Essential Eye Care - 120 Caps

What Causes Vision Loss?

The eye is a very important sensory organ, which is shown by the fact that a large area of our brain is committed to taking in and understanding visual information. Up to 70% of all of the sensory receptors in the body are in the eyes. Problems with the eyes become more common as we age.

There two main causes of degenerative eye conditions:
-Free radical damage
-Decreased blood flow to the eye

Free radicals are unstable molecules that in their bid to become more stable must bump into healthy cells and cause damage. This can cause cell death, alterations in genetic material and autoimmune reactions to damaged cells. Food, water and ultraviolet radiation from the sun are the major contributors of free radicals that build up in the eye.

The eyes reflect the overall health of the body. The vessels on the back of the eyeball are very small and fragile. Changes in them are often the first sign of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and atherosclerosis. These conditions lead to decreased blood flow to the retina. Lack of oxygen and an accumulation of waste products eventually compromises vision.

Poor diet, environmental toxins, medications and stress all decrease the body's ability to neutralize free radicals and maintain healthy vessels. This can result in eye degeneration, occurring in cataracts, macular degeneration, and glaucoma.

Who Needs to Take Eye Supplements?
What would we do without our vision? Just about everyone should be concerned abouteye health. Because damage from UV light from the sun is a major cause of vision loss, most everyone should use antioxidant supplements specific for the eyes. The vision loss we experience as we age is only a matter of degree; if we live long enough, we all experience it.

Lutein, Clinically Proven to Reduce Macular Degeneration
Macular degeneration is the leading cause of visual loss in North America. It is caused by free radical damage to the macula, the area of the retina responsible for central vision. Blurring in the centre of the visual field eventually makes detail work and reading impossible. The periphery of the visual field remains unaltered. Thus a kind of reverse tunnel vision results.

Free radical damage to light receptor sites of the macula can be slowed and even stopped completely with the right nutritional supplements. The most important supplement to use for reducing the oxidative damage to these cells is the carotenoid lutein.

Derived in a supplemental form from marigold flowers and related to beta carotene, lutein has an affinity for the tissues that make up the macula. So, when you take lutein, it protects the macula specifically, while other antioxidants, although useful, are used throughout the whole body.

An analogy that researchers often use to describe this effect is that it is similar to applying a high SPF suntan lotion to your skin to prevent sunburn. A second carotenoid, zeaxanthin, also has a affinity for the macula of the eye and is often included in lutein supplements.

Alpha Lipoic Acid
Alpha lipoic acid is one of the most versatile antioxidants because it is both fat and water-soluble. This means that it can move into all areas of the body to deactivate harmful free radicals.Alpha lipoic acid's antioxidant properties neutralize free radicals and therefore reduce damage to tissues all over the body, including those in the eye, liver, vessels and nerves. Cataracts, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma are exacerbated by free radical damage in the eye and therefore alpha lipoic acid can treat these conditions.

Amino Acids NAC, Glycine, and Taurine:
N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is a derivative of the amino acid L-cysteine and is a more stable form of this amino acid for supplementation. NAC is a precursor to the important antioxidant, glutathione. Glutathione works in the liver to change chemicals and metabolic byproducts into harmless substances for excretion from the body. NAC is also an antioxidant in its own right. It detoxifies heavy metals like mercury, cadmium and lead. Heavy metals and toxicity can lead to increased free radical damage.

Some Amino Acids can be manufactured in the body from other amino acids and are thus called non-essential. Glycine is one of these amino acids because it can be formed from choline or serine and threonine. Glycine has several roles in the body. Glycine is a part of creatine, which transforms adenosine diphosphate, ADP, into adenosine triphosphate, ATP. When ATP is broken down energy is released and this powers all of our body processes including muscle contraction. Creatine also helps to construct our genetic material, DNA and RNA. Glycine can aid in cellular repair.

Taurine plays an important role in the metabolism of proteins and neurotransmitters. As a neurotransmitter taurine inhibits nerve impulses thus stopping unwanted nervous reactions like those that cause seizures, hyperactivity and anxiety. In the heart taurine regulates contractions and prevents irregular heartbeats. It also regulates potassium levels, which ensures regularity of the heartbeat. A deficiency of taurine leads to damage in the photoreceptors of the eye. Thus visual impairment can be caused by a lack of taurine.

Eyebright
Eyebright is a popular herb in Europe for use during inflammatory eye conditions. It acts as an astringent, meaning that eyebright decreases eye secretions such as mucus and tears. It is also an anti-inflammatory, which decreases swelling and redness in and around the eye. Eyebright is recommended by natural health practitioners for conjunctivitis (pink eye), blepharitis, eye fatigue and allergic eye symptoms.