Nutrients protective against AMD

A study sponsored by the USDA Agricultural Research Service suggests that intake of certain nutrients along with a low-glycemic index diet is protective against age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other sight-robbing diseases.

The study showed vitamin C, E zinc, lutein, zeaxanthin and omega-3 fatty acids known as DHA and EPA were protective against AMD when a low-glycemic diet, which releases glucose slowly, was used along with these nutrients.

High levels of blood sugar can damage the eye sight because glucose the reducing sugar derived from food can participate in an amine-sugar reaction called Marllard reaction leading to glycosylation, which is part of the aging process.

Glenn J.V. and Stitt A.W. from Queen's University  Belfast published a review in Biochim Biophys Acta in 2009 saying that advanced glycation end products may act as a possible pathogenic factor in visual disorders like AMD.

The current study led by Chung-Jung Chiu at the Tufts University in Boston, Mass involved 4,000 men and women aged 55 to 80. The results were published in 2009 in Ophthalmology.

By David Liu