Pass on the bread—your peeps will thank you
I've been telling you about refined carbs—those cakes, bagels and cookies that are so easy to grab and eat. They need to be tossed from your diet. They're good for weight gain and heart disease, if that's your aim. And now? It's been found that they can also help you go blind.
And not because you're blinded by the taste or the comfort-food quality. They can literally wipe out your eyesight, which is why you'll want to reconsider toasting up your next slice of bread or baking another cake.
There was a small study done some time ago that looked at age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and its apparent similarities to diabetes-related diseases. It had been known for some time that carbohydrates help trigger the risk factors linked to those types of diseases by throwing off blood-sugar levels.
These researchers set up a more in-depth study than had been conducted previously, using 4,099 participants between the ages of 55 and 80 divided into five groups based on the severity of AMD. The participants did not have diabetes and in order to be in the study they needed to have 20/32 vision in at least one eye. Also, at least one eye had to have a clear-enough lens for photographing for purposes of diagnosing AMD.
Each participant filled out a food-frequency questionnaire.
After the study, a dietary link was firmly established. Those folks who regularly followed a diet that ranked high on the glycemic index, including things like breads, cakes, and cookies, the greater their increased risk of AMD.
And to underscore that we are what we eat, the researchers estimated that one-fifth of those cases of AMD could have been prevented—had the participants eating habits originally followed a meal plan based on a low glycemic index.
It's not so challenging to make a change and follow a low glycemic index diet. As a general rule of thumb, keep in mind a picture of rainbow-colored foods and stick to those. Avoid sugar, white flour, and white rice, as they are all glucose-level disruptors. For help in getting started, a terrific resource you can go to online is www.glycemicindex.com.
I wrote about AMD in my June 2006 newsletter. If you're a subscriber, you can access it in the archives at www.healthrevelations.com.
