Myopia - Dietary Influences page 15

[FlyingPig]

I read this whole thread and was fascinated. Shame it seems to have died.

What I was wondering is something I haven't been able to find anywhere so far: what is the relationship between a poor diet and glaucoma / ocular hypertension?

I have ocular hypertension myself and take daily eye drops to reduce the pressure in my eyes. My peripheral vision is still fine (I pass all field tests and I am actually a commercial pilot so eye sight is pretty important :-) ) but there are signs of damage on my optical nerve. I am not of Caribbean / African descent, it doesn't run in the family, I am only 30 years old (diagnosed when I was 25 or so), so I really think my condition is related to inflammation that somehow expressed itself in my eyes. No medical expert has been able to explain why I have this and their solution is to take pressure lowering eye drops for the rest of my life. I am experimenting with Alpha Lipoic Acid to reduce oxidative stress, but the problem is I am on my own and it is hard to approach this with the official doctors, who are not interested in the link with diet.

Is there anyone reading this thread who knows more about this?

[MamaGrok]

Isn't glaucoma associated with diabetes? I would look into the dietary factors that lead to diabetes. There's a lot to learn here at MDA about that!

[jakeb]

I've been through this whole thread twice myself. Signed up for the forum just to answer but then realized that the OP wasn't contributing anymore.

Googled, found his site - Frauenfeld Clinic. They actually have a forum about eye stuff at their myopia challenge site. Not so much anything paleo related, but at least the dialog is alive.

I'm planning on doing some work on my vision in the next few months ... after I kick this bad habit of falling off the wagon, and going on a giant, giiiiant carb binge. So far I've managed 17 straight days of no carbs, the main saving grace being lots and lots of bacon. Bacon, and some sour cream is my own private methadone right now.

[scottrc5391]

I'm doing the Dr.'s 60-day Myopia Challenge and working that end of things but I've continued the diet experimentation myself, spending weeks at a time trying different combinations and noting how it affects my energy levels and vision. Extreme low carb did nothing for me except make me tired. I recently started cutting back on fried foods and other sources of vegetable oils (including salad dressing), reducing dairy, continuing to go low sugar, while upping intake of fruits, potatoes (all kinds), and fish, and even working some grains back in, and I'm feeling better than ever. I've eased back on all the steaks/ribs/etc. as well, not buying into the idea that we should be eating those every other meal while avoiding all carbs like the plague. I've added small doses of gelatin. Strange as it may seem, the worst after-meal crashes I've ever had were both after eating Caesar salads. To isolate this food as the cause, I did a little experiment: Went to an Italian restaurant for lunch one day, ate the salad with the pile of pasta, crashed hard. Went the next week, ate only the pasta, felt energized throughout the rest of the day. Go figure. I am finding myself reading labels more often now to ensure that synthetic chemicals I consume are kept to a minimum. Example: I bought (unintentionally) two different brands of ice cream and I had digestion problems with one but not the other. The two differ only by a couple of synthetics that one contains but the other doesn't. One is cellulose gel (couldn't be worse than eating a stick of celery right?) and one is Polysorbate 80 (known to cause intestinal issues). So I'm adding Polysorbate 80 to my list of things to avoid. It's chemicals like these that explain why you do fine with certain brands/restaurants but have problems with others. I'm beginning to think that these are responsible for many modern disease epidemics, including myopia. The truth will be known one day...

[jakeb]

I'm doing the Dr.'s 60-day Myopia Challenge and working that end of things but I've continued the diet experimentation myself, spending weeks at a time trying different combinations and noting how it affects my energy levels and vision. Extreme low carb did nothing for me except make me tired. I recently started cutting back on fried foods and other sources of vegetable oils (including salad dressing), reducing dairy, continuing to go low sugar, while upping intake of fruits, potatoes (all kinds), and fish, and even working some grains back in, and I'm feeling better than ever. I've eased back on all the steaks/ribs/etc. as well, not buying into the idea that we should be eating those every other meal while avoiding all carbs like the plague. I've added small doses of gelatin. Strange as it may seem, the worst after-meal crashes I've ever had were both after eating Caesar salads. To isolate this food as the cause, I did a little experiment: Went to an Italian restaurant for lunch one day, ate the salad with the pile of pasta, crashed hard. Went the next week, ate only the pasta, felt energized throughout the rest of the day. Go figure. I am finding myself reading labels more often now to ensure that synthetic chemicals I consume are kept to a minimum. Example: I bought (unintentionally) two different brands of ice cream and I had digestion problems with one but not the other. The two differ only by a couple of synthetics that one contains but the other doesn't. One is cellulose gel (couldn't be worse than eating a stick of celery right?) and one is Polysorbate 80 (known to cause intestinal issues). So I'm adding Polysorbate 80 to my list of things to avoid. It's chemicals like these that explain why you do fine with certain brands/restaurants but have problems with others. I'm beginning to think that these are responsible for many modern disease epidemics, including myopia. The truth will be known one day...

