Low-GI diets slow progression of Age-Related Macular Degeneration
June 4th, 2007
Further to our article on AMD and fatty acids last week, more findings have been released concerning the way diet affects AMD. A recent study from AREDS (The Age-Related Eye Disease Study) has showed that people whose diets have a high glycaemic index are at risk of faster-progressing AMD.
The findings are based on a 5-year study of more than 3977 people at risk of AMD progression. A food frequency questionnaire provided the basis for the results, which showed that consumption of highly refined carbohydrate resulted in up to 17% higher risk of progression. These findings support similar results in earlier years, as well as more recent results from the Blue Mountains Eye Study, however the AREDS results are significant in that they show that the effect of diet on AMD is stronger than previously thought.
Experts are now recommending that doctors educate their patients about the effects of diet on AMD, so dramatic are the benefits. Researchers estimate that reducing the glycaemic index in the diets of 50% of those most at risk could, over 5 years, eliminate more than 100,000 new cases of advanced AMD in the US alone.
