Healthy Vision by Neal Adams

Author:Neal Adams
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781493016280
Publisher: Lyons Press

TREATMENT THROUGH NUTRITION

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Like diabetic retinopathy, diabetic changes throughout the body can be managed and treated through proper healthy nutrition, along with a regimen that often includes exercise and medication—with type 1 diabetes replacement for the body’s missing insulin is an absolute requirement, while with type 2 diabetes some patients are able to control their diabetes without medication. The most important treatment for diabetes is controlling blood sugars, often by limiting the amount of sugars eaten, along with the use of insulin and other medications as appropriate. Keeping blood vessels in tip-top shape includes making sure blood pressure is controlled and ensuring blood cholesterol levels are not high so that cholesterol doesn’t cause further damage to the blood vessels.

You may hear reports of very discouraging data on nutrition and diabetic retinopathy. In one example, a recent large analysis of over four thousand people involved in fifteen separate studies showed no association between diabetic retinopathy and diet or blood levels of specific nutrients. But this doesn’t mean that nutrients don’t help in diabetes. Managing diabetes starts with good nutrition. It’s a team approach, involving your family doctor or internist and other medical specialists, and making sure that you keep your body healthy and keep sugar intake down. You can never eliminate all the sugars from your diet, nor should you, so good balanced nutrition is essential.

We’ve discussed alpha-lipoic acid, the “antioxidant of anti-oxidants”—an essential soldier in the war against oxidation that helps prevent the toxic oxidation effects of AGEs and may actually block AGEs from forming in the first place. Alpha-lipoic acid may also enhance sensitivity to insulin through insulin-signaling pathways inside of cells, and enhance the role of insulin in transporting sugars and redistributing sugar transporters to where they are needed the most. As such, it helps control the sugar levels in the blood. Numerous studies show that alpha-lipoic acid can help with decreasing retinopathy in animals. Until there are the same studies in humans, we can simply assume that diabetics who take alpha-lipoic acid will also have less oxidative stress and oxidative damage in their bloodstream.

Remember, getting your daily dose of antioxidants is so important, and not just for diabetes.

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