Category: Nutrition

Turmeric May Guard Against Cancer, Lupus, Diabetes

tumericResearch on turmeric spice indicates its potential to fight depression, cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative disease. The bright yellow spice, which lends color and flavor to mustard, curry, and other foods, also contains highly beneficial chemicals like curcumin.

Curcumin has been studied widely in the past, but it only makes up about two to five percent of the turmeric spice. Researchers from the Cytokine Research Laboratory Continue reading “Turmeric May Guard Against Cancer, Lupus, Diabetes”

Diabetic Retinopathy Guide: When High Blood Sugar Damages the Eyes

diabetic risk to the eyesDiabetic retinopathy is an eye disease that is a complication of diabetes. In diabetes, levels of blood sugar are chronically elevated due to lack of insulin, an insulin  insensitivity, or a combination of both. Just as sugar combined with water outside the body forms a sticky substance, excessive sugar in the bloodstream does so as well. Sugar adheres to numerous different tissues in the body, causing problems depending on the tissue. Prolonged excessive sugar in the bloodstream tends to damage the blood vessels of the retina, the back part of the eye that sends light signals to the brain. As the blood vessels Continue reading “Diabetic Retinopathy Guide: When High Blood Sugar Damages the Eyes”

Is There a Link Between Keratoconus and Magnesium?

Vision problemsKeratoconus is a disorder of the cornea that causes visual distortion. Changes in the cellular structures of the cornea cause it to thin and bend into a pronounced cone shape, losing its normal gentle curvature. This leads to several types of visual distortion including blurring, halos around lights, and, in some cases, rapid vision loss. The signature sign of Keratoconus is the perception of multiple ghostly images, called monocular polyopia.

The causes of Keratoconus are not yet known, but one possible link is magnesium deficiency. Numerous Continue reading “Is There a Link Between Keratoconus and Magnesium?”

Antioxidant Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Help Wet Macular Deneration (AMD)

omega-3 fatty acidsA new study shows that omega-3 fatty acids could help with wet macular degeneration. Macular degeneration is expected to increase by 50% in older adults in industrialized countries by 2020. As the leading cause of vision loss in the elderly, it is a condition of serious significance. The macula is the central part of the retina. While it makes up only about 2% of the total retina, the brain devotes half of its visual processing network to information from the macula. It is responsible for central vision. The retina is a thin layer of nerves Continue reading “Antioxidant Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Help Wet Macular Deneration (AMD)”

What is Fuchs’ Corneal Dystrophy?

fuchs' syndrome exampleFuchs’ Corneal Dystrophy is named for the Austrian ophthalmologist Ernst Fuchs, who first described the condition in 1910. He described thirteen patients who suffered from corneal clouding, blisters on the corneal epithelia and loss of corneal sensation.

“Dystrophy” refers to any disorder or condition in which a particular tissue or organ of the body wastes away. In Fuchs’ Dystrophy, the tissue that wastes away is the corneal endothelium. Just as epithelium refers to an external skin layer, endothelium refers to an internal skin layer. The corneal endothelium is the back Continue reading “What is Fuchs’ Corneal Dystrophy?”

Taurine Keeps Diabetics’ Eyes Healthy

DiabetesTaurine is something you will often see in reference to your cats – it’s essential to feline health.  You may not know that it is essential to your own eye health as well, especially if you are a person with diabetes.

Diabetes increases the retina’s requirements for taurine.  Uptake of taurine is increased in the retina and retinal pigment epithelium when the body is suffering from higher levels of insulin and glucose concentrations.

Also, Taurine also appears to protect the lens against the development of “sugar cataracts” because it has excellent antioxidant properties.

Good sources of taurine are fish and eggs.  You can also visit our Vision Store to find supplements that will help you boost your taurine levels.

See research on taurine and more information on this and other important amino acids.

5 Reasons to Like Ginseng

ginseng teaA traditional herb has been getting a lot of attention from researchers lately. Ginseng! It came from the Appalachians and Ozarks, where it was used by American Indians as a medicinal herb. In the 1700s, it was sold extensively to Asian traders who promoted its cultivation in China and Korea. It is now cultivated commercially in the Eastern US and upper Midwest.

Adaptogenic not Ergogentic

Ginseng is mostly adaptogenic rather than ergogenic. Two fancy words for two simple concepts. Adaptogenic means better tolerance for physical and mental stress; ergogenic means performance enhancing. Continue reading “5 Reasons to Like Ginseng”

Vitamin A Deficiency Causes Blindness; Prevent Night Blindness With Nutrition

Vitamin A deficiency is uncommon in the U.S., but it affects many people in the developing world.  One of first symptoms of a vitamin A deficiency is night blindness, which, if untreated can develop into full scale blindness.  According to the World Health Organization Report on Vitamin A Deficiency, night blindness is estimated to affect 5.2 million preschool-age children and 9.8 million pregnant women around the globe.

Writing on a case in The Lancet, doctors who treated a pregnant woman who came to the emergency room after several weeks of progressive sight loss described this particular case, “Vitamin A deficiency can be secondary to poor intestinal absorption due to weight loss surgery, Crohn’s disease or pancreatic dysfunction. Our patient had anorexia nervosa and had limited her diet to white onions, white potatoes, and red meat for the past 7 years.”

We usually recommend taking vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene, which converts to vitamin A with a small amount of fat in the diet. Food sources of vitamin A include: yellow and orange vegetables (including yams, carrots, mangoes, cantaloupe, apricots, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes), and asparagus, spinach, kale, bok choy.  If you wish for additional supplementation, the recommended dose is approximately 15,000 to 25,000 I.U. of beta-carotene daily.

Learn more about food as sources of vital nutrients at our website.

Diminished Cognitive Function in Elderly Linked to Homocysteine

older cognitive function Homocysteine is an amino acid that can be measured with a simple blood test. The study, which appeared in the Journal of Affective Disorders in August 2013, studied 358 people aged 50 and up who had symptoms of depression.

They gave the subjects cognitive tests that looked at immediate and delayed memory, as well as global cognitive performance. They measured Continue reading “Diminished Cognitive Function in Elderly Linked to Homocysteine”

CoQ10 May Aid Age-Related Macular Degeneration – AMD

ageing adultCoQ10 is a nutrient essential to energy production in the heart. It also has the ability to improve mitochondria metabolism. Issues with mitochondria function may play a role in AMD onset. A study on this was published in Ophthalmologica in 2005.

The researchers of the study designed a trial with compounds shown to improve mitochondria function. This included CoQ10, omega-3 fatty acids, and Continue reading “CoQ10 May Aid Age-Related Macular Degeneration – AMD”