Eye Health
Omega-3 May Prevent Age-Related Sight Loss And Is Highly Beneficial For Supporting Eye Health...
Increased Intakes of Omega-3 Fatty Acids May Reduce The Risk of Developing Age-Related Blindness by 30 Per Cent, Says a New Study From The US National Eye Institute
A subsection of the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) supported the beneficial effects of omega-3 consumption for preventing age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the over 50s.
"These results may guide the development of low-cost and easily implemented preventive interventions for progression to advanced age-related macular degeneration," reported the researchers.
Eyes on AMD
AMD (age-related Macular Degeneration) is a degenerative retinal disease that causes central vision loss and leaves only peripheral vision. It is the leading cause of legal blindness for people over 55 years of age in the Western world, according to AMD Alliance International.
Despite the fact that approximately 25 to 30 million people worldwide are affected by AMD, awareness of the condition is low, says the Alliance. And as the generation of Baby Boomers gets older, the Alliance expects incidence to be on the rise and triple by 2025.
There are two types of AMD - wet and dry. Wet AMD occurs when blood vessels grow abnormally beneath the macular (neovascular AMD). The blood vessels eventually leaks and the macular is scarred, obscuring vision.
Dry AMD occurs when normal tissue in the macula slowly disappears. This results in a pale area of the macular called central geographic atrophy.
Valuable Healthy Eye Benefits of Omega-3's
It is known that omega-3 fatty acids, and particularly DHA, play an important role in the layer of nerve cells in the retina, and studies have already reported that omega-3 may protect against the onset of AMD.
Indeed, a meta-analysis published in the June 2008 issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology found that a high intake of omega-3 fatty acids and fish may reduce the risk of AMD by up to 38 per cent. Scientists from the University of Melbourne in Australia reported that the benefits were most pronounced against late (more advanced) AMD, while eating fish twice a week was associated with a reduced risk of both early and late AMD.
The new study supports these earlier findings. The researchers looked at a sub-section of 1,837 people participating in the phase 3 Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS). All the participants were considered to be at a moderate-to-high risk of advanced AMD.
Over 12 years of study, the researchers found that intakes of omega-3, estimated using a food-frequency questionnaire, were related to both wet and dry AMD risk.
Significantly, the participants with the highest omega-3 intakes, had a 30 per cent lower risk of developing both types than people with the lowest intakes.
"The 12-year incidence of central geographic atrophy and neovascular AMD in participants at moderate-to-high-risk of these outcomes was lowest for those reporting the highest consumption of omega-3 fatty acids," concluded the researchers.
An earlier study partly funded by the National Eye Institute noted lower levels of inflammatory molecules, such as prostaglandin E2 and leukotriene B4, and higher levels of anti-inflammatory molecules, such as prostaglandin D2 (American Journal of Pathology, Vol. 175, pp.799-807).
Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Published online "Omega-3 Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid intake and 12-y incidence of neovascular age-related macular degeneration and central geographic atrophy: a prospective cohort study from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study"
Eat Plenty Of Fruits & Vegetables For Better Vision and Improved Eye Health
The nutritive Carotenoids found in green leafy vegetables and colored fruits, have been found to increase visual performance and may prevent age-related eye diseases, according to a study in the Journal of Food Science, published by the Institute of Food Technologists.
Authors from the University of Georgia compiled the results of multiple studies on the effects of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin on visual performance. These carotenoids play an important role in human vision, including a positive impact on the retina.
After reviewing the various studies, the authors concluded that macular pigments, specifically lutein and zeaxanthin do have an effect on visual performance.
Lutein and zeaxanthin can reduce disability and discomfort from glare, enhance contrast, and reduce photostress recovery times. They can also reduce glare from light absorption and increase the visual range.
The research team noted that the study of the effects of lutein and zeazanthin are important because "it is clear that they could potentially improve vision through biological means. For example, a study conducted in 2008 suggests that the pigments protect the retina and lens and perhaps even help prevent age-related eye diseases such as macular degeneration and cataract."
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Green Tea May Help Fight Glaucoma and Other Eye Diseases
Scientists have confirmed that the healthful substances found in Green Tea, renowned for their powerful antioxidant and disease-fighting properties, do penetrate into tissues of the eye.
Their new report, the first documenting how the lens, retina, and other eye tissues absorb these substances, raises the possibility that green tea may protect against glaucoma and other common eye diseases.
The report appears in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The researchers point out that so-called green tea "catechins" have been among a number of antioxidants thought capable of protecting the eye. Those include vitamin C, vitamin E, lutein, and zeaxanthin. Until now, however, nobody knew if the catechins in green tea actually passed from the stomach and gastrointestinal tract into the tissues of the eye.
The scientists conducting the study resolved that uncertainty in experiments with laboratory subjects that drank green tea. Analysis of eye tissues showed beyond a doubt that eye structures absorbed significant amounts of individual catechins. The retina, for example, absorbed the highest levels of gallocatechin, while the aqueous humor tended to absorb epigallocatechin. The effects of green tea catechins in reducing harmful oxidative stress in the eye lasted for up to 20 hours. "Our results indicate that green tea consumption could benefit the eye against oxidative stress," the report concludes.
Select a Book about Eye Health
Tea Compounds May Boost Eye Health...
The antioxidant compounds present in Green Tea and associated with a myriad of health benefits can penetrate the tissue of the eye and potentially protect against common eye diseases, reports an important new study.
Researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong report that catechins from tea could be detected in significant amounts in various eye structures. According to findings published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the retina of rats absorbed the highest levels of gallocatechin, while the aqueous humor tended to absorb epigallocatechin.
Nutritionally-based ingredients recognized for eye health include antioxidants, including lutein, beta-carotene, zeaxanthin, astaxanthin and bilberry. The demand for such products is increasing as consumers turn to nutrition to protect against blinding diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma.
The global human nutrition market for lutein is predicted to increase by rising demand for eye health supplements from the aging U.S. population, increasing healthcare costs, more research efforts backing ingredient benefits, and improvements in technology for methods of ingredient extraction, said the report.
"Although many antioxidants have been studied in the eye, to the best of our knowledge this is the first study to show distribution of individual catechins after ingestion of green tea extract and to evaluate their in vivo antioxidative effects in various parts of the mammalian eye," wrote the researchers behind the new study.
Green tea contains between 30 and 40 per cent of water-extractable polyphenols, while black tea (green tea that has been oxidized by fermentation) contains between 3 and 10 per cent. The four primary polyphenols found in fresh tealeaves are epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate, and epicatechin.
The researchers fed laboratory subjects green tea and subsequently analysed the eye tissues. Catechins were indeed observed in the eye tissues... "Many studies on the antioxidative effect of green tea focused on EGCG," report the researchers. "However, in this study, we found its tissue level was not high. Gallocatechin, epigallocatechin, catechin, and epicatechin, on the other hand, substained high levels in many compartments.
"Although these compounds have a reducing power similar to or lower than that of EGCG, use of a mixture, such as green tea extract, was better than use of a single catechin because of lower cost and synergic effects on antioxidation and bioavailability," they added.
"Our results indicate that green tea consumption could benefit the eye against oxidative stress," concluded the researchers.
Source: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
