Primal Can Fix Your Vision! - Ophthalmologist from Austria page

[afrauenfeld]

Greetings,

I am an ophthalmologist from Austria, practicing preventative and rehabilitation specialised ophthalmology for over 10 years - my father has also been in the same line of work for over 40 years.

We have found that myopia can easily be prevented during childhood, and in many cases reversed during adulthood. While much of the direct impact comes from the use of the eyes, especially prolonged short distance focus, elevated insulin response triggers also aggravate myopia symptoms greatly.

A good 30% of the success in vision rehabilitation comes from reducing the body's exposure to sugars / simple carbohydrates. The impact of eliminating sugar from the diet on vision is nothing short of astonishing, especially when paired with a good rehabilitative program.

I personally have overseen easily over 300 cases where adults with 20/70 vision have managed to get to 20/20 and even 20/10 without surgery.

- Dr. Alex Frauenfeld
Frauenfeld Vision Clinic | Preventative and Restorative Vision Care

[Misabi]

Interesting to hear this from a medical professional, thanks for posting Dr. Alex.

[warrior_princess]

Hey there

I have had vision problems pretty much all my life, have a blood sugar level that is all over the place and I am pretty much addicted to sugars and grains (as I do not eat red meat). I am however active and not over weight, would like to find out more about this subject specifically!

Greetings,

I am an ophthalmologist from Austria, practicing preventative and rehabilitation specialised ophthalmology for over 10 years - my father has also been in the same line of work for over 40 years.

We have found that myopia can easily be prevented during childhood, and in many cases reversed during adulthood. While much of the direct impact comes from the use of the eyes, especially prolonged short distance focus, elevated insulin response triggers also aggravate myopia symptoms greatly.

A good 30% of the success in vision rehabilitation comes from reducing the body's exposure to sugars / simple carbohydrates. The impact of eliminating sugar from the diet on vision is nothing short of astonishing, especially when paired with a good rehabilitative program.

I personally have overseen easily over 300 cases where adults with 20/70 vision have managed to get to 20/20 and even 20/10 without surgery.

- Dr. Alex Frauenfeld
Frauenfeld Vision Clinic | Preventative and Restorative Vision Care

[afrauenfeld]

We started to screen for sugar addiction many years ago, before it was a popular subject.

The only reason we did it was because we found that the patients who we found to be addicted to sugar to a certain degree (we have questionnaires they fill out), they are unlikely to be able to complete a vision rehab program. In my personal opinion, sugar addiction to some is at least as powerful (if not more so) than an equivalent nicotine dependency. It should in no way be underestimated.

With rehabilitative vision correction, we are working with a part of human physiology that is incredibly sensitive and very much dependent on nutrition. The eyeball is physically elongated (to no small part due to wearing corrective lenses, which are very damaging to they way the eye works), and we are trying to partially reverse this trend (which is only possible to a small degree), but also encourage a change in other components of the eye's physiology.

This basically means a daily rehab regimen of 2-3 hours (can be done while working, say, in front of a computer for instance, but still quite a commitment). We know from experience that each insulin spike can affect vision by as much as 0.5 diopters (temporarily). This is extremely significant, and is enough to make a positive rehab effort (for that day) almost impossible.

Sugar addicts will crave at least two to three of these spikes per day, if not more. Add to that the fact that your vision will decrease in effectiveness later in the day and during twilight hours, and you can see how quickly these factors add up.

In an ideal situation parents understand nutrition and paleo concepts, as well as know exercises to prevent myopia in the first place - but unfortunately we live in a world where corporate profits means selling cheap, refined foods, and creating lifetime customers for the corrective vision industry.

[paleo-bunny]

Do you have any recommendations for reducing intraocular pressure naturally? I've just been diagnosed with high intraocular pressure and have a family history of glaucoma. I'm aware that caffeine raises intraocular pressure, as does pretty much any anti-histamine, from what I've read.

My blood glucose is normal and I'm moderately short sighted.

[afrauenfeld]

Do you have any recommendations for reducing intraocular pressure naturally? I've just been diagnosed with high intraocular pressure and have a family history of glaucoma. I'm aware that caffeine raises intraocular pressure, as does pretty much any anti-histamine, from what I've read.

My blood glucose is normal and I'm moderately short sighted.

It's a symptom with a range of possible causes.

There are various natural ways to address causes - it's unfortunately not something I would be comfortable offering advice for without knowing more about your medical history and being able to do an examination. There is too much symptom treatment happening in our community already, without truly getting to the cause.

