IMPROVE YOUR VISION WITH BATES METHOD, VITAMIN C & LUTEIN

I have never heard of the Bates Method, but here it is. The key is that it's not that your eye muscles are too weak. Less than perfect vision is the result of having muscles too strong. Mercola says that you want your eye muscles to relax, and you do this through focusing and relaxation strategies, but

TIPS: 

1.  Don't squint. The worst thing you can do. Why? Squinting makes your vision worse. It's better to blink. This will help you relax your muscles. 

2.  Avoid any tension around your eye; avoid squinting 

3.  Don't use sunglasses. 

4.  Don't increase the size of the font on your computer.  You want to continually challenge your vision.  

5.  Seeing great without the use of corrective lenses.  As people get beyond 40, many of us require reading glasses.

6.  Mercola says that "You should avoid eyeglasses, LASIK surgery, and other potentially harmful eye treatments."

7.  Use the Bates Method.

FOOD REMEDIES FOR YOUR EYES  

What about carrots?   Americans eat carrots thinking they're getting vitamin A.  Carrots provide fiber and that fiber interferes with absorption of the beta-carotene.  Lutein is a carotenoid, like beta-carotene, but lutein comes from kale, spinach, and eggs and not carrots. In fact, carrots don't even contain vitamin A.  The beta-carotene in carrots is converted to vitamin A in your liver but only when you add some fat to a meal.  So you can get vitamin A from carrots but only conditionally.  Lutein supplements, on the other hand, are a powerhouse for your eyes.  Try it and you will be amazed. 



ADD VITAMIN C TO YOUR LUTEIN

one study shows that about 294 mg of vitamin C significantly decreases the risk of cataracts compared to 77 mg. per day (about the level set by the Academy of Sciences). [Clin Chem 39: 1305, 1993] To get that much vitamin C a person would have to consume 5 oranges per day. Daily consumption of vitamin C supplements for 10 years or more results in a 77-83 percent reduction in the prevalence of cataracts. [Am J Clin Nut 66: 911-16, 1997]

To get enough vitamin C, what are you gonna do, eat 12 oranges a day?  Check this out.

There is concern that maximal upper limits may not accommodate the nutritional needs of specific organs in the body. Nutritional authorities have given too much attention to achieving minimal and maximal blood levels of nutrients, which may not be an adequate measure of nutrients in specific tissues. For example, it has been stated that the blood circulation becomes saturated with vitamin C at about 240 milligrams. Even when saturation has been achieved in the blood plasma, the provision of 2000 milligrams of vitamin C further increases the levels of vitamin C in the aqueous fluid of the human eye by 35 percent. (Meaning that your eyes can absorb more vitamin C than other tissues, and if they can absorb more, it means your eyes use more vitamin C than other organs.)  Higher levels of vitamin C are required in the aqueous fluid of the eye than in the blood circulation because the human eye is transparent and is prone to harm by-products of oxidation (hydrogen peroxide) emanating from exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation. Much higher levels of vitamin C are required to prevent cataracts than to prevent scurvy. The daily amount of vitamin C required to prevent cataracts is in the range of 300-2000 milligrams (the equivalent of 6-30 oranges), which exceeds the best dietary consumption (about 200-250 milligrams from consumption of five servings of fruits and vegetables). The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) now considers 2000 milligrams of vitamin C as "toxic." [See my addendum regarding the issuance of new recommendations for antioxidants by the NAS below.] The human eye has a greater need for vitamin C, lutein, vitamin E, glutathione and vitamin A, than most other tissues in the body. 

Again, on the virtues of vitamin C, your eyes, and the prevention of cataracts.  

One of the fallacies of current vitamin C research is the use of blood serum levels as the gold standard for establishing recommended daily consumption levels. A 1991 study, conducted at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, found that there were "striking differences" in ocular levels of vitamin C among older adults who consume 148 mg of vitamin C from their daily diet (which is 2.5 times the old 60 mg RDA and 1.6 times the current 90 mg recommendation) compared to adults who took 2000 mg daily from supplements. The level of vitamin C in the focusing lens and aqueous fluid of the eye increased by 22-32 percent with consumption of 2000 mg of daily vitamin C supplementation, which affords protection against cataracts. Thus the idea that vitamin C levels reach a saturation point at about 240 mg in the blood serum, and that additional vitamin C is worthless and only washes out in the urine, is dispelled by this research. [Current Eye Research 8: 751-59, 1991] This is the same level of vitamin C that the National Academy of Sciences now considers "risky." [NAS press release April 10, 2000]