Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Low glycemic index foods reduce the risk for eye disease.

Macular degeneration is a condition which results in a loss of vision in the center of the visual field. With increasing age it is common to detect a build up of extracellular material in a certain area of the eye, this is termed drusen. Numerous and larger drusen in the macula can be an early sign of age-related macular degeneration.


In the study referred to here , the researchers investigated the significance of the food components vitamin C, E, the mineral zinc, the antioxidants Lutein/Zeaxanthin, and the omega 3 fatty acids EPA, DHA as well as the glycemic index of the food and how these factors affected the risk of drusen and advanced macular degeneration (Chiu CJ, et al, 2009).


4003 Participants were evaluated. It was concluded that consuming a diet that provides low glycemic index foods and higher intake of the above mentioned nutrients were associated with the greatest reduction in risk for drusen and advanced macular degeneration.




Click here for a source where you can find information about these kinds of foods.




Reference:

Chiu CJ, et al. Dietary compound score and risk of age-related macular degeneration in the age-related disease study. Ophthalmology. 2009 May;116(5):939-46.



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