LiveLongAgeWell

In honor of our mothers, let’s consider some advice many of them have given—perhaps your own mother said “eat your carrots…you’ll see better at night”—now let’s just update that with the latest information. It’s a nice coincidence because a few days before Mother’s Day, the journal Ophthalmology came out with a report on the best (nutritional) advice to prevent macular degeneration, the progressive loss of function in the retina of the eye and the most common cause of adult visual loss. (Click on this link for a “macular degeneration simulator”.)

One reason macular degeneration is so worrisome is that it’s so common: 10% of people over 65 are affected, and that rises to 30% for people over 75. Your risk is higher if you have a history of smoking, and with a close relative with macular degeneration, your lifetime risk rises to 50%. So it’s good to know there is something you can do to help diminish this threat as we get older besides a carrot-a-day…

Here’s what the analysis of the diets of over 4000 people in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study suggested to keep your vision good as you get older:

1. Eat a low-glycemic index diet. The glycemic index is a rating of how foods spike your blood sugar once they are absorbed, and the less the spike, the better. Slow absorbing foods are best. Particularly bad are white bread, starchy foods such as potatoes, and sugary pastries. Best are whole-grain breads, nuts, proteins, and vegetables.

2. Try to get a wide range of antioxidants from fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and perhaps eggs. Especially good are green leafy vegetables, spinach, kale, broccoli, and when you buy lettuce, stick to the dark green romaine style rather than the wimpy pale “head lettuce” or “American lettuce”. Other good sources of the vision-beneficial antioxidants are eggs, beans (especially black), and again, nuts and whole grains.

3. Try to get lots of vitamin C from citrus fruits.

4. Omega-3 fatty acids are great for your eyes (as well as your brain), and you can best get those from fatty fish, such as salmon.

So go ahead and eat a carrot-a-day, it’s great advice, but if you are really concerned about keeping your vision intact as you get older, and particularly if you have a positive family history, there are plenty of other dietary measures you can take. Don’t wait…add to your shopping list: oranges, broccoli, spinach, whole-grain bread, romaine lettuce, nuts, and salmon!