I truly don't mean to be dismissive, and while one could consider lifestyle and diet (exercise, low-stress lifestyle, no stimulants in diet) fix an astonishing range of symptoms, you would be best served by a specialist in your local area.

[paleo-bunny]

It's a symptom with a range of possible causes.

There are various natural ways to address causes - it's unfortunately not something I would be comfortable offering advice for without knowing more about your medical history and being able to do an examination. There is too much symptom treatment happening in our community already, without truly getting to the cause.

I truly don't mean to be dismissive, and while one could consider lifestyle and diet (exercise, low-stress lifestyle, no stimulants in diet) fix an astonishing range of symptoms, you would be best served by a specialist in your local area.

Thanks' for answering. Obviously I'll take conventional treatment too.

[Hedonist2]

Thanks for posting. I hope you will stay actively involved in the forum.

I am convinced that my vision has improved since I started mostly following the blueprint. (I lean toward Archevore.) I have my annual eye exam coming up in about a week, so we shall see.

[afrauenfeld]

Thanks for posting. I hope you will stay actively involved in the forum.

I am convinced that my vision has improved since I started mostly following the blueprint. (I lean toward Archevore.) I have my annual eye exam coming up in about a week, so we shall see.

Excellent.

I recommend downloading a Snellen yourself, print it, hang it on a wall, make a line at the 20 ft mark, and test your own vision. If it's less than 20/20, you'll have your own frame of reference, as opposed to relying on an annual exam to tell you - your vision will vary throughout the day, depending on what you had for your last meal, etc.

Many of our clients really enjoy getting a better understanding of their vision, as well as accurately gauge improvements.

That said, of course it's important to get an annual exam for all the other aspects.

[entwyf]

I don't know if this thread is currently being used or checked by anyone, but I have a question about the effects of sugar, grains, and milk on eye problems other than myopia.

If this is not the best Place to be asking about the things below, I'd be happy to know which forum/thread would be more useful.

Six or seven years ago, I was diagnosed with Fuch's dystrophy. Because I was starting to see hazy halos around lights at night, I thought I was developing cataracts, went to the eye doctor, and got a surprise diagnosis.

As I understand it, FD is a condition supposedly caused by a genetic mutation. Whether it is a congenital mutation or one that develops, I don't know. Cells that control the balance of water in the cornea die off. Water builds up; the cornea gets cloudy, sensitivity to light and glare becomes a problem; blisters develop on the cornea; blindness is apparently inevitable; supposedly the only "cure" is a corneal transplant (very expensive and not guaranteed to "take.")

So far, thank God, I really have not had any problems beyond halos. Well, I have a lot of floaters. My eye doctor has been extremely low-key about it; when I start noticing problems, I should let her know.

Because I recently lost my glasses, and because I have a job that involves almost constant use of a computer for seven hours a day, I have begun to re-think a lot of issues related to my sight, including Fuch's dystrophy.

I don't think it's a fluke that I was diagnosed with FD during a period when I was (even with glasses) straining my eyes horribly every day at work. More than now, for sure.

Also, because of pressure to get work done ASAP and on a certain schedule, I developed a habit of grabbing whatever I could at breakfast so I could get to work early. I often skipped lunch. I often ended up eating A LOT of whatever I could get my hands on at night because I would be starving.

My diet contained the most evil amounts imaginable of candy bars, Doritos, potato chips, rice, bread, spaghetti, cake, cookies, donuts, brownies, sweet tea, sodas sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, chocolate milk. It's a wonder I didn't die of a heart attack or diabetes. I ate meat, veggies, fruit, but not much of those.

About five years ago, I started reading Naturally Thin by Jean Antonello. Eat real food when you're hungry; stop eating when you're not hungry. Then I found out about Atkins three years ago and started to shun "white food." Two years ago, I discovered Primal, which melds the best of Antonello and Atkins and takes everything to a new level.

I know that good food and good exercise are not cure-alls for everything, but it seems to me that accepting conventional medical wisdom regarding my diagnosis is at least useless and at worst insane.

I understand the idea that nutrition, good or bad, can influence how my particular genetic heritage expresses itself in my body's functioning. My father's grandfather went blind in his sixties; I may have inherited his bad genes, and I may have screwed myself royally thanks to my evil diet.

I understand--though not exactly--the connection between sugar and things like diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration.

I also assume that, with any genetic predisposition to eye disease, physical stress on the eyes, or physical stress in general, can contribute to eye problems big-time.

My question is: what can I do to start addressing my situation in a sane, healthy way so that I don't end up a victim of medical people who are well-meaning but who have--you will excuse the expression--blind spots?

Thanks,
Edith