The eye has been called the window of the soul, and as
Matthew 6:22 states, “The eye is the lamp of the body.
If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” The health of
your eyes can say a lot about your overall physical health and well-being. This
is especially true concerning the vascular diseases such as hypertension and
diabetes.
Ever since the Age-Related Eye
Disease Studies (AREDS/AREDS2), the pharmacy and health-food store shelves have
been stocked with ocular vitamins promoting optimal eye health. There is good
reason for this, as the eye disease studies showed that a certain combination
of nutrients could moderately and measurably stabilize and slow down the
progression of the dry form of macular degeneration. The dry form of
macular degeneration is believed to be due to, or exacerbated by, an inadequacy
or inability of appropriate nutrients to reach and nourish the retinal tissues.
Smoking presents as a high-risk factor for this type of macular degeneration
and there may be a hereditary, genetic component as well. Central vision loss
(acuity) may be significant and permanent and there is no treatment except for
ocular vitamins and stabilization of the disease process.
Conversely, the wet form of
macular degeneration is due to a leakage of vascular fluid in the retina and
underlying retinal tissues and is usually better treated with injections and
photo-dynamic therapy and is not seen to be typically hereditary, but more
frequently seen in people with cardio-vascular disease. Central vision loss may
be reversible in many cases but may require long periods of treatment and
multiple and expensive injections.
Cataracts are probably the most
common of all the eye diseases, as most, if not all of us will ultimately
develop them with time. Cataracts are simply an opacification and yellowing of
the normally clear crystalline lens of the eye which sits behind the iris and
pupil. This metabolic oxidation can be exacerbated by excessive ultraviolet
light exposure, medications, smoking, other environmental factors, and possibly
genetic factors as well. Central visual acuity loss, night vision difficulties,
color vision perception changes, glare sensitivity and distortions will all
frequently increase with the progression of the cataract. Both eyes are
typically affected, but one eye may be more advanced. Treatment is typically surgical removal with
associated intraocular implants, which has a great success rate. Nutrients and
antioxidants seem to have positive, but variable effects in intervention and
prevention and may help to slow down or stabilize the cataract progression.
N-acetyl-carnosine (NAC eye drops, Can-C), an amino acid in eye drop form, has
been used much in Russia and some other European countries but noticeable and
measurable improvements can be highly variable. The drops are relatively
expensive as well and often difficult to obtain but can be found online. A
better option, as we shall see below, is probably an overall healthy diet and
lifestyle with an appropriate multivitamin and multimineral supplement with
additional antioxidant nutrients taken daily for optimal health and well-being.
The ocular vitamin or vision
formulas that you will find in the store, including I-Caps, PreserVision AREDS
2, Ocuvite, and their associated generics will typically contain the following
in similar concentrations—Vitamin C, 150–250 mg; Vitamin E, 20 mg (30 IU)–135
mg (200 IU); zinc, 10–40 mg; copper (to balance the zinc), 1 mg; the
antioxidants lutein, 5 mg and zeaxanthin, 1 mg; and sometimes the Omega-3 fatty
acids EPA and DHA, 250 mg or so. As you can see from these numbers, the amounts
of each nutrient can vary widely from product to product. The primary ocular health
components are the antioxidant vitamins, C and E; zinc; and the antioxidant
plant carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin; which most of us do not get enough of
dietarily. There is a caution with excessive zinc intake over about 60 mg per
day as this tends to decrease copper absorption, which further decreases your
iron absorption. All these minerals must be in balance. If you are taking a
PreserVision formula (which is very high in zinc), it is essential that you
make sure you are not taking any additional zinc supplements, including the use
of zinc lozenges. The Omega-3 fatty acids have not shown any particular eye
health advantage, but they certainly are important for healthy cardiovascular
function and have been shown also to be very helpful for many people who
experience dry eye conditions. I strongly recommend taking a fish oil
supplement daily of about 1000 mg.
