Eyesight better with low carb diet ?

librarising

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Barry Groves (Natural Health And Weight Loss)

Myopia (short-sightedness) is almost unknown outside western industrialised countries. But there has been a dramatic increase in myopia recently in developed countries. As well as stimulating the production of insulin, diets high in refined starches such as sugar and breads also stimulate production of a related compound called insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) This stimulates excess growth of the eyeball during its development. This affects the development of the eyeball , making it abnormally long. This is the fundamental defect in myopia.

I've been short-sighted for about 45 years. Never badly so e.g. in good sunlight I could safely (yet illegally) drive.
I've known that feeling where you find your glasses aren't giving you that clear picture they used to, so off to the optician for a slightly stronger prescription.

Well, over the last few months I've had odd times where I've had that same feeling, but it seems like my prescription is now, possibly, just a tad too strong.
And my sight without glasses seems ever so marginally improved.
Other low carb forums seem to report some experiencing improvements in eyesight with low carbing.

Anyone else have anything to report in this regard ?

Geoff
 

Grazer

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Not sure abot the effects of carbs themselves on eyesight, but lower Bgs DEFIITELTY improve eyesight.My prescription has reduced for reading glasses, a friend of mine now doesn't use glasses for the first time in years. Lower Bgs reduce the pressure in the eyeball (in the amniotic fluid I believe?) and change eyesight. That's why opticians say you shouldn't be tested if you have temporarily high BGs. Sorry, you probably knew all this and were just asking about carb impact!
 

phoenix

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I have a slightly less strong prescription now than the one from 4 years before diagnosis. (begs the question as to when my glucose levels started rising). I had fantastic long distance vision for the first few days after going on insulin and then it went to where it is now ie a bit better than it was before.
I'm with Grazer on this one , it's to do with the effect of glucose levels on osmotic pressure and the consequent shape of the lens.
 

noblehead

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phoenix said:
I'm with Grazer on this one , it's to do with the effect of glucose levels on osmotic pressure and the consequent shape of the lens.


That's as I understand it too. I had my eyes tested last week at my retinopathy check-up and got 6/4 in both eyes, I don't low-carb as such but do eat carbs in moderate portions (around 150g a day).
 

DavideB

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Well since I was diagnosed I went on a low carb diet feel great and my eyesight is back to what it was about 6-7 years ago
 

wilmanelson76

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Just sharing my experience here. Now sure how, but low carbs seems to impact positively on eyesight. Though its not 20/20 yet my vision reduced for reading glasses. Is it because there is a change in the amniotic fluid composition and a pressure on the eyeball is relieved. Many opticians say you shouldn't be tested when you have temporarily high BGs.
 

GraceK

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I'd only been low carbing for a month before I went for my retinopathy test and a regular eye test. Two years ago I was told the shape of my eyeballs had changed and now resembled rugby balls instead of footballs! Astigmatism was mentioned.

At this post diabetes diagnosis visit he optician said I didn't need any distance specs at all and my reading specs were no longer suitable as my eyes had already improved. Can't remember what the numbers are. But as I've spent God knows how many hundreds of pounds on changing specs over the last 20 years as my eyes went up and down the scale from one week to the next, I started buying the cheapo reading glasses that you get in the local shops because my eyes changed so often it was getting financially unmanageable. I'd gone from 1.00 to 3.00 and back down again. I still wear the cheapo specs and they're absolutely fine for my reading/computer needs.
 

Defren

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Grazer said:
phoenix said:
If you have amniotic fluid, there's something you aren't telling us!

Oops!! :lol:

Oh my life that made me laugh, trust you Sheepy!

I am lucky, aged 46 I still don't need specs of any kind, my eyesight is perfect. When I had my retinopathy screen in the summer it came back as non diabetic, in other words, not a trace of any problems.
 

hanadr

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librarising
as you age, you become more long sighted. I have heard a few people say, that their short sight was reduced a bit by this.
I was a "Classic" case of short sight. It developed during my growth spurt at about 11 years of age and got slightly more marked during my growing years, stabilising at about 20 years old. My long sight started at about 45 /50 years old and I've been wearing varifocals for several years. the short sight part of my prescription is still pretty much the same as always, but the long sighted bit does change from one pair of glasses to the next.
Shortsightedness is caused by the shape of the eyeball, which is longer than the focal length of the cornea [the pricipal focus of the eye is at the cornea].
Long sightedness of older people is caused by a reduction in the flexiility of the lens, limiting its ability to adjust focus adequately. Bright light brings in the pinhole effect. As the iris shuts the pupil down, the width of the beams of light entering the eye is smaller and so the lightrays are less scattered and more focussed.
It's all normal.
In historical times it was less evident that this goes on, because accurate visual acuity was not so necessary in an illiterate world.
Hana
 

andi2508

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Hi, I have been low carbing for a week and have already halved my morning readings which is great but my eyesight has been adversely affected. This happened the last time I went low carb too. I didn't need reading glasses to read but now I have to use +1 to read my phone and laptop. Is this permanent?
 

Mr_Pot

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Hi, I have been low carbing for a week and have already halved my morning readings which is great but my eyesight has been adversely affected. This happened the last time I went low carb too. I didn't need reading glasses to read but now I have to use +1 to read my phone and laptop. Is this permanent?
It seems to get back to normal after a few weeks.
 
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