A day in college without a computer is a day that probably doesn’t exist. While our computers help us navigate the world on a fast track, they are not helping our eyes. Fortunately, food is here to save the day.

The Problem

A study released from the SUNY College of Optometry reveals that spending so much time on our computers can cause all kinds of damage to our eyes, including a fancy-named condition called nearwork-induced transient myopiaYikes.

Lucky for us, there’s hope.

magical berry

Photo Courtesy of www.organicsfs.com

The Solution

The blackcurrant is a tiny magical berry that has been proven to significantly decrease symptoms of computer-related eye-strain in patients.

Some experts recommend staring out a window for 4-12 minutes for every hour that you stare at your computer screen to reduce eye strain problems, but between writing papers and watching Netflix, who has time for that?

And let’s be real, food trumps staring out windows any day.

The Consumption

This wonder berry is super versatile and can be added to basically any of your fruity baked goods, pies and smoothies—the possibilities are endless. There’s even an entire website dedicated to blackcurrants (they’ve gotta be pretty darn special to have a whole foundation in their name, right?).

The website has some awesome recipes like homemade energy bars and blackcurrant jam that are guaranteed to make your eyes and your taste buds equally happy.

magical berry

Photo by Caitlin Shoemaker

You may not always be able to find blackcurrant berries at your local supermarket, but Whole Foods and many other stores sell dried currants or blackcurrant jam.

Most other anthocyanin-rich berries, such as raspberries, blueberries or blackberries may also have benefits similar to the elusive blackcurrant.

Get started on your blackcurrant binge: