I've had eyesight issues since early childhood (strabismus, ocular dominance). This seriously hindered my efforts in basketball during middle school and also later on -- but I loved books and was good in writing and thus couldn't stay off computers, which resulted in years of constant eye strain problems.<p>I bought an IPS monitor when they were really expensive, and ate an insane amount of carrots, both raw and cooked. This helped, but the strain was still there, occasionally accompanied by mild headaches.<p>Eventually, at an age of 30+, I decided to give up full time desk work (also because I was anxious about "sacrificing my body to the computer"). Now I'm a forestry worker on most days: avoiding logging, but cutting brush and planting trees. 5-7 hours in the woods almost every day, currently surrounded by lots of snow and the trees' green palette (which is good for the eyes, isn't it?). Hacking and other creative computer work has become something that I do on the side when I have time or physical/mental energy, or when I wish and manage to escape from our kids.<p>Am I happier? It's sometimes difficult to switch to mental work from physical labor, staying motivated in my mental pursuits etc. The pay would be poor to most standards. But all in all -- happier, hell yes! Eyestrain is gone <i>completely</i>. Heck, I've occasionally totally forgotten to put glasses on while driving a car, which is something I'd noticed right away during the office work days. I haven't tested my eyesight for years, but I do feel there has been a remarkable change to the better. I happened to shoot some hoops just this weekend after more than a year, and it was an absolute joy: indoor lighting of the court didn't annoy my eyes as it usually does (this used to be a major issue when I was younger), and I made shots with a surprisingly good percentage in spite of not wearing contact lenses.<p>It's also important to note that my eating habits have probably changed quite a bit since middle school / early to late 20s. I've always loved vegetables, but for now, I've almost completely cut of all processed sweets: cocoa, chocolate, you name it. All the bad stuff I used to love -- but, as cocoa contains caffeine, it's actually bringing fluids out of the body, doesn't it? Based on this, I occasionally think that a big part of my earlier eyestrain issues might have been too big an amount of cocoa-based "foods". Dehydration, basically. Haven't done any research on that, though, so it might as well be BS.<p>All in all: we're animals from nature, so I suppose the best one could do to his or her eyes is try to spend as much time outdoors (or in wilderness, if you ever can) as possible. And drink a lot of plain water, this also seems to have a positive influence. Or, if you're lucky enough to have other issues with your life as well (like I did), you may also consider changing your job for something that has the "no eyestrain" batteries included by design. :)