You CAN protect your vision even more.….Today's post:  Tuesday, 4-17-2018

Cataracts, glaucoma, and macular and retinal and optic nerve degeneration can cause you to lose your vision.

But these conditions are preventable and even more reversible than is widely known.

Besides the good health lifestyle we teach that prevents the things that reduce circulation or damage your nerves in general, there are several things that specifically prevent or help reverse such damage.

Last week we posted on several nutrients that are proven to help prevent vision loss and even restore it in many cases.

We added some extra information to the Dr Sears email he sent on 4-10 to do that.

Then on Weds, 4-11, he sent another email, part two to the first one with even more examples of how dramatically the right nutrients can improve vision and added more to the information on the nutrients we posted on last week.

AND he added some additional nutrients that can increase the effect of the first set!

Dr Sears, in this second email lists the nutrients that can do the most to keep good vision or restore it:

I list them next and explain why I don’t take two of them as supplements, which is why I suggest not taking his combination supplement that DOES include them.

“The most powerful antioxidants for crystal clear vision include

Vitamin C *

Zeaxanthin

Vitamin A, [the retinol version from animal sources.]

Zinc *

L-Taurine *

Lycopene *

Vinpocetine    [I Do NOT take this one!]

Ginkgo Biloba *

Bilberry extract *

[I take all these marked with * as supplements except for retinol vitamin A and Vinpocetine and the Zeaxanthin & Lutein pair.]

[Vitamin A in the retinol form can be overdosed & I take a bit daily and eat egg yolks weekly and drink whole milk each of which has some. I agree with Dr Sears that you get optimum results by including it besides the carotenes in vegetables.  But for most carotenes it’s best to get them in their natural form because you get the natural molecules AND the hundreds of other carotenes in a complementary balance.  You also get them in their natural ratios.  The one exception seems to be lycopene which we address a bit later in this post.]

[Vinpocetine is a very bad supplement which can have harmful effects and even stop working if it does help at first.  NOT a good idea to take!]

[The Zeaxanthin & Lutein pair I may be a bit light on but I do eat broccoli and cabbage with nuts or extra virgin olive oil AND avocados AND the hundreds of carotenes these foods contain + I do take lycopene.

As I’ve posted before, avocados have the Zeaxanthin & Lutein pair and many other carotenes AND the monosaturated fat that makes them all bioavailable!]

“**Ginkgo    To maintain sharp vision at any age, your eyes must have enough blood flow.

[Adding astaxanthin increases this effect!]

Healthy circulation through your capillaries delivers necessary oxygen to your eyes. It also removes the deoxygenated blood and waste material from your eye tissues.

This blood flow is also responsible for delivering essential nutrients to your eyes. If your eyes are unable to receive enough of the nutrients they need because of poor circulation, your vision can suffer.

Luckily, ginkgo is an amazing herb for boosting circulation. In fact, it’s so powerful that if you’re taking blood thinners, you can’t take ginkgo at the same time!”

[The bolding here is mine.  In fact I’ve posted separately that Ginkgo and deodorized garlic and vitamin K2 and nattokinase and ginger and curcumin in combination are a safe and effective way to prevent blood clots but the “blood thinning” drugs are NOT safe – or as effective!]

“To top it off, ginkgo also provides antioxidants that fight free radical damage to your eye’s cornea, macula and retina. And, as you now know, this damage is one of the root causes of vision loss as you age.

Incredibly, I couldn’t find ANY eye supplements that include this vision must-have!

With its ability to increase essential blood flow to your delicate eyes as well as its powerful antioxidant support, I recommend 50 mg of ginkgo daily to my patients.”  [I take 60 mg a day from a Nature’s Way standardized Ginkgo supplement.]

**Bilberry  Like many folk remedies, the bilberry’s eyesight boosting properties are now being proven by science.

A study published in the American Journal of Public Health tracked patients taking an extract of this tiny berry. The results were astonishing. A staggering 97% of the subjects significantly improved their eyesight! 23  [I added that bolding.]

You just don’t hear success rates like that from drugs. And there are zero side effects — just incredible benefits for your eyesight.

So how does the bilberry work? Researchers have now discovered specific compounds in bilberries that optimize your eyesight and give you sharper night vision.

This vision miracle contains a flavonoid called cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G). And C3G boosts and replenishes the protein complex in the rods of your eye.24

Your rods are your eyes most sensitive cells. Their light sensitivity allows you to see in dim light.

