Compared with those who had cataracts, the participants who took vitamin E and C had 56 percent and 70 percent less risk of cataracts respectively. In another study, ophthalmologists checked 1,380 people for cataracts and asked them about their vitamin use. Compared with the people who did not take a daily multivitamin, those did were 47 percent less likely to have cataracts. Don't smoke . Even if smoke doesn't get in your eyes, smoking can give you cataracts.
Smoking boosts free-radical activity.
But quitting smoking reduced cataract risk. That's what Harvard researchers found in an analysis of data from the Physicians' Health Study. From the moment the smokers quit, their cataract risk declined, though even after being smoke-free for 20 years, the exsmokers still had somewhat higher risk than study participants who had never smoked. Watch your weight . Compared with the slimmest participants, the heaviest participants were 25 percent more likely to have developed cataracts during the 14 years of this analysis.