Slashdot Mirror
A Link Between Diet and Myopia?
lxmeister writes: "This article from New Scientist suggests that the refined starches in western food such as white bread and cereals may be the cause of an increased level of short-sightedness. Myopia now affects 30 percent of people of European descent. So brown bread is better after all!"
Brown bread has always been known to be better for you. Even considering "enriched" white bread, and I use the term loosely, brown bread contains more nutrients and more fiber than white bread, and has a lower glycemic index to boot.
In the past I've checked the Glycemic Index (GI is a measure of how quickly glucose is absorbed from food as regards insulin requirements) for brown bread. Contrary to popular belief, brown bread has almost exactly the same Glycemic Index; ok, its very slightly better, say 98 compared to 100, but this is far too small to make much difference.
Therefore brown bread would be unlikely to improve your sight.
On the other hand brown bread is more nutritious in other regards, so it's still better for you.
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"and I quote: "The whiter the bread, the sooner you're dead"
Doh, I say!
Get thee to a nutritionist!
Wheat bread is still bread. Brown rice is still rice. The whole-grain products are essentially identical to the "refined" products at the macronutrient level (protein, carbs and fat), where they differ is the micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, etc.)
Somewhat surprisingly, the same analysis applies to frosted vs. unfrosted cereal. Unfrosted "corn flakes" have a little less sugar than "frosted flakes," but the glycemic index of corn is so high that the frosting really doesn't make much of a difference.
When you take the time to look at what we actually eat, as opposed to what we think we're eating, it's scary.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. -- H L Mencken
Possibly, but unlikely. The insulin presumably triggers permanent growth in the length of the eye.
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"and i thought i got it from staring at the sun!
damn cheerios!
THERE IS NO DATA. THERE IS O
So, you were NOT eating the good good brown bread that lowers the chances of myopia? And you've been wearing glasses since 2nd grade? How unexplicable!
Its not the white bread that has evil stuff in, its the brown bread that has good stuff. And, no, genetics can't be thrown out the window, nor does indoor living. Myopia is probably caused by a mixture of many different things.
You can't take the sky from me...
I've never heard of that theory before.
It wouldn't surprise me. My eyes were bad as a kid and when I started wearing glasses they got worse quick. Everytime I visited the eye doctor I'd need a stronger pair.
A year and a half ago I had lasik done and I've been loving it ever since! It's not perfect, but it's sooooo much better than wearing glasses or contacts!
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
Also, it's not necessarily cereals that would cause this effect, high glucose sources, rice or candy bars or even lack of exercise for example, probably can induce this effect.
The other main theory is that myopia is related to close work, e.g. reading
There's a correlation between having lights on in a bedroom and developing myopia. My take on that is it allows reading in bed, and when reading in bed, the book is held closer.
The theory behind it is that doing lots of close work triggers growth hormones in the eye that optimise the eye for close work.
Possibly both theories are true; or one is more important.
And yeah, genetics definitely play a part too.
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"Oh well, that explains everything then.
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"To dead penis bird:
You really should get off the Atkins diet. Virtually all doctors think it is dangerous to avoid carbs altogether. Besides, you will get much more fat off of bacon. I guess the thing with your diet is you're supposed to go into some kind of digestive state where you don't absorb many calories. That has to be extremely unhealthy. Stay away from the fad diets. Just reduce your caloric intake around 500 calories a day and exercise.
to CaveDave:
The agricultural revolution did not take place 100 thousand years ago. More like 10,000 years ago. 100,000 years ago H. Sapiens had just evolved and we were in the early paleolithic.
If you don't understand any of my sayings, come to me in private and I shall take you in my German mouth.
Did I miss something of has Slashdot become a site to start shilling bad science? Whoever posted this needs to get a clue. I doubt the medical establishment has a vested intrest in selling eyeware. Simply because there isn't a HUGE amount of money in it (we spend more on cosmetics as a race then we do on corrective lenses). But that point aside this post stinks of the owner of the site trying to sell his wares, or get a higher ranking in the search engines (which if one searchs for this myopia.org site one finds that it appeared as a domain on the scene about 9-01 or so and hence forth has posted in many a psuedo medical site to gain higher posting in google). But enough of my theories and opinions. I think the folks on Slashdot are wise enough to smell something that is more then a little off, least from where I stand.
Dickens:
And Atkins is a cardiologist !
Yes. He is a cardiologist. 1 cardiologist out of tens of thousands in the U.S., most of which vehemently disagree with him.
Reducing caloric intake just causes your body to stop using calories. Lethargy does not make for effective weight loss.
Depends on how many calories you cut. Fasting will make you fatter in the end, because it raises your metabolism. Also, you lose a lot of muscle mass. But if you cut about 500 calories a day (not that much, really), you can lose a pound a week without lowering your metabolism. And it is perfectly healthy. And while you cut your calories by 500 each day, of course you have to exercise. In addition to burning calories, exercising raises your metabolism.
Now if you really want to lose weight, take up backpacking. On a rigorous backpack trip in areas like the North Cascades or the Sierras, you can burn 6,000 calories a day, assuming an average of 10 miles each day on rough terrain and a 60 pound pack. On a week long trip, at least with me, you can only carry about 2,000 calories each day. Since there is about (i believe, correct me if im wrong) 3,500 calories to a pound of lard, you end up losing a little over a pound a day. In addition to that, after the backpack trip, your stomach shrinks quite a bit so you don't overeat, plus you are very fit and energetic.
If you don't understand any of my sayings, come to me in private and I shall take you in my German mouth.
It might be explained by exercise levels in the different countries.
If you have a lot of exercise then the muscles burn up a lot of glucose.
They then are a lot more sensitive to insulin, and the level of insulin won't go as high, and the eyes will be less effected.
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"