Give your eyes a rest from contacts whenever you can, if even just for a few hours a day.

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Are your chances of being short-sighted written in the stars?

Probably not. But a recent study did find that babies born during the summer months are 24% more-likely to become short-sighted than those born in the fall or winter.

However, the explanation doesn't have anything to do with astrology. According to Professor Michael Belkin, one of the study's co-authors, "It is probably a long-term effect of early-life exposure to natural light that increases the chances of a child becoming short-sighted."

Apparently it's all to do with melatonin, a pigment that that regulates eye-length. The more sun a baby is exposed to, the less melatonin his or her body produces -- leading to a longer eye (which means they'll be short-sighted).

Most parents are already fairly restrictive when it comes to the amount of time they let their newborns spend in the sun -- mostly due to fears of sunburn, skin cancer, etc. However, I wonder if this latest discovery will make them even more cautious. It's not as if short-sightedness isn't easy to take care of with glasses or contacts, but why risk vision problems if they can be prevented?

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You can add yet another item to the ever-increasing list of health problems that result from smoking. According to scientists, the risk of late age-related macular degeneration (thinning in part of the retina that causes partial blindness) is higher for those who smoke, or have smoked in the past.

In fact, current smokers are four times more likely to develop the condition than their non-smoking counterparts, and former smokers were three times more likely than those who never picked up the habit.

I have the feeling that, before long, scientist will prove that cigarettes are actually full of malignant little demons that run around your body, destroying everything can find.

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When I read about Nike Maxsight contacts today I thought it was especially interesting since I had just read this article on sunglasses versus UV contacts a few days ago. UV contacts are made to filter UV rays, but Nike Maxsight lenses take it one step further and throw a sunglasses-like tint into the lenses so you get all the benefits of wearing polarized shades but without the inconvenience of glasses that can fall off or get in the way during sports or athletic activities.

Available in two colors (grey/green for golf, running, training and amber for sports like tennis, baseball, football, and rugby), Fitsugar has some good pictures of what they look like compared to regular contacts if you're curious. And Nike is offering a free trial so you can see how big of a difference they make before committing -- I for one can't wait to try them!

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