Eye Diseases 155vent the acid from making any more scratches or holes in the lens. The
calcium deposited on the lens shows up as black spots, thus impeding
vision.
Cataracts grow faster in the lens when energy production (respira-
tion) slows. For when the lens is being covered over with a cataract, it
can’t absorb the nutrient it needs to make energy. That nutrient is vita-
min B 2 (ribofl avin). The lens relies on B 2 , and to a lesser extent on vita-
min C, to take the place of oxygen because it has no capillaries to supply
it. (This makes sense, since capillaries in the lens would obstruct vision.)
Dr. Sydenstricker of the University of Georgia and University of Geor-
gia Hospital gave 15 mg of B 2 daily to forty-seven subjects. After nine
months the cataracts in all forty-seven patients had disappeared.^2
Another reason that the clouding of the lens increases when respira-
tion (energy production) slows is that less carbon dioxide—the by-
product of respiration—is produced. When there isn’t enough carbon
dioxide to dispose of free radicals (free radicals are atoms that have lost
an electron and go crazy in their effort to seize an electron from
another atom) the lens clouds up even more. The importance of carbon
dioxide in the prevention of cataracts is underscored by the fact that in
Nepal, a country that is fi fteen thousand feet above sea level, despite
stronger sunlight at that altitude, cataracts are 2.7 times less common
than in areas situated at lower altitudes.^3 This is because in mountain-
ous areas where there is less oxygen, respiration is more effi cient, so it
gives off higher-than-average amounts of carbon dioxide. When
healthy levels of carbon dioxide are maintained, the transparency of the
lens is assured.
Frank wondered how he could have developed cataracts when he was
such a careful eater. He shopped organic, ate vegetarian foods, the diet for
his metabolic type, and drank a lot of carbonated bottled water. He found
the answer to his question when he took his basal temperature. Over three
days it averaged 97 degrees, an indication that his thyroid activity was
depressed and therefore that his lens didn’t have enough energy to burn
up the waste products generated by its metabolic activities.
Since foods that the digestive tract can’t break down properly can
lower thyroid function, and since Frank was also experiencing severe
stomach pains from gas, it seemed likely that a digestive problem had
initiated his hypothyroid condition. Frank tested the foods he ate, one
by one. When he eliminated whole-wheat bread his gas pains went