From Fish to Nuts, Eating Right to Prevent Macular Degeneration

Eating more omega-3 polyunsaturated fat, such as that found in fish, may prevent the development of macular degeneration.  I have posted on this before.  No need to click back, but the highlights were;  eating one serving a week of fish, thereby increasing omega-3’s and decreasing foods containing linoleic acid (an unsaturated omega-6 fatty acid) decreased the incidence of macular degeneration!

The protective effect may be due to metabolites (by-products of what we eat) which lead to inflammation.  Inflammation has been implicated in the development of macular degeneration.  Eating foods with omega-3 fatty acids may reduce the inflammation.

There may also be a benefit from eating nuts, too. Nuts have been show to have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties, too.  In fact, nuts showed a similar benefit to fish, as one to two servings per week were associated with a decrease in the development of the disease.

What does this mean? Without a doubt, there are going to be more recommendations about what we eat and reducing macular degeneration.  Remember that none of these findings have truly been tested per se, but these are noted associations when researchers reviewed the original AREDS data.

Randy

Randall V. Wong, M.D.
Ophthalmologist, Retinal Specialist
www.TotalRetina.com