If your vision isn't in tip-top shape, I have good news – especially if you also have trouble seeing at night: According to a recent study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, bilberries (a European cousin of the blueberry) may help improve night vision in people who are nearsighted.

The study involved 60 people who were mild to moderately myopic, a condition that can cause decreased night vision along with headaches, eye dryness, and discomfort when reading or in bright light. Participants received either 100mg of a bilberry extract or a placebo for four weeks. The bilberry contained 85% of the potent antioxidant anthocyanosides, which can help repair tissue and strengthen blood vessels.

At the end of the study, those who received the bilberry showed significantly greater improvement in a test measuring nocturnal visual function, and also reported fewer eye symptoms. No such improvement was seen in those given the placebo.

Although previous studies haven't shown the same correlation between bilberry and night vision, those studies involved bilberry preparations with much lower concentrations of anthocyanosides, the active component of bilberries, and were given for much shorter periods of time.

Other studies have shown that bilberries may prevent cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, and the eye damage associated with diabetes, called diabetic retinopathy. Although fresh bilberries may be hard to find, your local health food store probably carries bilberry as a tablet or liquid extract.