Have you ever wondered whether certain foods could reduce your dry eye symptoms?
Well, it turns out they can! Certain vitamins and antioxidants found in our food play an important role in limiting the effects of dry eye.
That’s why we’ve come up with this recipe for the barbecue or oven, created by Michelin-starred chef Antoine Gras with the help of Dr Doan, an ophthalmologist specialising in dry eye at the Rothschild Foundation and Bichat Hospital in Paris.
It’s time to make wood-fired sweet potato with hazelnuts!
So how will these ingredients benefit my eyes?
Sweet potato has the highest beta-carotene content of any food. Beta-carotene is a precursor of vitamin A and a powerful antioxidant. A lack of antioxidants can cause eye damage similar to that resulting from exposure to X-rays or UV radiation, leading to conditions such as dry eye.
There is one particular part of the eye that needs vitamin A to function: the retina. The photoreceptors in the retina work with vitamin A derivatives.
This means that vitamin A deficiency can have an impact on vision. This vitamin is therefore not only beneficial for dry eye, but also for the retina, and can even prevent certain diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Finally, hazelnuts are mainly made up of vitamin E, which is a major antioxidant and can therefore help limit the effects of dry eye.
Focus: sweet potato and vitamin A
- Beta-carotene is a precursor of vitamin A, a very important vitamin for cell health and vision
- Daily vitamin A intake (adult): 0.7 mg to 0.9 mg
- 5 mg beta-carotene in 100 g of sweet potato
Ingredients:
- 4 sweet potatoes
- 100 g hazelnuts
- Hazelnut oil
- 30 g fresh butter
- Rosemary
- 500 g coarse salt
- 1 kg flour
- 200 g egg white
Recipe:
Step 1:
Mix the flour, salt, rosemary sprigs and egg whites to make a smooth salt dough.
Step 2:
Wash the sweet potatoes then wrap them in the salt dough. Check that the salt dough is fully sealed. Oil a sheet of aluminium foil with hazelnut oil, then place the salt-dough-wrapped sweet potatoes on it.
Step 3:
Bake for 15 minutes directly in the charcoal and 45 minutes on the grill, or 1 hour in a conventional oven at 200 °C.
Step 4:
Once cooked, remove the sweet potatoes from the salt dough, scoop out the flesh and mix with the hazelnuts, hazelnut oil and butter.
