Macular Degeneration Reduced by 43%

Macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in America. It affects more people than glaucoma and cataracts combined. But here’s the good news: By adding a few delicious foods to your diet, you can cut the risk of macular degeneration almost in half!
You may have heard about a bioflavonoid called lutein that protects the pigment in your eyes. Lutein protects the macular pigment in two ways: it absorbs harmful blue light from the sun’s rays, and it neutralizes harmful free radicals.
But how much lutein do you need? A study in the Journal of the American Medical set out to find out. The researchers in the study tracked people’s lutein consumption and then broke the group down into five equal groups, or quintiles.
They found that the people in the highest quintile were 43% less likely to develop macular degeneration.
Now here’s the best part: to eat as much lutein as the people in the highest quintile, all you need is a measly 6 grams of lutein a day. You can get that be eating a single serving of leafy greens. I use about 3 teaspoons of frozen blueberries in my old fashioned rolled oats. However, if you want more specifics, check out the following:
1 ounce of kale
1.5 ounces of collard greens
1.8 ounces of watercress
2 ounces of Swiss chard
2.1 ounces of raw chicory leaf
2.1 ounces of cooked spinach
2.4 ounces of mustard greens
3 ounces of beet greens
3.3 ounces of raw okra
3.35 ounces of red peppers
5.4 ounces of endive
6 ounces of celery (about 3 stalks)
The body is a complex and versatile electro-chemical mechanism. We only need to take what we already have and make the most of it. Educators would be well advised to do the same. My doctor once told me that I was a race horse and anyone who tried to change me into a turtle would kill me.
Picasso was a great artist, so why would he spend all of 16 years in our educational system wasting time on a recipe that attempts to make the same size fits all work on everyone. Take the cards dealt you and play the hand to its fullest potential. It works with health and education. Humans, in general, learn these important pieces of wisdom very slowly and in many cases — very reluctantly.