As you age, your eyes have less and less of this night vision protein that feeds your rods. As a result, your ability to see in the dark is delayed — sometimes for long minutes when you’re temporarily blinded. This delay can be dangerous and even deadly.

Falls and resulting injury can occur as you “feel” your way to the bathroom at night. And precious seconds can make all the difference when you’re driving at night and are unable to see the road clearly.

But when you have enough C3G by consuming bilberries or their extract, you speed up this protein processing. Then the rods responsible for your night vision are supercharged and bounce back quickly, enabling you to see well in dim light.

So you can confidently drive at night, climb dimly lit stairs, and make your way on a shadowy unfamiliar street.  And you can easily read the menu in a candlelit restaurant.

And there’s even more.

On top of powering up your “owl-eyes” night vision, the amazing bilberry contains powerful antioxidants. These fight the inflammation and free radical damage that contribute to vision loss.

It also increases healthy circulation in your eye’s capillaries. Supporting your retina’s health as well as the rest of the tissues surrounding your eye.

It’s obvious the bilberry is a must-have for any vision supplement. Yet many other formulas fail to include it! And those who include bilberry give you weak mixtures that do nothing for your eyes.”

[Dr Sears also includes the research comparing two tribes that live in similar areas of the Amazon basin.  One group has age related vision decline and tends to wear glasses.  The other has zero vision decline at any age and rarely needs glasses at all.

The tribe with the very strong and lasting vision they found eats a variety of fruits and other plant foods that have similar phyto nutrients to bilberry!  The tribes are almost identical otherwise and live in almost the same climate!

He doesn’t emphasize this variety as much as I think might make sense.  Also lots of fruit can be a bit fattening.  I solve this myself by eating wild organic low glycemic blueberries twice a week and taking  a bilberry/elderberry supplement from Natures Way labeled as a bilberry supplement.  I also take cherry extract and cranberry extract.

I think doing this is the most effective way to do what this Indian tribe does in the Amazon basin.

** “Lycopene

Research has shown how lycopene protects and heals your eyes from within.

It does this by directly impacting the chemical processes that lead to vision loss. Its antioxidant  properties intervene and stop the domino effect of reactions and damage.

In a study published in Life Sciences, lycopene slowed and stopped the age-related vision loss in the subjects’ eyes.26

Lycopene’s amazing ability to support vision health is all about free radicals.

When you don’t get enough antioxidants in your diet, your eyes are vulnerable to free radical damage. And this plays a big role in age-related vision loss.

By feeding your eyes a steady stream of lycopene, you protect your eyesight.

Lycopene promotes the health of your eye’s macula, retina, rods and cones. And supports the natural balance of proteins in your eyes.  Helping you hold on to your sharp vision. And enjoy the peace of mind and independence that makes life worth living.

While many other vision supplements either fail to include this vision miracle or include a weak dosage of 6 mg - 10 mg, the new NutraVision [Dr Sears supplement that also has vinpocetine] contains the optimal dosage of 20 mg!”

[For lycopene, the optimum intake is closer to 30 mg a day.  BESIDES its value for the eyes it prevents and even may reverse prostate cancer.  I believe this effect also does the same for breast and ovarian cancers in women.  It may even be a way to prevent or reverse most cancers.]

“As lycopene is actually found in the eye itself like lutein and zeaxanthin, this level of supplementation is required if you want to fight age-related vision loss and enjoy youthful, sharp vision for life!”

Between our post on Tuesday, 4-10 and today’s post, these two posts list a set of protocols that you can use to prevent or in many cases reverse vision decline and night vision decline!

By following the complete low inflammation lifestyle and including these vision protecting foods and supplements you can keep or restore your vision.

And, because of its preservation or restoration of your night vision it is even a traffic safety help and a way to safely keep driving as you get older!      

You CAN protect your vision….Today's post:  Tuesday, 4-10-2018

Cataracts, glaucoma, and macular and retinal and optic nerve degeneration can cause you to lose your vision.

But these conditions are preventable and even more reversible than is widely known.

Besides the good health lifestyle we teach that prevents the things that reduce circulation or damage your nerves in general, there are several things that specifically prevent or help reverse such damage.

Cataracts are caused by damage to your lens in each of your eyes.  But if you add the things that reverse the damage to stopping the things that cause it, you can stop them from getting worse and can even get some reversal.

