Cataract Research
Diet & Lifestyle
Nutrition
& Cataract
Naturopaths have stated for years that cataract is a response
to 'a highly toxic condition of the system due to wrong feeding habits and general
unhealthy living, plus suppressive medications for a previous disease (1). This postulate
has recently been given scientific credence as, according to statistical data from the
World Health Organisation, most cases of cataract and glaucoma throughout the third world
stem from poor diet and lack of hygiene. There are approximately 50 million people in the
world who have a vision of very poor vision [20/200 (6/60) or less]; 85% of these live in
Asia and Africa. Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in underdeveloped countries
and glaucoma is the second major cause. The W.H.O. reported that many of these cases could
be prevented by improved hygiene and nutrition. (2)
Naturopaths and nutritionists therefore recommend a
cleansing diet with plenty of fresh, raw vegetables, salads and fruits, wholegrains,
pulses and nuts but with little or no meat, fish or dairy products.
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Antioxidant
vitamins - A, C, E.
& Cataract
Studies have found that poor nutrition is very much associated
with cataract. In a 10 year study undertaken in China, researchers found that daily
supplementation of multiple vitamins and minerals reduce the incidence of cataract by 10%.
Further research identified antioxidant vitamins (ie. Vitamins A,C,& E) as the major
nutrients which can actually decrease the risk of cataract and extend lens function (3)
One study carried out in Boston, USA (4) , concluded that:
" it seems that assuring optimal antioxidant intake
can extend lens function. It has been estimated that in the United States over half of all
cataract extractions (Operations) and associated costs would be obviated if cataract could
be delayed by 10 years. The data reviewed indicates that optimizing nutrition will help
achieve that objective."
One survey concluded that, if the onset of cataracts could
be delayed by an average of 10 years, over half of all cataract operations could be
avoided. This is because most people who suffer from cataracts are over 75 years of age
and delaying the progress of the disorder would in effect mean that the disease would not
progress sufficiently in the patients' lifetimes to warrant surgery. One way the
researchers found that could help delay the onset and progress of cataract was by
supplementation of vitamins A,C & E. (5) One study at the University of Western
Ontario in Canada found that those people who took 400 iu (units) of vitamin E every day
were half as likely to develop cataract as those who did not. (6)
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Vitamin A
& Cataract
Research by Dr Susan Hankinson from the Harvard Medical School
in Boston Massachusetts, gives further weight to the theory that cataract is strongly
related to nutrition. Dr Hankinson examined the cases of over 50,000 women over the age of
45. The results were published in the British Medical Journal and revealed that those
women with the highest intake of vitamin A in their diets had a 39% lower risk of
developing cataracts (7). Vitamin A is found in carrots and yellow and green vegetables.
Footnotes
(1) H Benjamin - Better Sight Without Glasses p100
(2) Blindness in the world: nursing experience in Nepal. Arseneault R J Ophthalmic Nurs
Technol (UNITED STATES) Nov-Dec 1992, 11 (6) p241-6
(3) Recent epidemiologic studies on nutrition and cataract in India, Italy andthe United
States. Schoenfeld ER; Leske MC; Wu SY Dept. of Preventive Medicine, SUNY at Stony Brook
School of Medicin 11794-8036. J Am Coll Nutr (UNITED STATES) Oct 1993, 12 (5) p521-6
(4) Cataract: relationship between nutrition and oxidation. Taylor A Laboratory for
Nutrition and Vision Research, USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts
University, Boston, MA 02111. J Am Coll Nutr (UNITED STATES) Apr 1993, 12 (2) p138-46.
(5) Ibid
(6) Reported in The ACE Plan L Earle Boxtree 1993
(7) Reported in Health & Fitness Dec 98 p.28
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