Posted on 07/17/2007 1:10:36 PM PDT by neverdem
Certain kinds of carbohydrates may play a role in the development of age-related macular degeneration, an incurable degenerative eye disease that is a leading cause of blindness in older adults. A new study has found that eating carbohydrate-rich food with a high glycemic index — a measure of a food’s potential to raise blood glucose levels — is associated with the development of the disorder.
The glycemic index is a measure of how fast carbohydrates are metabolized — the faster they are broken down into glucose, the higher the glycemic index. Simple carbohydrates, like those in cakes and cookies, cheese pizza, white bread or other foods sweetened with sugar or corn syrup, are quickly metabolized by the cells, while the complex carbohydrates in brown rice, barley and many other vegetables are broken down more slowly.
Heavy consumption of foods with a high glycemic index has been implicated in the development of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers, according to background information in the paper, which appears in the July issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The researchers examined 4,099 people ages 55 to 80 enrolled in a larger long-term study of eye health. Each participant had 20/32 vision in at least one eye, and the lens of the eye had to be clear enough to allow good photographs that could be used to diagnose macular degeneration.
None of the participants had diabetes. Using these criteria, the scientists had 8,125 eyes to analyze. They graded the severity of macular degeneration on a scale of one to five, administered food frequency questionnaires and calculated the dietary glycemic index, a number indicating the quantity of high-glycemic foods consumed, for each participant.
After controlling for age, sex, education level, body mass index, alcohol consumption and other variables, they found that the higher...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Nada about wet or dry?
I guess I should bank on glasses then :(
“I guess I should bank on glasses then :(”
I hope you mean from your eating habits and not another habit! ;)
“The glycemic index is a measure of how fast carbohydrates are metabolized — the faster they are broken down into glucose, the higher the glycemic index. Simple carbohydrates, like those in cakes and cookies, cheese pizza, white bread or other foods sweetened with sugar or corn syrup, are quickly metabolized by the cells, while the complex carbohydrates in brown rice, barley and many other vegetables are broken down more slowly.”
In other words, things that taste good will make you go blind. HMMM Mom told me something else will make me go blind.
Glasses of barley, right?
I’ve had some eye problems and have discovered that on many boards devoted to vision care, carbohydrates are a known danger. Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil often help with prevention and at least partial alleviation of problems.
“carbohydrates are a known danger”
So is age!
That what I rely on. But I do find that sometimes even that makes thing look blurry. And, sometimes it makes things look better. Everything looks better through the bottom of the glass!
I read this same news at least eight years ago in Men’s Health. The study had something to do with people who needed glasses and bad carbohydrates.
Macular degeneration means your retina goes bad.
Glasses don't help.
Actually, there is nothing new here. Macular degeneration has been associated with diabetes for a long time. This article basically says if you OD on sugar you run the risk of diabetes which can cause macular degeneration.
...joke!
The theory is that the body takes longer to digest the "complex" than it does the "simple". Turns out both are converted almost instantly into glucose by the liver ~ there really is no lag time ~ so that means eating starch is as bad as eating sugar, and it doesn't matter what kind, or how much just as long as the human body can digest the stuff.
The trick is in the fiber ~ which consists of cellulose and other non-digestible sugars. The higher the percentage of fiber, the lower the glycemic index, and the slower the digestion rate for the digestible sugars in the food.
17 common fruits and vegetables have reasonably low glycemic index levels. That's all I eat in quantity (other than vast quantities of oils, fats and meat).
The diabetic organizations in Australia usually have the most up to date information on the what the glycemic index means.
Yep! I wonder if brown rice would make a good fermentation?
So just how useful is this information. Does it mean if I have 4 cookies a day instead of three, I’ll go blind?
I hate this kind of scare stuff. I’m gonna go stuff myself with cookies and ice cream until I feel better.
17 common fruits and vegetables
My husband has diabetes. Would you mind sharing the 17 items that you favor?
Thanks in advance.
Jane
That’s interesting. My eye doctor, who specializes in working with people with low vision, recommends a low fat diet to prevent macular degeneration. It sounds like low carb would be better according to this study.
Me, too! All this bad news depresses me.When I'm depressed, I eat junk.
I’ve always wondered how the people running these ‘studies’ reconcile with themselves when thinking about the group that ‘loses’?
Read “SuperFoods Rx” by Pratt & Matthews from 2004 - very informative - speaks directly to this issue
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