What therapies does Dr. Weil recommend for cataracts?
The best thing you can do to prevent eye disorders is to make sure that your diet contains a variety of antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables. Both the lens of the eye and the aqueous humor contain protective enzymes that breakdown the damaged proteins that clump together and cause cataracts. Antioxidants keep these enzymes from being destroyed. Vitamin C, vitamin E (mainly tocopherols), glutathione, and a variety of carotenoids are present in lens tissue and in the fluid that surrounds it. Lutein is one such carotenoid. It is a major component of the yellow and orange pigment found in many fruits and vegetables including mangoes, corn, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, tomatoes and dark, leafy greens such as kale, collards and bok choy. There is very good evidence that the lutein in food helps protect against cataracts and macular degeneration, two common, age-related eye disorders. Lutein and another carotenoid, zeaxanthin, form the yellow pigment of the retina and help absorb u
