Occular Health

[laura]

Two of my three kids and myself went to the eye doc yesterday.

I am so skeptical.
I would swear that he is trying to get us ALL to be in glasses of some sort or another!
I asked him if there was any type of diet or nutritional advice he could give to help us improve our "eye health".
He said "nope, there is nothing you can do".

That just screams red flag to me!!

Is there anyone out there that would have the answer to this question:

"What can I do to help improve, or maintain good occular health in my family?"

THanks
Laura

[stackeyha]

You know that wouldn't necessarily scream red flag just because they really aren't taught nutrition...however a major sales pitch...that might be something else.

Of course, I am blind as a bat...well not quite...but at least legally without my glasses/contact lenses.

Here is what I have read (but not recently) sugar/white stuff is bad...low carb appears to be good probably due the fact that there is much less sugar/white stuff in the diets...eyes are very prone to wear and tear in the presence of sugar. Vitamin A is great for eyes specifically...as in CLO or some other readily assimilated form of vitamin A...Betacarotine is great assuming you personally absorb it and not all people do that very well.

EFA's (flax, fish, Cod Liver Oils) are supposed to be great (I choose CLO because it also has the vitamin A)

One study that I read talked about how easy it is to get blind mice...basically if you keep the momma mouse away from all forms of vitamin A her babies will be born blind...sometimes without eyes...sometimes with eye deformity...give that same momma a lot of CLO with her next pregnancy all the babies are born healthy with ZERO eye defects...so it's not HEREDITY at least in that case...they expanded to question how much is really hereditary in humans but I never read further...interesting thought...I know that my mom only gained about 13 lbs with me because she threw up the entire pregnancy...which should mean she was probably deficient in quite a few things.

Something else that I've read is the the antioxidants in Bilberry are good for night vision and general eye health...

Since I've followed a lower carb diet...Atkins gave way to Nourishing Traditions/Makers Diet without the grains...My eyes have not changed...the last 2 years they have been exactly the same...and before that they pretty much changed every year...HOWEVER that is anecdotal information of the worst kind because I have also read that many woman go through a time in their 30s (where I am) that the eye kind of settles only to hit menopause and have everything get worse...so I'll have to tell you how it goes in a few years.

[Dandelion]

Well, my mother ate lots (like eight a day) of apricots recently cause we had them in season, and she says her eyes have improved, so's she can now read the clock at the other side of the room. She has glasses for driving and sush cause she is short sighted (I think that's the way around - she takes her glasses off nowadays to read, but needs them for the distance.

I've also heard of eye exercises for the distance things. Our eyes have muscles like the rest of our body. All I know on this is to shut your eyes for a short time first, then focus on somthing near, then focus on something a little furthur away, and then further again. Our eyes need rest, too. Just shutting them a few second once in a while. Of course lots of reading, esp. on computers, is not so good. Every so often look out the window or futhur away.