Cataracts are caused by damage to the lens in each of your eyes from ultraviolet rays. 

But going outside in sunny weather -- AND in mid-day overcast surprisingly -- provides enough high ultraviolet damage to do this damage.

Some of the nutrients and actions we list have prevented this from happening to Aborigines who are very exposed to this kind of ultraviolet daily.

So reducing your exposure to strong ultraviolet AND doing those things and some others can keep cataracts from getting worse or even reduce them.

1.  Instead of going outside for vitamin D3 which many people already do because of work but not all, take 10,000 iu of vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 for your D3 levels instead.

2.  When you do go outside particularly when driving, always wear shatter resistant dark glasses that both cut polarized glare AND filter out much of the excess ultraviolet.  Also wear a brimmed hat that allows you to block sun from above or just to the right or left of where you are looking.

Also note that at mid-day bright or even darker overcast still has the level of ultraviolet intensity high enough to cause damage. 

Your eyes compensate in a way this is NOT what it looks like; but a light meter used in physics or photography DOES show that high level of ultraviolet is there!

3.  Do all the things you can from the rest of this list.  But add them to taking astaxanthin because it’s a very small molecule antioxidant carotenoid in fish swimming in cold water such that it protects them in water too cold for larger carotenoids to work.

Your eye and its lens and your retina and the interface between it and your optic nerve all have very little direct access to blood flow or nutrients carried by your blood.

Astaxanthin both delivers the effects of a carotenoid and an antioxidant to all those places.  It also apparently helps deliver other eye protective nutrients that you eat or take also!

4.  Eating a wide variety of foods that contain alpha carotene and lutein and zeaxanthin and hundreds of other carotenoids is also known to protect all of your eye and the retina and its pigments as well! 

Taking larger amounts of lutein and zeaxanthin can overdo it.  But eating those organic vegetables daily delivers the correct amount and all those hundreds of co-factors.

Orange and yellow vegetables and dark green ones are high in carotenes.  (In broccoli and green leafy vegetables the dark green hides the carotenes.)

The two foods that work best for this are wild caught salmon cooked with the skin left on and eaten and organic avocados.  The omega 3 oils in the wild caught salmon and the monosaturated fat in the avocados help make their carotenes and the others you eat bioavailable.

5.  Taking bilberry extract and eating organic wild blueberries have been shown to protect and even revive the pigments in your retina.  This has been shown to prevent night blindness or even reverse it!

6.  Dr Al Sears sent an email today with some others that can also help:

The increase of the ability of your eye to drain excess fluid from taking astaxanthin may help prevent glaucoma which is caused by excess pressure building up in your eyeball.

Dr Sears also found research that *Ginkgo Biloba….boosts healthy blood circulation to your eyes and reduces inflammation. 

And studies show that supplementing with this herb improved the vision of people with glaucoma.”  Taking 60 mg a day will do this. 

Ginkgo may also boost protection of your optic nerve and enhance your eye’s blood circulation.

“L-Taurine. This amino acid strengthens the cells of your retina and protects your lenses from drying out.

It helps prevent age-related vision loss including retinal ganglion cell degeneration.”

I take 500 mg of taurine four times a day for heart protection.  This apparently may also help protect or restore your vision.

7.  Your eyes are also a direct connection to nerves in your brain.  This means that all the things that protect your brain and nerves protect your vision!

AND, the things that cause new nerves and nerve repair or help do so also protect your vision in this way.

Notably taking DHA and omega 3 oil and eating wild  caught fish plus NOT eating any hybrid wheat and otherwise eating in a low inflammation style that we have often posted on does this.

So does regular exercise that releases the nerve growing and repairing BDNF growth hormone.

In addition NOT taking statins and taking the ubiquinol form of CoQ10 and taking PQQ is known to help keep the mitochondria in your optic nerves healthy and may even help remove senescent ones and save damaged ones that can be saved. 

Statins do the reverse of these beneficial things.  Other more effective ways to protect your heart and lower inflammation that do not are dramatically more desirable and preferable!

Also taking bacopa and quercetin seems to enhance these effects

Lastly taking 2 a day of the sterol supplement from Bluebonnet that contains the beta sitosterol and stigmasterol that have been shown to restore the sense of smell by removing beta amyloid from the nasal nerves.

This may also work in the retina and optic nerves since they are similar and in a very close location.