Clearview Eye and Laser Medical Center

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Does What we Eat Help With What we See?

The expansion of health food stores attests to the increasing interest people have in preventive health care. We'd like to avoid health problems by eating well and perhaps taking supplements. One big problem is the lack of definitive information about effectiveness of any given food or ingredient. Research goes on all the time, worldwide, and at times we hear of study results which suggest that a certain ingredient or chemical helps in some particular regard.

The January issue of The Archives of Ophthalmology reported on a ten-year study of 35,000 women. After they adjusted statistically for variables such as smoking, body mass index and alcohol use, the researchers found that cataracts were less likely if the women ingested more Vitamin E and lutein. They found a 14% difference in cataract risk between the one-third of women who consumed the most of these and the one-third who consumed the least. Cataracts are a clouding-up of the eye's lens and if left untreated will cause blindness.

Both Vitamin E and lutein are antioxidants. To cut a long chemical story short, an antioxidant is a molecule which helps reduce free radicals in the body. Free radicals are unstable molecules that cause tissue damage which could lead to disease. Vitamin E is the most abundant fat-soluble antioxidant in the body.

Vitamin E is in nuts, whole grains and leafy green vegetables. Lutein is in corn, kale, spinach, and some other fruits and vegetables. So the old advice of “eat fresh fruit and vegetables every day” is still good advice. Supplements of Vitamin E and Lutein may not be necessary, since more is not always better. But a healthy diet will never lead us astray.

Please call or email us if you would like to consult with Dr. Feldman.

posted by JennyK at 2:46 PM

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San Diego LASIK Center

Sandy T. Feldman, M.D., M.S. :: ClearView Eye and Laser Medical Center
6255 Lusk Blvd., Suite 100 :: San Diego, California 92121

“She’s the Surgeon to See”