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The new research adds to the science
linking dietary habits to the development of the condition. The
researchers used data from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS)
for 3977 men and women (age range 55 to 80 - 58 per cent women). The
data allowed the researchers to calculate the dietary glycaemic
index (dGI) using a weighted average of GIs.
The glycaemic index measures how
quickly certain foods release carbohydrates into the body, which
then raise consumers' blood glucose levels. High GI foods, including
white bread, white rice, many prepared cereals and concentrated
sugar, cause blood sugar levels to rise more rapidly. Low GI foods
include most vegetables, fruits, beans and unprocessed grains.
The researchers then classed the 7232
eyes without advanced AMD into three groups:
group 1 (nonextensive small drusen*)
group 2 (intermediate drusen or
extensive small drusen)
group 3 (large drusen or extensive
intermediate drusen)
*Drusen are accumulations of material
from outside the cell (extracellular) in the eye.
After an average of 5.4 years of
follow-up, the researchers report that high dietary Glycaemic Index
(dGI) was associated with higher risks of AMD progression for each
group, compared to a low dGI.
"The risk of progression for groups 1,
2 and 3 eyes was five, eight and 17 per cent greater, respectively,"
they said.
"The latter gives an estimate that 7.8
per cent of new advanced AMD cases would be prevented in five years
if people consumed the low-dGI diet."
Lead author Chung-Jung Chiu continued,
"Our data showed those people in the high-glycaemic-index group were
at greater risk of AMD progression, especially those already in the
late states".
Source: Chung-Jung Chiu, R.C. Milton,
R.Klein, G.Gensler and A.Taylor. American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition October 2007, Volume 86, no.4,p.1210-1218 "Dietary
carbohydrate and the progression of age-related macular
degeneration: a prospective study from the Age-Related Disease
Study".
The lead author of the
study advocates starting now in order to keep your eyesight healthy.
He states that if eight per cent of macular degeneration cases are
prevented in the next five years, this could be equal to saving the
sight of approximately 100,000 people.
This is a
non-invasive, easy way to keep your sight well into retirement. Who
wouldn't want to see their great-grandchildren? Eat your
fruits and vegetables, and reduce those refined carbs. Make it a
lifelong habit! You could be saving your eyesight.
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