Macular Degeneration – Using Diet to Treat & Avoiding the Problem

Age related macular degeneration (ARMG) is an eye disorder that can result in irreversible visual loss and is the commonest cause of blindness. It is a condition in which there is progressive deterioration of the central area of the retina, resulting in gradual sight loss in the center of the field of vision.

The retina is particularly susceptible to oxidation as its need for oxygen is large. It is exposed to high levels of light, and its membranes are rich in readily oxidized (destroyed) polyunsaturated fatty acids,

Macular Degeneration appears to have several carbohydrate-related mechanisms and risk factors with diabetes-related diseases such as retinopathy and cardiovascular disease. People who smoke cigarettes are several times more likely to develop this eye disorder than non-smokers.

This indicates that a healthy diet over a lifetime with good blood sugar control would reduce the risk of this eye condition.

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Using Diet to Treat & Avoid the Problem

• Physicians are taught that macular degeneration is an inevitable consequence primarily caused by aging and genetics and has always existed at high prevalence. This, it turns out, is not true.
• Projections suggest 196 million people have macular degeneration in 2020, and it’s expected to increase to 288 million by 2040.
  Before 1925, there were no more than about 50 cases of macular degeneration in all of the world’s literature. By 1940, it was becoming slightly more common. By 1975, 8.8% of Americans over the age of 52 had macular degeneration, which was approximately 4.5 million people.
• Research by Dr. Chris Knobbe, an ophthalmologist, reveals macular degeneration is a disease primarily induced by a westernized diet.
• Knobbe recommends an ancestral diet; you can eat anything you want, provided it’s real food, made from scratch without polyunsaturated vegetable oils or trans fats. Refined white flour or sugar should also be minimized.
  Once again, sounds like our diet in America at least is creating all sorts of problems.See also Diet of the Plague regarding diet.

When it comes to improving diet, beside eating whole organic food, we also feel that improving your gut and your metabolism is vitally important.

• Read Improving Metabolism and Understanding Metabolism