How is that program? Worth a shot?

[scottrc5391]

How is that program? Worth a shot?

I would say that if you have no previous exposure to vision rehabilitation, you should be able to reverse at least about -1.50 diopters in his program, given enough time. All the people I see wearing very low prescriptions could probably be rid of them for good if they only put in a little effort, but I guess nobody is telling them. His program was designed for people with up to -4.00 diopters but it probably doesn't appeal to a lot of people in that range because nearly all of them are good LASIK candidates and they want immediate results (albeit with significant risk). He is, to my knowledge, the only eye doctor IN THE WORLD providing free online information on myopia reduction. Is it because the methods don't work or because there is no demand? One can only know if they try themselves. That's my attitude. I know that sounds nice and vague like some kind of sales pitch. Truth is, I'm only 20 days into the program, plus I'm not his typical "patient" since I've been at this for 1.5 years now so I'm not an ideal person to ask. If you're skeptical, you can email him and he should answer. He's been generous in replying to my questions and those of the other participants.

[paleo-bunny]

Isn't glaucoma associated with diabetes? I would look into the dietary factors that lead to diabetes. There's a lot to learn here at MDA about that!

Perhaps in some families, but that is certainly not a factor in my case. In my family, glaucoma is caused by a dominant gene that could be associated with a connective tissue disorder (collagen). I have some significant issues with hypermobile joints that could be related.

I have low blood pressure and my blood sugar level has always been measured as being in the optimal range even at my highest weight. No African blood that I know of either. My maternal grandfather who has tunnel vision caused by his inherited glaucoma not being caught early enough is 89. Like me he doesn't have a sweet tooth and still has all his own teeth. One of his brothers lost the sight in one eye from glaucoma. My Mum and her only sibling have received vital treatment for glaucoma and only lost minimal peripheral vision. I have diagnosed high intraocular pressure but no detected loss of peripheral vision as of yet.

[jakeb]

I'm sold, based on this article explaining pseudo myopia, how the muscles work, and why myopia always seems to get worse: Explained: Ciliary, Pseudo Myopia, Hyperopic Growth | The Myopia Challenge

[FlyingPig]

I have diagnosed high intraocular pressure but no detected loss of peripheral vision as of yet.

Paleo-bunny, what you write is interesting. I'm in the same boat: high intraocular pressure but no loss of peripheral vision (thank goodness, I'm a pilot so that would be the end of my career, which has hardly taken off anyway). I take daily Latanoprost eye drops and I intend to keep taking them to minimise the risk, but I am still wondering if my changed diet and lifestyle may make those obsolete at some point. Have you experimented with alpha lipoic acid? Apparently that is also a good way to keep the pressure down. Doctors in the UK are sadly not interested in a more holistic approach, for them you're just stuck with it for the rest of your life and there is nobody who can even give me a clue why I would have this condition (no family history, I'm a white Caucasian male and was diagnosed when I was only 25), so I am pretty sure inflammation (caused by poor diet) has to have something to do with this.

[jakeb]

Thanks for the observation. i'm on it now, second week.

I would say that if you have no previous exposure to vision rehabilitation, you should be able to reverse at least about -1.50 diopters in his program, given enough time. All the people I see wearing very low prescriptions could probably be rid of them for good if they only put in a little effort, but I guess nobody is telling them. His program was designed for people with up to -4.00 diopters but it probably doesn't appeal to a lot of people in that range because nearly all of them are good LASIK candidates and they want immediate results (albeit with significant risk). He is, to my knowledge, the only eye doctor IN THE WORLD providing free online information on myopia reduction. Is it because the methods don't work or because there is no demand? One can only know if they try themselves. That's my attitude. I know that sounds nice and vague like some kind of sales pitch. Truth is, I'm only 20 days into the program, plus I'm not his typical "patient" since I've been at this for 1.5 years now so I'm not an ideal person to ask. If you're skeptical, you can email him and he should answer. He's been generous in replying to my questions and those of the other participants.