New Study on PREVENTING BLINDNESS

Note from Miriam:
Every single one of the following nutrients is included in the eXfuze Seven+ that so many of us are drinking. I had to get new eyeglasses with a reduced presription within just 3 1/2 weeks of starting on it. I now get phone calls, emails, or texts constantly from someone who went to the eye doctor and came back with good news. What an interesting coincidence. Hmmmm....


Resveratrol May Prevent Eye Disease, Blindness
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Natural News:
http://www.naturalnews.com/029199_resveratrol_blindness.html
"Resveratrol remains among my top-recommended nutrients for health and longevity. New scientific findings show that it can even reverse eye disease and help prevent blindness!" Mike Adams

Resveratrol May Reduce Risk of Blindness
Energy Times:
JULY 2010
http://www.energytimes.com/pages/news.html#blindness

Resveratrol may be found in grapes, blueberries, and other plants.

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Other Nutrients for Eye Health:

Lutein May Help Eyes Cope with Computer Use
APRIL 2009
http://www.energytimes.com/pages/news.html#lutein


Gac Super Fruit

Gac Fruit known as, "Fruit From Heaven", is from Southeast Asia, a spiky, cantaloupe sized, bright orangeish-red member of the squash family. According to locals, Gac Fruit has an unmatched ability to promote longevity.
Only recently has the world discovered its health benefits which are attributed to significant antioxidants from carotenoids and fatty acids. Gac Fruit is considered by many to be a super fruit.

Fact About Gac Fruit

76 TIMES the Lycopene content of the average tomato.
10 TIMES the Beta Carotene content of the average carrot.
VERY HIGH content of Omegas 6 & 9; in fact it has been measured at 22% fatty acids by weight.
A very concentrated source of zeaxanthin, which is essential for good eye health and vision.
Gac Fruit is not well known outside of Southeast Asia as of now, but undoubtedly it will be because of its powerful antioxidants.

The seed membrane of the Gac fruit is also used in traditional Vietnamese medicine to make a tonic called Gac oil. For centuries, Gac oil has been given to pregnant and lactating women and to children to treat dry eyes and night blindness. The rich, nutty oil has also proven worthy of treating wounds, skin infections, and burns, and is traditionally given to children to improve their growth.

Gac's Powerful Antioxidants

Gac is a nutritional wonder that rivals the health benefits of many better-known fruits and vegetables.

The Gac's power lies within its seedpod chambers. The bright orange and red colors of the fruit indicate the high concentration of powerful antioxidants called carotenoids, and specifically beta-carotene and lycopene.

Carotenoids are the "king" antioxidants and the first line of defense for the body. They protect other antioxidants like vitamins C and E from sustaining damage from free radicals. In fact, a typical carotenoid molecule can sustain more than 20 free radical hits before it becomes completely destroyed.

Lycopene is a carotenoid imparting vibrant red color to fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, pink grapefruit and watermelon. Ongoing preliminary research suggests that lycopene may help prevent prostate cancer and some other forms of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other serious diseases like macular degeneration.


Goji's Dozen Friends of Eye Health
2006-11-27 - By Dr. Paul Gross

Paul M. Gross, PhD

One of China's oldest stories about the health benefits of consuming natural foods is goji berry's reputation ("wolfberry", Lycium barbarum L.) for preserving vision well into old age, even for many centenarians. Traditional Chinese medicine has been using goji for this purpose over some 20 centuries (3,6)

Goji, an English contraction of the Mandarin name, gǒuqǐ (pronounced "goo-chee" for wolfberry), is renowned for its nutrient density, containing numerous essential vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that may support ocular health. Among them are nutrients sufficiently established as valuable to vision that they have been assessed in NIH-sponsored clinical trials and now are ingredients of commercial supplements - essential vitamins A, C and E, the essential mineral zinc, and carotenoids, beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin (1,5)

A nutritional wonder of nature, the goji berry contains all of these eye health nutrients and more. In this essay, we'll cover a dozen goji nutrients, where modern scientists are just beginning to verify what ancient Chinese shamans have practiced for centuries - goji may be nature's most complete eye healthfood.

You may have noticed the increasing public interest in goji berry. Pay a visit to http://google.com/trends and enter "goji" as a search word to see how this berry is rapidly capturing public attention around the world.

Where can you buy goji berries? There are numerous websites selling products under the goji or wolfberry name. If available to you, go to your nearest Chinatown where you can buy them at a fair price ($3-5 per lb). Choose dried berries that are the largest and reddest, have moisture content similar to raisins, and come from the goji berry capital of China, Ningxia (7).

Eye health nutrients

Most of what we know about specific nutrients that affect eye health comes from clinical trials on patients with age-related eye diseases, given the acronym AREDs. This ongoing series of clinical trials is sponsored by the US National Eye Institute, a division of NIH, and conducted by ophthalmologists across the United States and Canada (1).

