If diet can affect innumerable factors in the body such as energy levels, brain and nervous system functioning and blood flow, it makes sense that diet could affect eyesight. But as far as what diet is best, take your pick. Paleo, raw food, vegan, Atkins…
One thing I’ve heard frequently is that “simple” carbohydrates like wheat and some processed sugars contribute to blood sugar spikes, leading to increased body fat, unstable energy levels, “brain fog” and other symptoms.
Modern-day wheat sold in theUS, which is used in most breads and many processed foods, is supposedly very different from that used in the early to mid 20th century due to GMO engineering and is hard for the body to handle.
I had a roommate in college who wore -6.00D contacts for myopia and said that her vision had improved when she went on a special diet, but after a month she went back to her heavily rice-based diet and her vision reverted back. I guess her familiar diet was more important to her.
Mass-produced vegetables sold in stores are said to be relatively nutrient deficient compared to vegetables available years ago due to modern farming on overused land that prioritizes the volume of food over the nutritional value. I sure can tell you that the taste and consistency of some vegetables are complete crap compared to what I remember getting from my mom’s garden. No wonder people won’t eat them, especially in some areas of the US that don’t have much in the way of diverse crops and the quality of the food that has to be freighted in is even worse. A lot of supplements are available now, but sorting through them and trying to figure out what you’re missing is a nightmare. Synthetic supplements are said to be often worthless and at worst harmful. Whole-food supplements are more bulky but are made by minimally processing nutrient-rich foods to create “super food” powders that are supposedly better because everything is in its natural form with other naturally occurring elements.
The air in modern cities can be pretty toxic, the city water contains industrial byproducts, and various synthetic chemicals get in our food supplies intentionally or unintentionally. It seems like the list of things that cause cancer is ever-growing. We can thank the resiliency of the human body to cope with it all, but you have to wonder what kind of effect all that extra garbage in your body could have on sensitive processes like vision.
I wouldn’t count on reversing long-standing moderate myopia by eating better. I doubt that there is some magic missing nutrient or perfect diet that will solve all your vision problems, because the problems are deeper than that, in a dysfunctional process of how you look at things that needs a significant amount of adjustment. But what you eat might at least have some effect on your mental clarity and energy levels so that you can better practice things that do improve your vision and perhaps even have a better intuitive sense of how your vision is supposed to work.
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I founded iblindness.org in 2002 as I began reading books on the Bates Method and became interested in vision improvement. I believe that everyone who is motivated can identify the roots of their vision problems and apply behavioral changes to solve them.