Vitamin E Shown to Benefit Eye Health

More than 1.5 million cataract operations are performed in the U.S. alone each year, costing our healthcare system over $3.4 billion each year. There are a number of ways to help maintain eye health, including superoxide dismutase, following a diet low on the glycemic index6, which ranks carbohydrates on a scale from 0 to 100 according to how much they raise blood sugar levels after eating, and antioxidant supplementation. Now a new study has found that vitamin E benefits eye health and cataracts.

Previous research has shown that those supplementing with vitamin E for 10 years have a 42% reduced risk of cataracts. Building on these findings, 57 patients with cataracts and 31 patients without cataracts provided information on whether they were taking vitamin supplements, smoked, or had any systemic disease. They also provided blood samples to measure their antioxidant levels. The researchers found that those with cataracts had vitamin E blood levels that were 31% lower than those without cataracts (9.16 + 2.53 micrograms per ml vs. 13.26 + 57 micrograms/ml). These results confirm studies done in 1988 and 1996.

Although admitting that this is a small study, the researchers concluded that “it can nonetheless be viewed…that antioxidative agents may play a role in delaying cataract formation” and that “we encourage individuals to maintain healthy nutrition, with a diet containing plenty of antioxidant vitamins.”

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