Health Hotline Magazine | August 2026

OFFERS VALID JUNE 26 TO JULY 25, 2026

Nutritional Support for Tired, Strained Eyes By Liz Mueller From smartphones and tablets to TVs and laptops, digital devices dominate daily life—and our eyes feel the strain. U.S. adults now average more than seven hours a day on screens for work, entertainment, and communication. With so much screen time, tired, dry, irritated eyes have become so common that the cluster of symptoms has been given a name: digital eye strain (DES). While blue-light glasses and filters remain popular, avoiding DES requires a combination of healthy screen habits and nutritional support. Specifically, carotenoids like astaxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin support eye comfort during long hours of screen use—they truly are a welcome sight for sore eyes.

How The Digital Age Is Wreaking Havoc on Our Eyes

Common symptoms of DES include blurred vision, dry, irritated eyes, sensitivity to light, and headaches; they typically appear after several hours of constant screen use. But why are screens so bad for our eyes? According to the Cleveland Clinic, compared to reading from print, when our eyes are looking at a screen, they have to constantly refocus to read the pixels on the screen; hours of this leads to eye strain. We also blink a lot less when looking at a screen, leading to dry eyes. And then there’s the blue light that all screens emit, which has been shown to cause oxidative stress and increase inflammation in the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye, which is especially vulnerable to oxidative damage.

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