Neighbor News
The Leading Cause of Blindness & Vitamin C
Vitamin C boosts your immunity and maintains healthy cartilage, but it can also help to protect you against the leading cause of blindness.
Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness worldwide. A cataract is a clouding of the lens in your eye that affects your vision. Over 50% of Americans have cataracts or have had cataract surgery by the time they are 80 years old.
According to the National Eye Institute, cataract removal is one of the most common surgical procedures performed in America.
Your risk of getting a cataract increases with age. Like many other age related disorders, just because they’re common does not mean that everyone has to get cataracts.
Find out what's happening in Ramseyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Recent research published in the journal Ophthalmology, used data from 1,000 pairs of twins and found that while genetic factors explained 35% of the variation in cataract progression over a 10-year period, environmental factors accounted for 65%. In particular, vitamin C was found to play a protective role.
Vitamin C Reduces the Risk of Cataracts:
Find out what's happening in Ramseyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Researchers from King's College in London, concluded that those with a high intake of vitamin C had a 20% lower risk of cataracts. They studied subjects that were 60 years old for 10 years. After another 10 years, high vitamin C intake reduced the chance of cataracts by 33%.
They concluded that you may not be totally able to avoid cataracts, but vitamin C seemed to protect against cataract progression, as well as delay their onset.
The reason why this is occurring may very well be that Vitamin C helps to reduce oxidative stress.
Vitamin C is also used by your body for wound healing, repairing, and maintaining the health of your bones and teeth and plays a role in helping your body to absorb iron.
How much vitamin C per day might be needed to gain an anti-cataract benefit? According to a American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study, a mere 250 milligrams per day should do it.
The American Optometric Association states at least 300 mg/day of vitamin C appears to help prevent cataract development.
For overall health, I personally prefer a higher daily dose of 1,000 milligrams with bioflavonoids that work synergistically with vitamin C to build and maintain cartilage and other connective tissue.