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Lots of
research regarding ophthalmic nutrition has been done, with intriguing results.
An early study researched the link between eye health and supplementary vitamin
C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and zinc. This landmark study from the National
Eye Institute (part of the National Institutes of Health) was called the
Age-Related Eye Disease Study, or AREDS. Participants took high-dose
supplements for six years. Scientists concluded the supplements were somewhat protective
against macular degeneration, but they did not help restore vision that was
already lost.
Some
protection against cataracts was apparent in a substudy of the federally funded
Nurses’ Health Study called the Nutrition and Vision Project, or NVP. This
study showed that women with the highest intakes of vitamin C, vitamin E,
riboflavin (vitamin B2), folate (vitamin B9), beta-carotene, lutein, and
zeaxanthin had a lower prevalence of opaque areas in the eye. Those who
used vitamin C supplements for 10 or more years were 64 percent less likely to
have nuclear opacification than those who didn’t take vitamin C supplements.
Several
studies have examined the link between omega-3 fatty acids and age-related eye
problems. A 2007 study from the National Eye Institute concluded that omega-3fatty acids are protective against retinopathy in mice and suggested that
increasing omega-3 fatty acid intake in premature infants may significantly
decrease the occurrence of retinopathy due to prematurity. Scientists are
hoping that, by extension, omega-3 fatty acids will also prove helpful against retinopathy
due to diabetes, as well as age-related macular degeneration.
Not
everyone agrees that nutritional intervention can help prevent age-related eye
disorders. A 2007 article in the British Medical Journal reveals
that researchers in Australia concluded from a meta-analysis of existing
studies that the only lifestyle-related risk factor for macular degeneration
established beyond a doubt is smoking. On the flipside, recent research on
omega-3 fats is very promising. In June 2008, researchers from Australia
concluded that a high dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids was associated with
a 38 percent reduction in the risk of late (advanced) AMD, while eating fish
twice a week was associated with a reduced risk of both early and late AMD. The
study, published in the Archives of Ophthalmology, was a
meta-analysis of nine previously published studies, involving a total of 88,974
individuals.
At this
point scientists know that oxidative stress damages the tissues of the eye.
They have known for a long time that the lens of the eye contains high levels
of vitamins C and E, that the retina contains zinc as well as an unusually high
concentration of omega-3 fatty acids, and that the yellow color of the macula
comes from lutein and zeaxanthin. Common sense suggests that consuming the water-soluble
antioxidant vitamin C, the fat-soluble antioxidants vitamin E and
beta-carotene, the essential mineral zinc, healthy omega-3 fatty acids,
and the related carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin from my Top 10 Beauty Foods would support eye health.
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