Email a Friend
Print Article
Nutrition and Vision Supplements - Swallow carefully!
When it concerns your precious eyesight, preventive care is easier, cheaper, and far less risky than therapeutic treatments. Stop the problem before it begins - makes sense, right? Many eye problems are degenerative in nature, often caused by aging, sunlight, and a long list of other environmental factors.
Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) is a great example. Degenerative damage frequently does not respond to surgery or medication because many structures inside the eye cannot regenerate. Like an old-fashioned flashlight battery - once it's gone, it's gone forever.
Many people have rediscovered the potential health benefits of vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants. Much has been written about how these substances protect delicate cells including cells that participate in the miracle of vision. Unfortunately, many health consumers are making vitamin purchases without the benefit of legitimate scientific proof. Unscrupulous marketers have filled this void with all kinds of outlandish, unsupported claims. Caveat emptor!
Here's what we know today about vitamins and vision. According to research findings from the National Eye Institute a high-dose combination of vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and zinc significantly reduces the risk of developing advanced Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) by about 25 percent. These high levels of antioxidants and zinc are the first effective treatment to slow the progression of ARMD. Lutein was not included in these studies but there is growing evidence that Lutein is also beneficial. You and your eye doctor can decide what dosage of these nutrients is best for you.
Do not read between the lines. Nutritional supplements will not cure ARMD, nor will they restore vision already lost from the disease. Eye experts agree supplements can help people at high risk for developing advanced ARMD keep their vision. Meanwhile, antioxidants and zinc showed no significant effect on the development or progression of cataracts. Hey, we can eliminate cataracts with surgery!
Related Topics: Test Your Supplements Savvy, Eye Vitamins: Help or Hype?
Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) is a great example. Degenerative damage frequently does not respond to surgery or medication because many structures inside the eye cannot regenerate. Like an old-fashioned flashlight battery - once it's gone, it's gone forever.
Many people have rediscovered the potential health benefits of vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants. Much has been written about how these substances protect delicate cells including cells that participate in the miracle of vision. Unfortunately, many health consumers are making vitamin purchases without the benefit of legitimate scientific proof. Unscrupulous marketers have filled this void with all kinds of outlandish, unsupported claims. Caveat emptor!
Here's what we know today about vitamins and vision. According to research findings from the National Eye Institute a high-dose combination of vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and zinc significantly reduces the risk of developing advanced Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) by about 25 percent. These high levels of antioxidants and zinc are the first effective treatment to slow the progression of ARMD. Lutein was not included in these studies but there is growing evidence that Lutein is also beneficial. You and your eye doctor can decide what dosage of these nutrients is best for you.
Do not read between the lines. Nutritional supplements will not cure ARMD, nor will they restore vision already lost from the disease. Eye experts agree supplements can help people at high risk for developing advanced ARMD keep their vision. Meanwhile, antioxidants and zinc showed no significant effect on the development or progression of cataracts. Hey, we can eliminate cataracts with surgery!
Related Topics: Test Your Supplements Savvy, Eye Vitamins: Help or Hype?
Tags:
