Glaucoma doctors focus on reducing high eye pressure because it’s been the only known risk factor that can be modified, says ophthalmology specialist Dr. Mona Kaleem, but “as we learn more and more about glaucoma, we’re finding out that things like oxidative stress to the nerve tissue, and also blood flow abnormalities may be contributing.” 

Oxidative stress and blood flow can be influenced by diet and exercise, and with those factors, “there’s a lot of things that one can do.” Learn more about how to support your eye health and vision through diet and exercise even with glaucoma.*

Healthy Foods for Glaucoma 

When it comes to diet, Kaleem says, it’s important to take in a lot of antioxidants, to counter and prevent oxidative stress. Kaleem recommends such foods as:

• Green, leafy vegetables, like spinach, collards, and kale (the darker green, the better)
• Avocados
• Asparagus
• Root vegetables
• Fish and fish oil 
• Walnuts
• Flaxseed
• Berries (sprinkled with oregano)

These foods are high in antioxidants like flavonoids and carotenoids.

Meat won’t harm you, she says, but her “ideal plate” would contain more plants.

“If you’re eating good, nutritious food, then your preventing oxidative stress in your body and potentially increasing your healthy blood flow.”

Healthy Exercise for Glaucoma

When it comes to exercise, Kaleem says, exercise, especially aerobic exercise, helps increase blood flow. Research shows that runners tend to have lower eye pressure, and even walkers experience slower vision loss.

For people with glaucoma, however, she “would probably avoid really exhaustive exercise” such as extreme weight lifting, since it “increases pressure in the top of your body.”

Kaleem adds that many people ask her about yoga. “Yoga is a great exercise” with many components, she says. On the physical side, she recommends keeping your head above your heart, and avoiding positions “where your head is below your heart for a prolonged period of time.”

Alternate nostril breathing, another component of yoga, is also beneficial, she says, as it helps to control blood flow. 

Running, walking, stretching, and yoga are all good, she says, as long as you follow the ‘head above heart’ rule. 

She recommends trying to get in some aerobic exercise three to four times a week.

*Glaucoma Research Foundation. (2022, May 10). Living with Glaucoma: Tips on Nutrition and Exercise from Mona Kaleem, MD [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icr_m1R1m3I

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