Your Eyes Need This

orange macular degenerationWhen you think of foods to eat for healthy vision, carrots are usually the first to come to mind. But new research findings have uncovered that you may want to eat more oranges if you want healthy vision.

The research findings from Westmead Institute for Medical Research uncovered that a serving of oranges a day could reduce late macular degeneration by up to 60 percent. Macular degeneration is the most common cause of blindness worldwide. It is advised to adhere to a healthy lifestyle as a means of reducing your risk of macular degeneration. This is the first study of its kind to pinpoint a specific food item that could help improve vision and reduce the risk of macular degeneration.

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The researchers interviewed over 2,000 individuals over the age of 50 for the course of 15 years.

Lead researcher Associate Professor Bamini Gopinath explained, “Essentially we found that people who eat at least one serving of orange every day have a reduced risk of developing macular degeneration compared with people who never eat oranges. Even eating an orange once a week seems to offer significant benefits. The data shows that flavonoids found in oranges appear to help protect against the disease.”

“Our research is different because we focused on the relationship between flavonoids and macular degeneration. Flavonoids are powerful antioxidants found in almost all fruits and vegetables, and they have important anti-inflammatory benefits for the immune system. We examined common foods that contain flavonoids such as tea, apples, red wine and oranges. Significantly, the data did not show a relationship between other food sources protecting the eyes against the disease,” Professor Gopinath continued.

Age is the biggest risk factor for macular degeneration and it’s also an uncontrollable risk factor. What you can control is what you eat and what you eat can go a long way in improving your vision.

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Author Bio

Emily Lunardo studied medical sociology at York University with a strong focus on the social determinants of health and mental illness. She is a registered Zumba instructor, as well as a Canfit Pro trainer, who teaches fitness classes on a weekly basis. Emily practices healthy habits in her own life as well as helps others with their own personal health goals. Emily joined Bel Marra Health as a health writer in 2013.

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https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ajcn/nqy114/5049680?redirectedFrom=fulltext

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