Originally published June 30 2005
Individuals with cataracts may benefit from diet of fruits and vegetables
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
It has long been passed from generation to generation that carrots help you see in the dark, but research from Harvard Medical Center has found that eating fruits and vegetables in general could help reduce the risk of developing cataracts by 10 to 15 percent, NutraUSA reports.
Rather than focusing on individual nutrients, serum concentrations of nutrients or biomarkers of fruit and vegetable intake, as other studies have done with mixed results, the Harvard researchers, led by Dr William Christen, decided to look at the development of cataract in relation to specific foods or food groups, such as fruit and vegetables.
"This approach enables an assessment of the combined effects of antioxidant nutrients together with the effects of other components in the diet, such as other micronutrients, phytochemicals and fiber," they wrote in the American Journal for Clinical Nutrition (2005; 81: 1417-22).
A cataract is when the crystalline lens of the eye, which enables humans to focus on objects at different distances, becomes clouded, resulting in blurring vision.
The study was carried out using data supplied by 39,876 apparently healthy female health professionals aged over 45, who were involved in the Women's Health Study.
The participants were asked to complete a semi-quantitive food frequency questionnaire that asked how often, on average, they had eaten each of 29 different vegetables and 15 fruits over the last year.
Once women with existing cataract at baseline and those whose daily calorie intake was less than 600 or more than 3500 were excluded, 35,724 participants were deemed eligible for the study.
Women in the highest quintile of fruit and vegetable consumption were seen to have a 15 to 20 percent reduced risk of developing cataract, compared with those in the lowest quintile.
Much attention has been given in recent years to the supplement approach to preventing AMD, in particular to powerful carotenoid antioxidants lutein, zeaxanthin and astaxanthin.
Last year Bausch & Lomb launched its Ocuvite PreserVision Soft Gels Lutein Formula and multivitamin makers are also getting in on the act -- such as Wyeth Healthcare, which recently added lutein to its market-leading adult product, Centrum.
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