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WIDE-RANGING EFFECTS: BONE, KIDNEY, EVE, BRAIN DISEASES 217
er, is that eating antioxidant-containing foods, especially those contain-
ing the carotenoids, will prevent most blindness cases resulting from
macular degeneration. This in itself is a remarkable recommendation.
Cataracts are slightly less serious than macular degeneration because
there are effective surgical options available to restore vision loss caused
by this disease. But when you look at the numbers, cataracts are a much
larger burden on our society. By the age of eighty, half of all Americans
will have cataracts.^39 Currently there are 20 million Americans age forty
and older with the disease.
Cataract formation involves the clouding of the eye lens. Corrective
surgery involves removing the cloudy lens and replacing it with an arti-
ficiallens. The development of the opaque condition, like the degenera-
tion of the macula and so many other disease conditions in our body, is
closely associated with the damage created by an excess of reactive free
radicals.^44 Once again, it is reasonable to assume that eating antioxi-
dant-containing foods should be helpful.
Starting in 1988, researchers in Wisconsin began to study eye health
and dietary intakes in over 1,300 people. Ten years later, they published
a report^45 on their findings. The people who consumed the most lutein,
a specific type of antioxidant, had one-half the rate of cataracts as the
people who consumed the least lutein. Lutein is an interesting chemical
because, in addition to being readily available in spinach, along with
other dark leafy green vegetables, it also is an integral part of the lens
tissue itself.^46 , 47 Similarly, those who consumed the most spinach had
40% less cataracts,
These two eye conditions, macular degeneration and cataracts, both
occur when we fail to consume enough of the highly colored green and
leafy vegetables, In both cases, excess free radicals, increased by animal-
based foods and decreased by plant-based foods, are likely to be respon-
sible for these conditions,
MIND-ALTERING DIETS
By the time this book hits the shelves, I will be seventy years old, I
recently went to my high school's fiftieth reunion, where I learned that
many of my classmates had died, I receive the AARP magazine, get
discounts on various products for being advanced in age and receive
social security checks every month. Some euphemists might call me a
"mature adult," I just say old, What does it mean to be old? I still run
every morning, sometimes six or more miles a day. I still have an active