The ocular vitamin formulations,
especially the name brands, can be quite expensive. In lieu of this strategy, I
strongly recommend taking a complete multivitamin and multimineral supplement (with
iron), such as Centrum or a generic, which contains the full daily value of
all the essential vitamins and the essential trace minerals with smaller
amounts of the required major minerals (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium,
potassium, and chloride); 25–30 nutrients in all should be listed. I would then
add a separate product with at least 10 mg of lutein and at least 600–800
micrograms of zeaxanthin. To this I would add the fish oil, and you could add extra
vitamin C and E, which are relatively inexpensive, and maybe even an additional
vitamin B-complex for optimal energy and metabolism. You must also make sure
you are getting enough calcium and magnesium and may need additional
supplements to augment those intakes.
Here Is Your
Healthy Eyes Checklist—
ü
A complete multivitamin/multimineral supplement
with iron—once daily
ü
Lutein 10 mg with zeaxanthin 600–800
micrograms—once daily
ü
Fish oil 1000 mg—once or more daily
For optimal
health and well-being, you may then want to add—
ü
Additional vitamin C 500–1000 mg daily
ü
Additional vitamin E 200–400 IU (135–270 mg)
daily
ü
Additional vitamin B-complex with extra amounts
of all the B-vitamins, once daily
ü
Make sure you are getting at least 1,300 mg of
calcium and 420 mg of magnesium daily
ü
Probiotics and proper amounts of fiber are also
important for good health
On a final note, since dry eye is
such a common complaint and is exceedingly difficult to cure, ocular lubricants
are typically required. Some doctors recommend GenTeal or Systane, but my
personal favorite is Refresh Tears by Allergan. The Refresh line of products
are all preservative free, conveniently available in multi-drop containers, and
are safe to use with contacts. Refresh Tears is the standard version, Refresh
Liquigel and Refresh Gel Drops are twice as viscous so they last longer but may
blur vision a few minutes after instillation, and Refresh Advanced has an oil
component to help keep tears from evaporating as quickly. Refresh Advanced is
not recommended for contact lens wearers as the oil component can stick to the
surface of contacts and cause blurred vision for longer periods of time. You
may need to instill these drops 6–8 times daily or more. Infrequent blinking,
staring at a computer screen, heating, wind and air flow—all can contribute to
a dry eye condition. There are prescription eye drops for dry eye syndrome,
namely Restasis and Xiidra, which serve to stimulate your own tear glands to
produce more tears, but these drops are exceedingly expensive, take a month or
more to show improvement, have variable effectiveness from person to person,
and still need to be maintained on a regular basis.
Ocular allergies are also common
problems and my two best recommendations for OTC drops are Alaway (longer
acting) and Opcon-A (shorter acting) by Bausch and Lomb. Both of these contain
an antihistamine to help alleviate the typical ocular symptoms and Opcon-A has
a vasoconstrictor to whiten the eye temporarily. These drops should only be
used a few times daily at most. Lumify is the newest whitening eye drop by
Bausch and Lomb and has the advantage that it does not typically cause a
rebound redness effect that other vasoconstrictors may precipitate with
excessive use. Lumify does not contain an antihistamine so it does not really
help specifically with allergy symptoms like itchy, watery eyes. Be advised
that most eye drops on the market should staunchly be avoided as they are laden
with chemicals and preservatives that will typically irritate the eye more than
soothe it. There are prescription allergy eye drops, notably Patanol and
Pataday, which block the ocular allergic reactions in an early stage, so they
are very effective, but also expensive.
I intentionally left out an
elaborate discussion of the vital importance of Vitamin A (beta carotene) even
though it is essential for proper eye health (especially night vision and
ocular surface health) due to its complicated and confusing interactions in
smokers. For reasons not understood, it seems that high doses of vitamin A or
beta carotene can actually increase the incidence of lung cancer in smokers.
Therefore, high doses of vitamin A are not recommended for smokers but may
typically be fine for everyone else. Taking the multivitamin/multimineral
supplement is critical in assuring that you are getting all these essential
nutrients in at least adequate amounts. Beta carotene and most of the essential
nutrients can be especially found in colorful and green leafy vegetables. A
healthy diet high in a variety of vegetables and fruit is an essential part of
staying healthy and well along with your supplement regimen.
I hope that
this has been helpful for you in maintaining your healthy eyes!
Feel free to
contact me for more information @
For more general information on health and well-being see my Outline
for Life—Body on the Resources page of my
website or in my online Store.
For your
information, see the chart on the final page through this link for the newest recommended Daily
Values (Reference Daily Intake) for the vitamins and minerals.
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