The main nutrients identified in the first AREDs reports were the antioxidant vitamins A, C and E combined with high doses of zinc and the carotenoid, beta-carotene (a pro-vitamin A compound converted to vitamin A upon digestion). Since then, further research not yet completed is considering food-derived carotenoid pigments found in the human retina - zeaxanthin and lutein - and other essential nutrients and antioxidant chemicals ingested via plant foods. (The term "essential" has two meanings: 1) the nutrient is essential to health, and 2) it is not made by the body so is essential that we obtain it via food intake.)

A Dozen Friends of Eye Health

All the following nutrients are present in goji berries. Data sources are from two recently published books (3,6).

1-3. Antioxidant vitamins A-C-E. Vitamin A, formed from precursors called retinol (from dairy products) or retinal (from plant carotenoids like beta-carotene present in goji), serves antioxidant, filtering and immune functions in the eye. Vitamins C and E are, respectively, water-soluble and lipid-soluble antioxidants that become resident in the eye with a variety of protective functions against oxidative and intense light stress. Goji berries are an exceptionally good source of vitamin C (29 mg/100 g dried fruit, approx. 30% of the US Dietary Reference Intake, DRI) (3).

4. Zinc. As a cofactor for numerous enzymes, some of which play antioxidant roles, zinc can be viewed as a complementary element guarding eye health. Its precise role especially in age-related macular degeneration is not yet defined, but it is nonetheless included as one of the AREDs nutrients currently under clinical study. Zinc content per gram in goji berries (2 mg/100 g, 20% DRI) is high among edible plants (3).

5-6. Zeaxanthin and lutein. Almost identical in chemical structure, these two carotenoids present in green, orange, red and yellow plant foods are selectively absorbed from the blood by the retina. They are deposited in a retinal compartment called the macula lutea where scientific studies have proved a light-absorbing filter role against intense sunlight and an antioxidant role against reactive oxygen species. Goji berry is one of nature's richest sources of zeaxanthin (162 mg/100 g; there is no DRI for this nutrient) (3).

7-8. Beta-carotene and lycopene. Not only a precursor to vitamin A formation, beta-carotene also serves as a potent antioxidant source that seeks fat layers for storage. This has significance to eye protection, as the neural elements of the retina are lined with fatty sheaths where antioxidant protection is needed. Usually associated with tomatoes (a botanical relative of the goji berry), lycopene provides antioxidant functions. Beta-carotene and lycopene contents in goji berries are exceptional among edible plants (7.4 mg and 1.4 mg/100 g, respectively) (3,4,6).

9-10. Magnesium and selenium. Although the research is preliminary at present, there is evidence that magnesium and selenium, essential minerals with rich contents in goji berries (109 mg and 50 mcg/100 g; 30% and 97% DRI, respectively), participate as cofactors in retinal antioxidant reactions (3).

11. Riboflavin (vitamin B2). Like other B vitamins, riboflavin supports energy production by aiding the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. It has not been conclusively proved that riboflavin serves a health function in the eye. Recent research has shown, however, that riboflavin is associated with nutrition of collagen fibrils affected by cataracts and keratoconus, a degenerative corneal disease. Goji berries have among the highest riboflavin content per gram in nature (1.3 mg/100 g or 100% DRI) (3).

12. Phenolics. These chemicals from colorful plants are pigments with a great diversity of chemical structures and names. They are the main dietary antioxidants in foods Americans eat, and so likely contribute to eye health in ways not yet clear from modern research. In goji berries, phenolic concentration is particularly enriched (total phenolics of 1309 mg/100 g), with preliminary evidence that the phenolic well-known in red raspberries - ellagic acid - is also localized in goji fruit (86 mg/100 g) (6).

Although it will take years for modern science to unravel the eye health nutrients in goji berries, we have enough evidence already by knowing that these dozen nutrients are involved in supporting vision and overall health (1,2,5).

Our choice is to involve plant foods containing these nutrients in our diets, whether by using goji berries or other colorful plants foods with similar nutrient characteristics (2,6).

Mangosteen Help for Glaucoma

The natural treatment for glaucoma is basically the same as that for any other medical condition associated with high toxicity and is primarily focused on preserving residual vision. Mangosteen is increasingly growing in popularity among patients with glaucoma because of its proven benefits. Among the notable components found in mangosteen are compounds called xanthones, of which more than 40 types have been found in the fruit's rind. They are powerful anti-oxidants that protect the delicate structures in the eyes from free radical damage. As such, xanthones improve visual acuity and help in the battle againstglaucoma and other eye problems such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.

Since glaucoma has no known cure and symptoms may only manifest during the advanced stages when significant visual loss has already occurred, it would be wise to consider taking early and regularly in order to protect the eyes and avoid running the risk of developing glaucoma later in life. After all, mangosteenhas so many positive nutritional components and advantages. Therefore, taking mangosteen supplements does not only improve and preserve eyesight but it benefits the body as a whole.