A llen Sayigh, who is nearsighted, has worn glasses since the first grade. Tired of straining to see, Sayigh found a teacher who showed him some simple eye exercises. After years of practice, Sayigh is now able to set aside his glasses for a few hours at a time and see clearly on his own. “It’s about changing the way you use your mind and inducing relaxation in the visual system,” says Sayigh.
Sayigh, a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist, manages the Chinese medicine herbal dispensary at Bastyr University, the Seattle medical school for naturopathic physicians and other natural health practitioners. He says that more people are seeking to improve their vision with natural approaches such as acupuncture, herbs and exercises. He cites the success of a recent patient, a woman to whom he prescribed the Chinese herb wolfberry (a dark red fruit loaded with vitamins). Only a few months after taking the vision-boosting supplement, the patient was thrilled to be able to switch to a weaker eyeglass prescription.
Fading eyesight due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common problem for people over 55, afflicting more than 2 million adults with diminished central-focus vision. Experts at the National Eye Institute predict the number of AMD sufferers will double over the next 20 years. Stress, diet and oxidation are some of the factors contributing to this eye disease, which can cause blurry vision, blind spots, leaking blood vessels, and even complete blindness in one or both eyes.
All scary stuff. Luckily, researchers at the National Eye Institute discovered a way to slow the progression of AMD by simply eating the right foods. The Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), conducted in 2001, showed that high levels of antioxidants, beta-carotene and zinc can slow the progression of macular degeneration by 25 percent in people who already suffer from the affliction in one eye. A second AREDS study beginning this summer examines the potential value of three other nutrients to eye protection: omega 3 fatty acids, lutein and zeaxanthin.
Many eye doctors now offer macular degeneration patients the same formula of supplements used in the first AREDS study (a product manufactured by Bausch and Lomb). But registered dietician Karen Collins, nutrition adviser for the American Institute for Cancer Research in Washington, DC, says those high-dose supplements are only effective for people who already suffer from the disease. For the rest of us, the best prevention strategy is to go straight to the source: whole foods.
“It’s the same synergy we see in cancer prevention,” says Collins. “The phytochemicals and nutrients [available in food] work together with a greater benefit than just one supplement.”
To get your dose of beta-carotene, add orange vegetables like carrots or squash to your diet, says Collins. La Jolla, Calif. physician Dr. Steven G. Pratt touts the eye-boosting benefits of beta-carotene-rich pumpkin in his book, SuperFoods RX: Fourteen Foods that Will Change Your Life. Pratt’s book has recipes for low-fat alternatives to pumpkin pie, including pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup and pumpkin pudding. Other ways to get more beta-carotene include sweet potatoes, orange bell peppers and butternut squash, Pratt suggests.
It’s a matter of discipline, but you can prevent future eye problems if you make an effort to eat six servings of fruits and vegetables per day (including at least one cup or two servings of orange vegetables and one cup of spinach per week). Wild salmon is full of omega-3 fats. Good sources of lutein include broccoli, kale and spinach, and be sure to throw in some beans and nuts for zinc.
Stay Off the White Stuff
A host of research, including a recent study in the April American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, points to the potentially damaging effects of too many sweets and too much white flour in the diet.
Collins believes these foods may cause inflammation in the eye tissue and contribute to vision problems. Eye tissue stores a lot of fat and oxygen, making it particularly vulnerable to free radicals and oxidation, Collins explains. To combat cell damage, the body concentrates high levels of antioxidants and beta-carotene in the eye.
“If our diet is poor, we’re not going to have as much right there when we need it,” she says. “That is going to leave us less protected.”
For many, adding key foods to the diet (and avoiding others) will be enough to ensure eye health down the road. But for those with more entrenched vision problems, extra help from supplements and other treatments may be necessary, says Cynthia Bye, a naturopathic physician in Vancouver, Wash.
Bye often prescribes gingko, bilberry and the amino acid taurine for eye issues like macular degeneration. As she explains, cataracts and macular degeneration are signs of other health problems, such as oxidative stress and poor digestion (often a side effect of heartburn medication). “As naturopaths we’re trained to treat the cause,” she adds. “For example, cataracts are there because of stress and damage on the lens. You can do surgery, but if you don’t change that environment, the cataract is just going to come back.”
Use It or Lose It
Bye firmly believes in the strengthening and protective power of eye exercises. “If you don’t use it, you lose it,” she avers.
But eye exercises are a point of debate among the experts, with most alternative practitioners believing they are helpful, and most traditional physicians less convinced.
Allen Sayigh—who adheres to a method based on a book by 1920’s physician William Bates—cautions clients to be wise consumers and avoid the wild claims of success some companies make, particularly on the web. Sayigh believes in relaxing the eye muscles, but not in the systems designed to strengthen eye muscles.
Dr. Richard Bensinger, a spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, agrees that certain exercises might work for farsighted people, but cautions that there has never been a clinical trial proving eye exercises effective. And if you are nearsighted, he warns, the exercises could over strengthen the eye muscles, actually worsening the problem.
Mind-body approaches, such as yoga and tai chi, offer techniques to relax the eyes and increase blood flow to that part of the head, says Sayigh. Acupuncture may also helpful for certain eye issues, such as wandering eye or night blindness, although its effectiveness has yet to be proven for more serious issues like macular degeneration or cataracts. To find a qualified Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner, contact the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine at nccaom.org.
Of course, it’s always wise to protect the eyes from sun with quality glasses that filter ultraviolet and blue light, like those offered by MedOp, Inc. (medop.com). And for the computer-bound among us, The Cambridge Institute for Better Vision (BetterVision.com) offers a book filled with tips for avoiding eyestrain while staring at a screen.
For example of the dangers of too much screen time, Martin Sussman, president of the Institute, cites the fact that many people forget to blink while sitting in front of a monitor. He suggests taking a break from the computer to rest the eyes for five minutes every hour. BetterVision.com offers additional tips and referrals for behavioral optometrists.
Ultimately, laser surgery may be a good option for those who are fed up with glasses and contacts. But natural practitioners like Bye believe in trying more natural methods like diet and herbs first.
“It’s about diet, digestion, inflammation and stress,” Bye says. “If your body functions the way it’s supposed to, you don’t get eye problems like macular degeneration and cataracts.”
Melissa Knopper is a Denver-based writer whose work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Monterey Herald and E/The Environmental Magazine.